(over)Consuming can be (un)sustainable...

A quaint little wake the hell up op-ed appears in today's NYT. (This should probably appear at DBT, but hey AM Donkey is in need of some copy). Diamond, who in unrelated news speaks 12 languages, pulls few punches in criticizing the West (i.e. Europe and America) for it's development policies that are shortsighted and fail to recognize a need for a new sustainable direction. In both relative and absolute terms, Americans (and other westerners) consume a lot of stuff (according to Diamond an average of 32 times as much per capita as the developing world). Diamond seems to indicate that the American model is worse due primarily to the overconsumption and wasteful use of oil.*

Not surprisingly, the developing world wants to be able to have the lifestyle achieved in the developed world. Unfortunately, these countries are following the American (and to some extent European) development model. The problem here is that both of these models worked primarily due to two factors that are (barring a scientific breakthrough in one and hopefully in the other) not likely to be repeated: Manifest Destiny in America - with infinite land and resources for a relatively small population, and colonialism in Europe. The problem is that the West has failed to realize that it didn't make it to where it is from these unsustainable methods -- and has taken to proselytizing it's methods through the IMF, WorldBank and WTO. So what's the problem? Well to bring out a little of the old "swamp" metaphor...

People in the third world are aware of this difference in per capita consumption, although most of them couldn’t specify that it’s by a factor of 32. When they believe their chances of catching up to be hopeless, they sometimes get frustrated and angry, and some become terrorists, or tolerate or support terrorists. Since Sept. 11, 2001, it has become clear that the oceans that once protected the United States no longer do so. There will be more terrorist attacks against us and Europe, and perhaps against Japan and Australia, as long as that factorial difference of 32 in consumption rates persists.

It seems that at some point the developed world will have to realize the implications of the overconsumption of Earth's resources and consider how to reign these patterns in, but of course we could just continue to decry the global ruination that is being cause primarily by China and India**...

*So speaking of consumption, let's see if the symbology of oil hitting a bill a barrel will do anything to change our consumption practices... doubtful. A more likely wake up call will be the $4/Gallon costs that are very possible if the continued rise in demand is maintained into next year... this is more likely given the growth of oil consumption in Asia.

** This is not to discount the problems being created by the overly lax policies in developing countries, which are often exceptionally shortsighted and should be seriously reconsidered. An excellent article on China is available at Mother Jones