Is Our Economy like the Titanic?
By Deirdre Kent, a member of the New Economics Party and co-founder of Otaki’s Transition Towns
The Fabian Society invited six speakers to use the analogy of New Zealand as the Titanic to share how they viewed the state of the New Zealand economy — headed towards disaster, but with the advantage of time and knowledge to avoid the economic and social icebergs.
The panellists, chaired by Russell Brown, told an audience of 220 in Wellington recently of changes that could take place to steer the ship through a better path. And they presented a wealth of ideas and solutions for a better and fairer future.
( Ed — The New Economics Party has been formed by members of Living Economies Educational Trust and the Transition Town movement. Led by Deirdre Kent and Phil Stevens, it is a group of people who want to work on more powerful policies than are currently being advocated by the Green Party of NZ.)
John Walley, of the Manufacturers and Exporters Association, told the meeting the strongest part of the economy is land and buildings.
‘Insufficient lifeboats’
He said: “The dairy industry employs fewer people than we lost in manufacturing over the last four years. There are insufficient lifeboats and we are ignoring the ice warnings. We have few options and less resilience.”
Rick Boven said the world was on track for two degrees warming and more, the growth paradigm was obsolete, so the future will not be an extension of the past.
Bernard Hickey of journalism.co.nz said the economy, like the Titanic, has a design flaw. Debt ridden, the global economy has been financialised and this is leading to a hoarding problem where money gets stuck in banks and in T-bonds.
The problem is illustrated by the fact that a physicist called David Harding is now a hedge fund manager (Winton Capital) to trade commodities like wheat, gold and oil and is now worth $1.4billion. He makes this money by employing scientists to write algorithms and has opened a new branch hear the Hadron Collider so that physicists won’t have to move house.
Rod Oram critical of foreign investment
Rod Oram said: ‘Foreign investment in New Zealand has been barely OK or worse’.
Millionaire businessman Selwyn Pellett says he has reduced his power bill because he ought to, though he doesn’t need to.
He said that four banks made $3.6 billion profits which was the equivalent of the next 46 companies and warned that we shouldn’t gamble on being the food basket of the world.
He says because of exchange rates he has to double his production to stand still. “The temptation for people like me is to retire and invest in property.”
Student leaders said that while the band played on they will never own a house.
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Describing how the New Economics Party was set up, Ms Kent says: “It was conceived in September 2011. Laurence Boomert from the Bank of Real Solutions stood in Wellington Central as a candidate representing this unregistered party. We now have a secretary, Natalie Hormann, and a treasurer and a membership form. We believe our policies are of worldwide significance in the effort to break free of corporate rule and meet the Very Big Problem we all face. We have IT specialists helping us with this website.”
We didn’t organize the Wellington meeting. The Fabian Society did. Surely even the most determined luddite would see how badly we are going to need windmills, scythes, team harnesses and plowshares to capture that crucial sun calorie. That *is* manufacturing.
I can think of a parallel or two that would describe our collective situation and the sinking of the Titanic.
With the ‘icebergs’ of runaway climate change (happening now), and the ramifications of the peaking of global crude oil extraction in 2005 – 6, both of which are going to well and truly ‘sink’ the 30,000 (?) year experiment, that is human kind.
As you know we are now passed any sane attempt to stop or reverse the damage we humans have done to our (and any future generations) environment, as most aware people know the rapid melt of the Arctic has begun, the masses will catch up to this in another year or so.
To maintain an economy of any substance you need food for one thing, nearly 9 out of every 10 calories on your dinner plate (well most peoples) is generated by fossil fuels, with 1 calorie from the sun. They are saying we need to produce as much food in the next 50 years as has been produced/grown in the last 10,000+ years. Without fossil fuels that is clearly imposable. Paying for it via $, time banking, or whatever will be the least of our problems, when we are back down to one sun calorie.
Having John Walley at your meeting, then quoting him, just shows how far from reality you people are, didn’t anyone point out that manufacturing anything is unsustainable and is leading to our extinction? Manufacturing just turns limited resources into toxic landfills, watch The Story of Stuff http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GorqroigqM
As George Carlin said “If you think you have a solution, then you are part of the problem”
Proposing anything that maintains the existence of humans, and an economy, while ignoring these icebergs, is a bit like holding a civil rights meeting in steerage when the water is up to your knees.
And didn’t the Green Party back a savings scam, that is dependent on this economic system?By their silence they are encouraging 18 year olds to invest in a savings scam, that defiantly will not be here in 47 years.
And Russel Norman wants to maintain the destruction of the environment via manufacturing, as his request to have an inquiry as to why NZ has lost so many manufacturing jobs in the past 4 years? What the hell is that all about? A true environment spokes person would rejoice at the destruction of manufacturing, …. if they gave a rats arse about their children that is? But maybe short term gain is the game?
-Rick Boven said the world was on track for two degrees warming and MORE –
Two degrees is the death of the Amazon (the rain forest, not the book store)
As you also know, 2-3 years of the passed 10 the Amazon has emitted more carbon into the atmosphere than the whole of the USA each year, so just having a low temperature rise is enough to trigger runaway climate change.
As the Easter Islanders discovered when the arse fell out of the statue carving and transporting economy, they had to revert to the cadaver economy as the food supply also dried up.
Here is another reality check for you http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOMWzjrRiBg