Capitalism, the Environment, and Crossing From Crisis to Sustainability, by James Gustave Speth, Yale University Press, 2008
James Gustave Speth, Co-founder of the NRDC, Yale University dean, and former White House advisor has written a great book that everyone concerned with the fate of the world must read. Speth takes to task the role of business, government, NGO’s, individuals and the capitalist system at large in an urgent appeal to make large scale, fundamental changes to the path we are on. More than most, Speth attacks the incremental nature of change, whether the corporate responsibility movement or the environmental movement, as woefully and dangerously inadequate.
While the book is compelling, deeply thoughtful, thoroughly researched and a pleasure (all be it depressing) to read, my only complaint is that as he identifies trends that will be part of the solution, he stops short of the detailed roadmap we desperately need to catalyze the movement required to take urgent action.
NPR described the book as a “monumental work of synthesis” and in an interview noted that Speth has, “marshaled formidable evidence that American-style consumer capitalism of the early twenty-first century is incompatible with maintaining quality of life for all of us. It is generating unprecedented environmental risks while failing to advance the happiness and social well-being of Americans.”
Specifically Speth proposes, and I completely agree that:
“We must change the very nature of corporations so they become legally accountable to society at large, not just to themselves and their shareholders.
“We must challenge the current obsession with GDP growth and focus on growth in the areas that truly enhance human well-being: growth in good jobs, in the availability of health care, in education, in the deployment of green technologies, in the incomes of the poor, in security against illness and disability, in infrastructure, and more.
“We must challenge materialism and consumerism as the source of happiness and seek new values about quality of life, social solidarity, and connectedness to nature.
“We must transform the market through government action so that it works for the environment, rather than against it.
“We must transform democracy through deep political reforms that reassert popular control, encouraging locally strong, deliberative democracy and limiting corporate influence.
“We must forge a new environmental politics that recognizes links among environmentalism, social liberalism, human and civil rights, the fight against poverty, and other issues.
Speth’s analysis and recommendations demand a lot of us. Thank god someone is willing to say – hey, we’re in deep shit here and if we aren’t willing to do the hard work now, to get it together there will be dire consequences for us all. It is NOT going to be easy to be green, let alone ensure the viability of most of the human race on the planet.