Growth philosophy fatally flawed

I enjoyed your interview with Peter C. Newman (Nov 2005) as I have his books. Apropos of this, here are some comments for Common Ground readers.
Canada does not have room to grow; this is an antiquated myth. Seven people per square mile are a lot of people. Too many; a square mile is not much space. The fact that it doesn’t seem like it, relative to other nations, is simply an indication of how much worse off the rest of the world is – the rest of the world that we’re increasingly helping sustain in this global economy that lacks the benefits of global community. It is especially too many when you consider how an overwhelming horde is crammed into a few narrow pockets that have an appealing climate.
Finally, even if we did have room to grow, it’s a creed we, and the rest of the world, desperately need to abandon – this “growth is good” thing – in favour of an economy based on establishing sustainable limits (most of us will have to go on a serious diet to achieve it), and living healthily with that status quo. Growth, a philosophy designed to serve the few, has been fatally flawed from its inception. Humanity, as a global entity, is already a thousand-pound man in a hundred-pound dinghy, brown waters lashing at the gunnels. We need leaders to help steer us away from an economy dependent on glutting us further if we don’t all wish to eventually go down with the ship.
It’s time to think outside this soggy box. Our model of civilization is not an immutable reality. We can build a better one.

Jonathan Wright, East Coulee, Alberta

Planetary blues

With regard to David Suzuki’s November column, National Sustainability Act long overdue, government should worry less about the economy and far more about our degrading environment, especially the degradation caused by a dozen companies in Canada, which produce almost half of the air pollution.
All governments, and political wannabes, should consider the following pertinent question: “What good does it do to create or preserve businesses and jobs when the planet is degrading, and people are getting sick because of pollution due to mass construction?” It makes one wonder how long the Blue Planet can remain ecologically viable.

Frank G. Sterle Jr., White Rock, BC