The Plowboy Interview

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In our "Let the Men and Women of Wisdom Speak" feature in MOTHER NO. 59, we ran an eloquent antinuclear statement by a professor of economics named Herman E. Daly. Since that time, we've received many letters from readers who admired the well-expressed thought but ended their notes by asking, "Just who is Herman E. Daly, anyway?"

The question is a fair one, because Dr. Daly's name isn't exactly a household word . . . at least not yet. However, such "heavyweight" thinkers as Paul Ehrlich and Garrett Hardin are familiar with the Louisiana State University economist's work (Ehrlich has gone so far as to say that Daly is "among our most important theoreticians for a sustainable society").

Furthermore, the LSU professor is rapidly becoming known as one of the leaders of a movement to aim our society toward a long-term, sustainable, "steady-state" view of the earth and its needs ... a movement that has also been represented by E.F. Schumacher, Kenneth Boulding, and Amory Lovins.

You see, Professor Daly knows how to describe the fatal path of our "more is bigger is better" cultural growth syndrome with a clarity and eloquence that few people can match. Even more important, the economist has prepared a set of well-thought-out solutions to many of our runaway society's problems!

In order to find out more about this man, and about his blueprint for a steady-state future, MOTHER sent staffer Pat Stone to Baton Rouge to interview the LSU professor. The following transcript—which has been edited from over four hours of conversation—is the summary of that encounter. When you finish reading it, you'll no longer be asking, "Who's Herman E. Daly?" Instead—because this social scientist's message is so vitally significant—we think (and hope) that you'll start telling other people about Dr. Daly and his work!

PLOWBOY: Professor Daly, you've said that most economists do little more than "seek the optimal arrangement of deck chairs on the Titanic" ... in other words, that the finance specialists are so busy tinkering with the details of market operations that they don't realize the whole system is headed for disaster! Isn't that a pretty harsh criticism?

DALY: Perhaps so ... nevertheless, that statement is absolutely true! Orthodox economists believe in ever-increasing growth, but never stop to consider the implications of that belief. To them, the solution to every financial problem—including poverty, unemployment, inflation, and even pollution—is more, and more rapid, economic growth.

PLOWBOY: But wait a minute, you're a professor of economics yourself! Surely you didn't begin your career by combatting the beliefs of the leaders in your chosen field?

DALY: No, actually I started out as just another orthodox economist. As a matter of fact, my main reason for entering the field was related to promoting economic growth. You see, I grew up in Texas, where I came to know many Mexican people. I got interested in other cultures— especially the Latin culture—and decided that I wanted to help extend our American standard of living to poorer areas of the world. So I began studying economics, which seemed like a practical field for a young man with such goals . . . earned a graduate degree . . . got an assistant professorship here at Louisiana State . . . and went to work in Brazil in 1968.