Herman E. Daly: Steady-State Economics

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In the steady state, however, leisure time wouldn't have to be so dominated by considerations of efficiency, but could be freer and more spontaneous. Life in general could be more healthful and relaxed. There'd be less pushing each other around and treading on each other's heels. The world would have room for wild animals that might otherwise be exterminated because they competed for our food supply . . . and wild flowers that would have been dug up to make room for scientific agriculture.

Oh, there'd be some tradeoffs—for example, we'd all own fewer luxuries and take fewer long-distance trips—with a steady state, but I think that our present growth economy has actually forced us to give up quite a bit, too . . . and that—if we reverse the trade—we won't be all that unhappy with the results.

PLOWBOY: And do you feel that your vision of a steady-state future is a plausible, achievable one?

DALY: Yes, I do. We need both moral growth and the proper social institutions to reach it, and admittedly the institutional changes are relatively minor compared to the revolution that would be required in values. Yet most people really do have the basic notion that humankind is the steward of creation, and that we must not behave as if our generation were the last. Most men and women would be willing to give some consideration to the future and to the continuation of life on our planet.

However, we are quickly approaching the crossroads for our decision. The choice between a nuclear-powered growth economy and a solar-powered sustainable economy is probably the major social and moral decision facing our generation. We have, thus far, treated that choice as no more than an economic dollars-and-cents decision: That treatment has obscured the issue greatly.

Our choice is not so much an economic as a moral and ethical decision . . . and one that will determine the fate of our planet.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The books Steady-State Economics (which costs $12.00 in hard cover and $6.50 in paperback) and Toward a Steady-State Economy ($15.25 hardbound and $7.95 in paper) can he ordered—postpaid at these list prices—from W.H. Freeman and Company, Dept. TMEN, 660 Market Street, San Francisco, California 94104. The related Plowboy Interview with Dr. Garrett Hardin was run in MOTHER NO. 57, page 16 . . . which is available, for $3.00 plus $l.00 shipping and handling, from THE MOTHER EARTH NEWS®, P.O. Box 70, Hendersonville, North Carolina 28739.

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