We heard it for a while, but we didn't want to believe it, how America was slipping back, ignoring its infrastructure, abandoning its focus on creating jobs and prosperity for all Americans. We had an inkling that we were somehow overextended, though we could still go to Wall Mart and fill up our carts with cheap merchandise.
When we couldn't fill up our gas tanks, when the cost of one week's gas was as much as the weekly grocery bill, we began to voice our concerns.
When September came and our kids returned to schools that were a bit more decrepit, a bit less equipped, a bit understaffed, we didn't pay attention. After all, schools have been complaining all along, nothing new.
It took the big news of Wall Street collapsing for us to notice our Main Street had been ignored and forlorn for a while. When a rescue package was put together in Congress with more zeros than we would have picture in our household, we began to comprehend. These troubles are big. This situation involves all of us in America. Pensions, retirement funds, college savings, life savings, houses, jobs, health care, food inspection, environment, all, all aspects of everybody's lives are in this meltdown.
We noticed that the global markets took a hit as well. And that in places like Europe, coooperation and planning took place quickly and efficiently. We noticed that solutions have been worked out and somehow, if we are lucky, we will find solutions in America as well.
I wonder how we got so far behind the curve. In my lifetime, the European nations had become a bunch of rubble and broken people at the end of a war, and they too had domestic and foreign terrorists for decades. But they managed to coordinate efforts, support infrastructure building, life-style accomodations for all their citizens, provided for the welfare of those who couldn't do it for themselves, and built a new economy and a strong solidarity.
In a couple of weeks we will vote for a new leadership. America cannot stand alone in the world, doing the same things and expecting miracles. Let's roll up our sleeves and work at solutions the democratic way.
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Land Developers and Sustainable Economics
October 2008 http://www.sldi.org/newService/SLDIOct2008.html
by Terry Mock, SLDI Executive Director
As previously forecast in this column, a series of financial “Black Swans” is now upon us. These major disruptive events, which by definition were unpredicted by the establishment experts, now include the failures of Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG, Merrill Lynch, Wachovia, and Washington Mutual, with more surprises undoubtedly on the way.
While there have been numerous authorities working day and night to solve the problem, it is important to note that these same people were the ones that were managing the financial system in the first place. According to Professor Nouriel Roubini, no professional independent economist was consulted by Congress or invited to present his/her views at the Congressional hearings on the Treasury Department's rescue plan. This brings to mind some words of wisdom from Albert Einstein - “We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them”.
As pointed out in the recently published book, Bad Money – Reckless Finance, Failed Politics and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism, the failure of the current financial system was not only predictable, but this same kind of thinking was also responsible for the fall of the last two global economic powers – the Netherlands followed by Britain. As is established in the book and elsewhere, the current credit crisis interrelates with our energy crisis and all the other economic failures the global economy is now suffering through. It all comes down to deficit spending by both public and private entities.
Ironically, the current financial meltdown is confirmation of a prediction made in 1995 when, as a land developer and the past-president of the Florida Native Plant Society, I authored an article entitled “Earth Restoration – The Bridge to a New Global Culture“, wherein I said, “The existing world order is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy and will not be capable of sustaining itself much longer by exploiting dwindling world supplies of natural resources and by deficit government spending…The good news is that out of these huge problems will come the pressure to replace our old system with new political and business structures that will provide for a sustainable global economy”.
How do we make our civilization more sustainable?
As outlined in our February 2008 SLDI newsletter, “Collaborative innovation is needed to unlock the future as the world is facing a variety of challenges”, and current efforts to create new sustainable land development models hold great promise for breaking the hold of failed outdated economic ideology. According to CityscapeIntelligence, "... One of the greatest challenges is that right now we have a very low level of current knowledge about how to build sustainably in our (Middle Eastern) environment… “ On a more promising note, Cityscape reports that Masdar City, Abu Dhabi is planned to be a fully sustainable city which incorporates the highest quality of life with the lowest environmental footprint. Masdar City will be carbon-neutral, use only renewable energy sources, and produce zero waste.
In the United States, news of the nation’s first fully eco-sustainable city has just been announced. At 41,300 acres and a new SLDI member, Florida's Destiny is ranked as one of the state’s largest private land acquisitions and will create working greenspace where the ecosystem is integrated into its infrastructure in order to preserve the overall quality of the environment.
The problems – and answers – have been known for many years. It will ultimately be the visionary risk-taking land developers, the business structures we organize, the innovative technologies we use, and the quality of services we retain, that will get us there.
Your participation and comments are welcome.
Terry Mock
Executive Director
Sustainable Land Development International
www.SLDI.org
Promoting and enabling land development worldwide that balances the needs of people, planet & profit - for today and future generations.
Sustainable Land Development Today Magazine - www.SLDTonline.com
Sustainable Urban Redevelopment Magazine - www.SURmag.com
SLDI Newsletter - http://www.sldi.org/newService/SLDIOct2008.html
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