Distribution - Economics and Ecology: United for a Sustainable World - page 98

The lesson taught by the Era of Limits is that making the pie bigger becomes
increasingly difficult—even impossible. Moreover, laissez-faire capitalism
inexorably worsens the distribution of income and wealth, which makes any
restoration of social justice more difficult to accomplish. Consequently, the
planetary squeeze has begun, and the zero-sum nature of our distributional
choices is daily becoming more apparent, including, among other things,
the steady disappearance of the middle-class. The first step in this zero-sum
game is informed denial; the second is political conflict—both domestically
and internationally. And we continue to observe an increase in both.
Equity and Social Justice—The Key to Real Sustainability
On the surface, we may appear to have arrived at the conclusion that for
an economic system to be sustainable, decisions about the distribution of
income must be made consciously by human choice, rather than uncon-
sciously by the market. We are not sure this is true. In fact, we cannot imag-
ine a central board, agency, or commission—in the manner of a centralized,
planned economy—being able to do such a job effectively. Further, we do not
have specific recommendations with respect to how wealth should ideally
be apportioned in an economy, with appropriate salaries, income levels, and
so forth. That would be folly. Rather, we are certain of one thing: An ethic of
compassion, justice, social-environmental sustainability, and the recognition
of planetary limits must be totally inculcated into whatever process exists in
communities, states, and regions for the determination of issues related to
levels of salary and income per individual. Clearly, these are value judgments .
If this admittedly difficult task were accomplished, the results would pro-
pel society in the direction of a sustainable, monetary distribution. Although
we continue to assert there is no such thing as a free market, there can and
must be such a thing as a fair market—one inculcated with the values identi-
fied above. If such an economic system was created within a local or regional
framework, then we can imagine a constructive role for a labor market in cre-
ating a wage/price structure with much healthier patterns of distributional
equity than those we currently observe.
To live—or work—justly, one has to know that the rules by which one lives
are morally just, why they are just, and that one can live by them safely. Is any
dominant societal notion of justice really fair in the moral sense, or is it merely
something that is socially and legally acceptable at this moment in history,
when money and political power dominate spirituality and compassion?
The ideals of justice, which so desperately need to be taught to those who
will become parents and leaders, seem, in this consumerist-dominated cul-
ture, to be less and less apparent in homes and schools and, thus, in society
at large. Consider, for example, the brief period in the history of Zimbabwe,
in southern Africa, as it played out in the year 2000. We choose this graphic