In 1976, a group of thoughtful scientists of the International Union of Geological Sciences expressed a vision of earth resources, time, and man thus:
Mankind is on the threshold of a transition from a brief interlude of exponential growth to a much longer period characterized by rates of change so slow as to be regarded essentially as a period of non-growth. Although the impending period of transition to very low growth rates poses no insuperable physical or biological difficulties, those aspects of our current economic and social thinking which are based on the premise that current rates of growth can be sustained indefinitely must be revised. Failing to respond promptly and rationally to these impending changes could lead to a global ecological crisis in which human beings will be the main victims.
In 1976, global-warming and climate-change were yet to engage the attention of scientists as threats to human habitat.
This vision admonishes President Obama’s team of economic advisers to identify the magnitude of economic growth that can be sustained in the long-term, given a finite, delicately interconnected earth subject unpredictable forces of Nature. The need for revising current economic and social thinking entails a balancing of individual rights to private property and economic prosperity against public guardianship of vital resources common to all. For Obama, the legal scholar, this poses the challenge of modernizing the two traditional models of law: the jus civile, the private law of individuals; and the jus gentium, the public law of peoples and nations. Read the rest of this entry »