NPR news story: Under Pressure, Al Qaida Reaches Out To Affiliates
at 1/11/2010 5:36 PM EST

Adapted from a Comment on this story

In a society that respects public property rights and where ownership of natural resource wealth is seen to be vested in the people at large, we will have a straightforward mechanism for limiting overall environmental impacts and rates of taking of resources. If most people believe that levels of pollution or rates of taking of resources are excessive (as revealed by a random-sample survey), we could charge a fee (or raise the fee) associated with the particular activity that the people want to limit. The reality in the world, in terms of resource conservation, limits on pollution and the general state of ecological health, would come to match what the largest portion of the people consider as acceptable. That would be a REAL democracy.

With equal sharing of the proceeds of the natural resource user-fees (a monetary representation of the value of the commons) we would create a world where no one would live in extreme poverty. Disparity of wealth would be less extreme ... less of a problem. Social justice would be enhanced.

A sustainable and just civilization would be more likely to be supported by and embraced by all peoples all across the globe.

We do not yet have a version of civilization that is stable. Is there a cure for what appears to be an inherent flaw in civilization that makes it an unstable phenomenon? Is the arc of civilization, thriving followed by collapse, inevitable?

Perhaps a sense of justice and fairness among the populace is a prerequisite for a sustainable civilization. It is so much easier to tear down and destroy that it is to build and create. If even a small fraction of the populace believes that an unjust society is being thrust upon them, then the damage they might do in expressing their anger and disaffection could easily swamp any ability of the larger society to withstand.

There may be a remedy to this difficult situation that builds on our tradition of strong respect of property rights. If we expand our concept of property rights beyond private property to include a real respect of public property rights--so that rates of taking of natural resources and levels of pollution in the air and water do not exceed what most people consider as acceptable (and so that the people receive payment when these resources owned by all are taken or degraded by corporations in pursuit of profit)--we will have significantly reduced two of the greatest threats to the stability of our global society.

If we cannot offer the promise of a sustainable and just civilization, we cannot expect our well-meaning attempts to develop traditional societies to be welcomed by members of those societies.

Our practice appears to be to support corrupt elements within more traditional societies, provided that they give lip service to supporting Western-style democracy. If we align ourselves with corrupt elements, we will be on the wrong side of history. Our efforts will be doomed to failure.

Graft, social stratification (disparity between rich and poor), a degraded and despoiled environment, pollution and blight are what we offer to "less-developed" nations and peoples.

Social stratification should be a serious concern for all governments because extreme disparity increases tendencies toward violence among some people. For many others, extreme disparity contributes to feelings of being oppressed by structural injustice.

Environmental degradation and depletion of resources should be of concern for all governments and all people because resource depletion is perhaps the greatest threat to the stability of our global civilization. Ecological collapse has been a trigger or a cause of civilizations' collapse in the past.


More Security for the Least Secure Means More Security for All