Is There A Better Way To Run The Planet Than This?

Image by net_efekt via FlickrBy Milton Johanides

How does the pressure to continually grow company profits impact on the social fabric of society? This question is not asked often enough, or when it is asked it is treated as the probings of an anarchic mind, so firmly entrenched is the concept of growth in our daily affairs.

We are encouraged to spend more, to invest more, to do our bit to boost the bottom lines of our much esteemed corporations who toil to produce more, advertise more and use up more resources in the process. Why is this necessary?

The cycle of growth begins with the consumer, or perhaps it begins with the advertiser. It certainly does not begin with the question of need. I did not think I needed a high definition TV until I visited a friend who owned one. But what do I do with my old telly which is still working well, though not so highly defined?

The concept of growth presses companies to continually develop new product. Without new product, new orders dwindle. And if the need for new product is not there, it can be created, the seed of desire implanted, by clever advertising. Whenever we visit the supermarket we are overwhelmed by variety. Once, variety was a welcome thing. It was nice to have a couple of alternatives to a plain crisp. But now we have a hundred alternatives. Which to choose? Which suits best our mood or inclination? My wife can spend five minutes of her valuable time choosing which packet of crisps to buy and even then, once in the basket, there remains the niggle of doubt in her mind that she has chosen the wrong variety.

The pressure to grow uses up packaging. We could drown in a sea of Styrofoam and metal cans and cardboard boxes and see through plastic sleeves. Is it anarchic to suggest there could be a better way to spend our time on this earth than by endlessly increasing the amount of plastic?

Growing economies compete with each other, making it difficult to co-operate. This sets up the notion of paranoia between governments, suspicious minds wrapped around the conference tables of important summits, consuming more, wasting more, debilitating the planet. Meetings on the condition of our planet's climate, which may or may not be ready to implode some time in the next fifty years, are mired in selfish monetary considerations. Progress on returning the earth to its natural state is held up by the worry that rich companies will not be further enriched. Is this anarchy to suggest that there might be a better way to run things?

Milton Johanides is a retired businessman, church elder, writer and artist. He has been featured on BBC TVs Songs of Praise, owned numerous art galleries and once ran an award winning picture framing business in Scotland. The views expressed in these articles are his own. email: miltonjohanides@yahoo.co.uk
http://miltonjohanides.webs.com/
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