The Bridge at the Edge of the World: Capitalism, the Environment and Crossing from Crisis to Sustainability by James Gustave Speth
Yale University Press, £16
“FOR all the material blessing economic progress has provided, for all the disease and destitution avoided, for all the glories that shine in the best of our civilisation, the costs to the natural world, the costs to glories of nature, have been huge and must be counted in the balance as tragic loss.” So begins James Gustave Speth, distinguished dean of the school of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University, in his latest book on today’s monumental environmental challenges.
Speth poses the fundamental question: how can we derail the organisation of the modern global economy from its destructive trajectory and rewire it so it “protects and restores the natural world”. A leader in the field, Speth believes it is essential for environmental groups to take on board different strategies in order to affect transformative change. He expounds on the necessity of putting the brakes on “market imperialism” and the importance of fostering a new consciousness and an environmental politics that will, in part, be aided by “citizen demand”.
“Throughput” describes the flow of natural resources from the environment through the economy and its return as waste. Arguing for a substantial reduction in throughput inevitably challenges economic growth. Speth advocates a radical revaluation of our “open-ended commitment to aggregate economic growth” and suggests concentrating instead on measures that increase human welfare in areas such as education and healthcare.
Countries with high GDP per capita do not necessarily produce the happiest people. As well as the damage inflicted on the environment by modern capitalism and an ever expanding corporate culture, Speth explores how this affects us on an individual level and concludes, like others before him, that rampant consumerism does not make us happy. We can all make a difference, he says, by living more simply and developing green consumerism in our everyday lives. Philosophy, poetry and religion can all combat our “alienation from nature” he and help us to become “re-enchanted” with the natural world.
Speth covers an enormous amount of ground in relatively few pages, his style is always engaging and, more importantly, he succeeds in demonstrating that the destruction of the planet is not unavoidable. The focus of his most damning critique is the excessive consumption of affluent countries; and in particular the damage wrought by the yawning political inequality in the US. He links today’s environmental challenges with the destructive elements of “social inequality and neglect and the erosion of democratic governance and popular control”. Repairing and rebalancing is required on all three fronts, he argues, in order to ensure the safety of the earth for future generations. Only then will we be able to cross safely the bridge at the edge of the world.
Lucy Popescu
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