Presidentiables on sustainable growth (Sabong News)
Author
Dr. Florangel Rosario Braid
Date
MARCH 19 2022
We are pleased to see our presidential candidates presenting their platform of governance as this serves as an important guide in voter education. But we still have to see consistency in their chosen concerns, in terms of how they reinforce each other in the attainment of our vision of sustainable growth.
Environmental experts continually warn us that we have only 18 years before it is too late to turn back. Thus, the need for collective action with heads of government taking the lead with the participation of all sectors, to ensure that we limit global warming to 1.5 degree Celsius by 2040.
This action requires solutions towards “degrowth,” the objective of “Limits to Growth” scientists, some of whom have published in “Mother Pelican,” a journal on sustainable growth. The transition they note, means the movement from GDP-focused goals which emphasize competitive, individualistic, acquisitive, and market-driven lifestyles. This implies lessening our levels of per capita resource use and making changes in our production and consumption lifestyles, replacing them with a governance strategy that embraces frugal values and encouraging alternative development structures such as cooperatives. .
But such change can only be made possible if people see these alternatives as desirable, a goal that requires cultural change. “The Simpler Way” (TSW) theory, shared now by adherents who had built Eco-villages where they are able to construct their vision of a sustainable society, must therefore be supported by the executive, legislative and judicial bodies through official action and legislation and with additional resource support and advocacy by leaders of all sectors of society.
This alternative is not merely an economic concern; it involves dismantling existing organizational and financial systems and replacing them with smaller systems that are citizen-driven and committed to new values.
What gives us hope that such a strategy could succeed, is that this may now be feasible with the implementation of the Mandanas ruling on increasing by 40 percent the IRA of local governments. The additional resources could be utilized in building the Eco-towns and innovations supportive of TSW.
The change is about liberating people from the consumer capitalist society with alternative institutions such as cooperatives. It is making the communities more self-sufficient, encouraging voluntary structures like community gardens, pantries, and similar innovations. This would assure followers of TSW lifetime security is guaranteed as these communities have a high level of social cohesion and with few cases of unemployment. Some of these Eco-towns have developed “commons” which provide free goods. A goal is to defuse big cities by enabling people to move to rural regions.
As we urge our presidentiables to design their programs of governance along the goals of sustainable growth, we likewise encourage our electorate to give their support to candidates who have demonstrated commitment to this vision.
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