SENTINEL WATCH September 29, 2003 Issue

Better thinking about world scarcity

By Kurt Shillinger

HERE'S ONE VIEW of our common future: acute environmental destruction; islands of wealth amid oceans of poverty; overlapping epidemics; conflict over diminishing natural resources; anarchy. There seems to be plenty of evidence to support this outlook. Pirate vessels breaking international law to plunder dwindling marine fisheries. Nations warring over water. As the human family swells, urgent environmental issues are becoming urgent security issues.

Concerned about these deepening trends, many thoughtful people are beginning to reconsider the most fundamental principles and practices of human activity. Business leaders and environmental activists are joining hands to find more socially conscious ways to generate wealth. World leaders are grappling to reform trade laws that entrench the disparities between richer and poorer nations.

These efforts are significant. They represent a shared yearning for a more balanced future. But they start from a premise that may ultimately limit their impact: an assumption that scarcity is inevitable. As long as we try to give more equitable slices of a shrinking pie to more and more people, we're bound to keep coming up short.