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Innovation in a deep economy
Bill McKibben, in his book, Deep Economy, illuminates several excellent perspectives on the state of the globe. More interestingly, he addresses the responsibility of innovation.
He begins with an analysis of “more and better.” These two foundation principles of progress part ways once a stable quality of life is achieved. Beyond that, he says, more is not necessarily better. More does not guarantee happiness, but at some point conflicts with it. The average home in the U.S. is double the size it was several decades ago. The number of occupants has dropped. The storage industry has grown and prospered because in spite of the vast amount of space we live in, we still don’t have enough room for all the stuff we have acquired.
That hunger for more is driven globally by media images promoting lifestyles that worship more. More is at the root of a growing imbalance.
He cites numerous innovations which do strike a sustainable balance between human need, social stability and environmental health. In many of his examples, these are not innovations in the form of something radically new, but of something radically intelligent. Raising fish among rice patties is one example where both fish and rice benefit and prosper. And, the people who tend them maximize their land, generate more food and minimizing the need for more machinery, more chemicals and more debt.
Agribusiness may be efficient at producing low cost food, but the cost in lost jobs, the environmental cost of over fertilization, the impact to the system for global distribution all conspire to undermine the value of massive farms. He advocates support of locally produced foods for economic, health and environmental reasons, all of which he documents in a well-researched, well-written description of a more sustainable world.
Innovation, by McKibben’s description, is not about more, bigger, better and faster. It’s about leveraging historic wisdom, combining wisdom (intersectional thinking) from multiple disciplines and keeping the long-term welfare of the community at the forefront of decision making. This is not a giant step backward. It is a step toward a more sustainable future which is also prosperous. WalMart recently announced it will begin sourcing food regionally. That will require more logistical coordination, but is expected to product huge savings in transportation. Common sense prevails. Eating fresh peas in the middle of winter in Vermont requires more energy in transportation that the peas deliver when consumed.
My brief summary does not do justice to McKibben’s broad, and deep view of the opportunities for innovation. But, the bottom line is that innovation has to be evaluated on the costs and benefits to the entire community, which will provide long term stability to the entire system.
Chas Martin
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Reader Comments (2)
Drawing the phrase "deep economy" from the expression "deep ecology," a term environmentalists use to signify new ways of thinking about the environment, McKibben suggests we need to explore new economic ideas. Rather then promoting accelerated cycles of economic expansion—a mindset that has brought the world to the brink of environmental disaster—we should concentrate on
creating localized economies; community-scale power systems instead of huge centralized power plants; cohousing
communities instead of sprawling suburbs.
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kimrennin
NEW, NEW, NEW
I couldn't agree with you more. As a nation, we think big. Big creates a set of problems that small does not. If we could be comfortable with the ROI of small, not all of which is calculated in dollars, we would be happier, healthier, and wealthier on a different scale.