Herman Daly saw economy, ecology and ethics as inseparable
We often say visionary people are “ahead of their time.” With Daly, it’s more like we’re behind his time! We need to catch up. (Photo: Luca Bravo via Unsplash)
Our consumerist-capitalist economic system was conceived relatively recently, albeit when conditions were far different than today. But we’re now so entrenched in it that many see it as real and unchangeable, despite the increasing inequality and ecocide it’s fomenting.
Herman Daly wasn’t one of those people. “There is something fundamentally wrong with treating the Earth as if it were a business in liquidation,” the renowned former World Bank economist and visionary thinker said.
Daly died on October 28, at age 84. Known for his contributions to “steady-state” and ecological economics, he greatly influenced my thinking about economy and environment.
For “defining a path of ecological economics that integrates the key elements of ethics, quality of life, environment and community,” Daly received the 1996 Right Livelihood Award. (I was honoured with that award in 2009.)
Right Livelihood executive director Ole von Uexkull summarized Daly’s contributions: “Herman Daly redefined economics, forging a way forward that does not include the destruction of our environment for economic gain. He sought to demote the notion of growth as the most important economic driver and replace it with a model that respects the limits of our natural resources. It is now our imperative to implement his contributions and ensure sustainable life on our planet.”
Herman Daly redefined economics, forging a way forward that does not include the destruction of our environment for economic gain.
Daly knew that glorifying constant growth on a finite planet and failing to correct course is suicidal. Gravity, the speed of light, entropy and the laws of thermodynamics are forces of nature. There’s nothing we can do about them except live within the boundaries they delimit.
But we created the economy. If it doesn’t work, we should fix or replace it.
Others have also revealed the archaic nature of our system and developed models better suited to our times and conditions. Oxford economist Kate Raworth’s “doughnut economics” offers a practical way to achieve the rethinking and reform Daly called for.
We can’t elevate economy above environment, or pit them against each other. As Daly said, “The economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment, not the reverse.” We’re part of nature, and everything in nature, including us, is interconnected. What we do to it, we do to ourselves. Accelerating fossil fuel exploitation, deforestation, mining, wetland destruction and consumerism has far-reaching, interrelated consequences, from climate chaos to biodiversity decline to water shortages.
We can’t elevate economy above environment, or pit them against each other.
We got ourselves into this mess mostly through mistakes and ignorance, but we’ve failed to address it adequately because of greed and fear of change. This fear — and doubt — has been stoked for decades by the oil, coal and gas industry, which has spent enormous amounts of time and money to convince people that climate change isn’t a big problem and it would be too costly and disruptive to shift to renewable energy — even though their own scientists warned of the danger starting in the 1970s or earlier!
The current system continues to reward this behaviour with record profits, massive executive compensation packages and few consequences.
As Right Livelihood notes, Daly’s “masterly synthesis of the application of classical concepts of capital and income to resources and the environment, the laws of thermodynamics, and the insights of ecology … resulted in a leap in understanding why dominating economic systems are destroying the environment” and “deeply influenced the debate about what should be done about this question.”
The current system continues to reward this behaviour with record profits, massive executive compensation packages and few consequences.
Daly argued that it’s false to assume growth increases living standards, because gross domestic product as a measure only accounts for benefits, leaving out costs to human health, the environment and the ability of future generations to live well. He also argued that the “wealthy part of the world has to make ecological room for the poor to catch up to an acceptable standard of living. That means cutting back on per capita consumption, that we don’t hog all the resources for trivial consumption.”
We’re trundling down a broken road in a gas-guzzling antique. It’s far past time to move into the 21st century. If we continue to define progress by ever-increasing growth and GDP, and cling to an antiquated system that encourages waste, destruction and greed, we’ll soon break down or run out of fuel.
We often say visionary people are “ahead of their time.” With Daly, it’s more like we’re behind his time! We need to catch up. Fast.
For a detailed look at Daly’s life and ideas, read economist (and David Suzuki Foundation honorary board member) Peter Victor’s recent book, Herman Daly’s Economics for a Full World.
David Suzuki
David Suzuki, Co-Founder of the David Suzuki Foundation, is an award-winning scientist, environmentalist and broadcaster. David is renowned for his radio and television programs that explain the complexities of the natural sciences in a compelling, easily understood way.
Education
As a geneticist. David graduated from Amherst College (Massachusetts) in 1958 with an Honours BA in Biology, followed by a Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Chicago in 1961. He held a research associateship in the Biology Division of Tennessee’s Oak Ridge National Lab (1961 – 62), was an Assistant Professor in Genetics at the University of Alberta (1962 – 63), and since then has been a faculty member of the University of British Columbia. He is now Professor Emeritus at UBC.
Awards
In 1972, he was awarded the E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship for the outstanding research scientist in Canada under the age of 35 and held it for three years. He has won numerous academic awards and holds 25 honourary degrees in Canada, the U.S. and Australia. He was elected to the Royal Society of Canada and is a Companion of the Order of Canada. Dr. Suzuki has written 52 books, including 19 for children. His 1976 textbook An Introduction to Genetic Analysis(with A.J.F. Griffiths), remains the most widely used genetics text book in the U.S.and has been translated into Italian, Spanish, Greek, Indonesian, Arabic, French and German.
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