Cuba by Henryk Kotowski
A study of 93 nations has found that only one nation - Cuba - is developing sustainably.
"The wholesale plunder of the planet’s natural resources has brought into sharp focus the necessity for some kind of global (and globally enforceable) regulation of what’s left of the planet’s precious cargo of life.
"But can capitalism undertake such a task?...
"There is a certain irony in the fact that Cuba, through force of circumstance, has had to embark on the construction of a sustainable economy." - Marx, the First Real Globalist
What is the problem with regard to Population and Growth?
There appears to be a problem of over-population - Once it Starts ....
There appears to be an ecological crisis - It's Over
We need to think about over-population - The Crisis of Overpopulation
Photo from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/greenmapsystem/649445907/
Image:CO2 responsibility 1950-2000.svgWhy must we all copy Cuba?
Cubans have high life expectancy and literacy. Cubans do not use much oil.
A study of 93 nations has found that only one nation - Cuba - is developing sustainably.
Cuba is the only nation which:
(1) provides a decent standard of living for its people and
(2) does not consume more than its fair share of the world's resources.
New Scientist (World failing on sustainable development - earth - 03 October 2007 ... / Cuba Flies Lone Flag for Sustainability - Indymedia Ireland) provides the details:
"An international team led by Mathis Wackernagel of the Global Footprint Network looked at how the living conditions and ecological footprints of 93 nations have changed in the last 30 years.
"They used the ecological footprint (EF) index, a tool devised in 1993 by Wackernagel and William Rees, his PhD supervisor at the University of British Columbia, Canada. EF quantifies the area of land required to provide the infrastructure used by a person or a nation, the food and goods they consume, and to reabsorb the waste they produce, using available technology."
We should not copy the poorest countries in Africa because, although they do not consume more than their fair share of resources, they do not have a decent standard of living for all their people.
Under no circumstances should we copy the USA or the United Arab Emirates, because they consume much more than their fair share of resources.
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3 comments:
An amazing wee country is Cuba. To have survived in the teeth of US hostility, retained their independence through years of CIA plots, and kept the faith while suffering under an economic embargo. Well done Cuba.
A lot of what Cuba gets up to is spot on. But it's a shame it's so down on gay relationships. And it's a bit weird to talk about sustainability when its own lack of democracy means that the revolution cannot be sustainable.
One of these days the people will have had enough of the political, cultural and social repression. They'll rise up and kick out the regime. They'll have plenty of help from the West when the do. Which will be a huge shame.
Cuba needs to democratise if it's to continue to revolutionise.
Cuba has a form of democracy, with elections and high participation. It may be not resemble our own managed democratic processes, but it is there. Thickipedia has a reasonable page on it.
It may not have an imperfectible beauty, but the outcomes in many areas compare well with the managed democracies such as the dominican republic and the (very heavily managed) hell on earth that is haiti.
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