Delegates to the ICLEI International Congress on Sustainability want people in developed nations, especially Americans, to “contract” our lifestyles . . . to make them “more sustainable.”
But exactly what is “sustainable development”?
If this concept is going to control our economy, energy use, living standards, jobs, and freedoms, people should know what it is. Right?
And who better to ask than the delegates attending the five-star conference in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, as official representatives of their cities and local sustainable-development task forces. After all, these are the folks who want to make “sustainability” and “contraction” mandatory for all of us.
What they don’t know might surprise you. Check it out here:
Umm . . . more bicycles . . . a more sustainable approach . . . kind of . . . ecological costs . . . making us happy . . . performance . . . lower emissions . . . ahhh . . . holistic and systemic dimensions . . . perhaps. . . .
We’re so glad we understand this vital concept now. Aren’t you?
Actually, a much better, more constructive approach would be to make sure that free, responsible people have greater ownership of their countries’ engines of wealth creation, and to decrease regulation and bureaucratic control. That would advance entrepreneurship, alleviate poverty, and improve the economic outlook for struggling families in rich and poor nations alike. It would also enable poor countries to repeat an important lesson of history:
Prosperity generates political reform, societal inclusiveness, environmental protection, and improved opportunities, health, and living standards — all that is best for planet and people.
— David Rothbard serves as president of Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow. Craig Rucker is CFACT’s executive director.