Thanks for returning to this thread. IMO, this is one of the key issues
concerning the environmental impacts of agriculture.
> RE the old discussions on taxation: for excellent materials
> see the web site
> of Redefining Progress:
>
> http://www.rprogress.org/
I looked up the site. Here are a few excerpts with my comments:
> Redefining Progress seeks to shift the prevailing definition
> of progress, from one based exclusively on a growing economy,
> to one that resonates with people's sense of the quality of
> their lives....
> We believe real progress is possible--but first we have to
> clear away the false notions about economic progress that
> stand in the way.
I don't believe that the driving force behind the growthiness of our economy
is a "prevailing definition" or a "false notion". Most people would agree
that genuine progress is NOT synonymous with economic growth. Yet, the net
effect of actual behavior contradicts this.
I believe that the reduction of "progress" to econometrics is one
manifestation of the all-too-human (and semi-conscious) urge for self
aggrandizement and keeping score. It comes from the "flesh" in the
Christian model, or our chimpanzee-derived social heritage in the biological
model.
> We believe that, as it stands today, our society faces a troubling
> future. By using traditional financial measures as our primary
> compass, we steer society on a course that all too frequently
> points us away from progress.
The unspoken assumption at the site (and of the academic left in general) is
that human nature is good, and is only fettered by aberrant cultural memes.
In this case, the meme is seen as "financial measures." I disagree, and see
financial measures as a manifestation of human nature.
And that brings us back to taxation. Coercion (not just enlightenment) is
needed to encourage environmentally responsible behavior. Taxation is a
less intrusive and painful form of coercion than, say, reeducation camps or
public humiliation.
What about "progress"? What do they mean by the word? Doesn't the word
"progress" imply the existence of some guiding ethical hand in history?
Evolution toward a quasi-christian millenial kingdom? A final cause? IMO,
the ideology of progressivism should be examined critically (See Christopher
Lasch. 1991. "The True and only Heaven: Progress and its Critics"). It
could be that the cultural meme is progressivism, and that its otherwise
worthy goals are distorted and twisted into the banality of purely economic
growth, by undesirable aspects of human nature.
The power of progressive ideology lies in our tendency to place hope in the
future. We need to temper that with practical short-term measures to
protect the environment now, like taxation.
Dale Wilson
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