"If we were to include natural services and the environmental costs of our waste and pollution in our economic accounting, we’d have a more realistic economic system. And we’d see that the environment and economy are intertwined. Caring for one is the solution to problems facing the other."

-David Suzuki

The truth is, I think that the economy is failing simply because it is not a sustainable system, in the same way that any unmitigated growth is not sustainable. The way the economy is now-- or the way we expect it to be-- it is more like a cancer than a reliable indicator of a country's 'health'.

I'm certain that environmental raping and pillaging would not be such a problem if we all had to deal with the effects in our own backyards. For example-- if everything you used-- your fork, your laptop, your pillow, your clothing, your car-- was made in your own hometown, what would be the positives and negatives of that? OK-- so your pillow is made from local cotton and local sheep's wool. Great, nice, good for the farmers, the local economy. Your car is made from iron ripped from your beautiful hills, in a factory emmiting a foul stench in your air, powered by oil sucked from beneath your coastline... would you drive as much? Would you buy a new car every year? I don't think so.

If we are going to have a global economy, we have to think about global impact. If we think about global impact, non-stop cancerous expansion is not an option. Come on people-- this isn't capitalism anymore-- it's consumerism! It's destructive, and it's gearing down, grinding to a halt, forcing change. Change hurts. Jobs are lost, people suffer. So what? You'd rather put off the suffering until the world is a toxic bubbling mass of waste?