obscenely rich
To be rich means... to live in more than one room... to own more than on pair of shoes... to have a choice of what to eat...
It’s humbling to be reminded of how obscenely rich we are.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
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4 comments:
good reminder.
I propose that the true obscenity is that too much of the world lacks this level of wealth.
Jonathan, I agree in part with what you say, but it's also been said that if everyone lived like average Americans, it would require 3-4 earths to support us.
(If you want to get technical, I don't recall how this was calculated. It may be based on carbon footprint/or some measure of use of natural resources or waste produced).
So what you're proposing sounds good, but may not be ecologically possible.
That being said, I think it's unfair to prevent developing countries from becoming wealthier because they will use more natural resources or produce more wealth. We should encourage development. But it should be coupled with a reexamination of our own lifestyles and how we can live with less of an ecological impact. (e.g. less cars, more public transportation, more energy efficiency, less planned obsolescence (sp?) etc...).
I agree that it's likely impossible to give the whole world the current American consumption package, at least on any sustained basis. However, I'm hopeful that it will ultimately be possible to give the whole world a quality of life better than that enjoyed by first worlders today.
I consider the question of sustainability to be a counterpoint to the problem of development. These are really the twin threads of my research interests.
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