Our kids are in big trouble

Laurence Lessig over at Wired wrote today that our kids are in big trouble. He points out that the policies and mechanisms of society today are placing a huge burden on future generations. Those generations, even the kids alive today, have no say in what were doing now that will affect them - the burden falls firmly on our shoulders. Its a point of view that I can easily agree with, and even if I and my partner have personally chosen to be child free I still have a strong interest in the future of civilization on this planet.

I its a given that I whole-heartedly agree with the sentiments expressed in "Our Kids Are in Big Trouble". I believe the reason for this assault on the future is rooted in two problems: 1) the declining "wealth" of the current generation such that they feel ill inclined to give up anything for the future generations, and 2) the insistence of government and other establishments to only quantify our "Wealth" in terms of fiscal wealth.

There's not too much I feel we can do about 1) at the moment. We have squandered many of the riches accumulated since FDR's social revolution and it will take a long time to get them back, generations perhaps. However a solution for 2) may help us do this sooner rather than later by encouraging people to seek and elect forward looking political candidates that can invest in the future instead of squandering the past.

I recently came across the work of a group called Redefining Progress that is busy trying to fix problem 2) by attempting to quantify all those other factors that determine our "wealth". They include simple stuff like how much time we spend commuting, and the amount money spent on health care to "fix" the side effects of pollution, to complicated stuff like the cost of depleting our common assets like non-renewable resources, and the costs of global climate change.

Graphs of their genuine progress indicator maybe based on a lot of guess work, but the reality of that huge difference between fiscal progress and actual progress is something that many of us starting to feel as we wake up to the absence of a sustainable future in the way things are going.

The lack of sustainability in our current global systems is obvious, no one with reasonable IQ and scientific background can deny it. Furthermore even a dullard can understand that oil will run out, and resources like steel, coal, fresh water, habitable land and clean air are all finite on this planet. Only a fool will stand up today and proclaim with unreserved euphoria "The future's so bright I've gotta wear shades" and implore us to cure all our woes by going shopping. Why devote the entire energies of our country to striving for something better (that inevitable march of "growth" and "progress" that the fiscal economists laud) when we can't even guarantee a sustainable future based on what we have now?

Modern retail therapy is a quick fix no better than stick in the arm with a needle and the drug of your choice. I have no problem with that but its not going to do anything for the rest of the planet and future generations. If you want to burn out and not fade away then fine, go shopping my friends. Just remember in a few generations there may not even be anyone around to excavate your 72" Plasma and Hummer H2 and marvel over your fantabulous riches. However I'm a firm believer that social and fiscal reform are a long lasting lifestyle changes that will benefit all the worlds people and future generations.