As if the world matters

Any credible answer to the question before us must recommend instruments for the redistribution of wealth and social capital.

The wisdom of Thomas Aquinas almost a millennium ago comes to mind: “Whatever a man (sic) has in superabundance is owed, of natural right, to the poor for their sustenance” (or the words of the bumper sticker that appeared just a few decades ago, “Live simply so that others can simply live”.)

But we are urged here to be a little more hard-headed than these pieties might seem. Jonathon Porritt in his recently released book, Capitalism as if the world matters, is a guide. I concur with his conclusion that capitalism as we know it (in its neo-liberal, American-led, narrowly-based, poorly-regulated, predominantly financial-market-capital sense) cannot deliver sustainability with social justice.

I am also attracted to his arguments that a reframed version of capitalism premised on the five capitals - natural, human, social, manufactured and financial - might deliver something approximating eco-justice. I acknowledge that conceptualising this new economy, communicating it and winning political acceptance for it is a huge task - but, in my view, it has to be named.

That said, today, in our quest for policy ideas we cannot assume the full implementation of a reformed capitalist world order as if the earth matters where development is for all people and “bound by the limits of nature herself rather than the limits of technology and consumerism” (to quote Mikhail Gorbachev).

The missing link - an ethical vision

If the strategies we articulate are to take root and make a difference, those who advocate and implement them need a sense of meaning, purpose and understanding as to why they matter. Of course the empirical evidence of the tragedy which threatens life on Earth and the human species is one part of our motivation, a matter of enlightened self interest.

That said, most of the relatively affluent might well take the view that in our part of the world we can avoid most of the worst effects of the forecast doom. (After all we have the military might and superiority in many areas and in any case it will be future generations who will have changes forced on them, not ours.)

This suggests that part of the package in winning the hearts and minds of our contemporaries has to be an ethical vision which articulates in some detail the assumptions that lie behind our mission: (to reduce inequalities and enhance opportunities). Those assumptions are:

1. that “all of life is interconnected” and therefore the human agenda on global and local socio-economic issues must always be placed within an eco-centric approach; and
2. that all wealth is common wealth, to be shared for the common good and preserved for future generations of all beings.

I acknowledge that this ethical vision can be expressed in various ways but as an advocate of the Earth Charter Initiative I find its expression of eco-justice comprehensive, challenging and potentially a basis for practical changes. Indeed as a local citizen I would urge the governments of Queensland and Brisbane City which are sponsoring the Earth Dialogues event to adopt the entire Earth Charter as a guide for sustainability and social justice best practice.

The Earth Charter’s Part 3, “Social and Economic Justice”, addresses the question before us specifying four principles:

• eradicate poverty as an ethical, social and environmental imperative;
• ensure that economic activities and institutions at all levels promote human development in an equitable and sustainable manner;
• affirm gender equality and equity as prerequisites to sustainable development and ensure universal access to education, health care, and economic opportunity;
• uphold the right of all, without discrimination, to a natural and social environment supportive of human dignity, bodily health, and spiritual well-being, with special attention to the rights of Indigenous peoples and minorities.