Tom DeWees posted a radical opposing view to the growing interest in sustainable development. He calls sustainable development the worst of both the left and the right, and states, “it is a new kind of tyranny that if not stopped will surely lead us to a new Dark Ages of pain and misery yet unknown to mankind.”
I find his arguments intriguing. He picks apart the three Es of social equity, economic prosperity and ecological integrity:
Social Equity — “The Sustainablist system is based on the principle that individuals must give up selfish wants for the needs of the common good, or the “community.” How does this differ from Communism?”
Economic Prosperity — “Sustainable Development’s economic policy is based on one overriding premise: that the wealth of the world was made at the expense of the poor. It dictates that, if the conditions of the poor are to be improved, wealth must first be taken from the rich.”
Ecological Integrity — “Sustainablist policy is to oversee any issue in which man reacts with nature – which, of course, is literally everything. And because the environment always comes first, there must be great restrictions over private property ownership and control.”
DeWees further argues that under sustainable development there can be no concern over individual rights, because we all must sacrifice for the environment.
I’m in strict opposition to these viewpoints, but note a Libertarian viewpoint that will have to be combated through judicious policy decisions. The movement of sustainable development has a goal to improve the lives of everyone through greater alignment with our environment. The urgency in which we make these changes is certain to alienate some. As our economies are necessarily restructured, we must be certain to spread the benefits so that Libertarian elements feel enfranchised rather than disenfranchised by this transition.
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Hi Matt,
Enjoying reading your posts on sustainability–much food for though on this topic. This post particularly caught my attention and reminded me of the debate surrounding ‘sustainable development’ which has been evolving in academia as well as the mainstream (but not as much as academia).
When I was working on my master’s quite some years ago, I had the opportunity to read ‘Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World’ by Arturo Escobar (http://www.amazon.com/Encountering-Development-Arturo-Escobar/dp/0691001022). I am not sure if you have read any of Ecobar’s texts, but he has some really interesting ideas about sustainable development and its context in both developed and developing countries. You can read more about Arturo Escobar here: http://www.unc.edu/~aescobar/index.htm
Anyway, just figured I would throw it out there…
Cheers,
Andres