Message-ID: <1.5.4.32.19960923181520.00685ac0@mail.uva.nl> Date: Mon, 23 Sep 1996 20:15:20 +0200 From: Grant Ballard-Tremeer <mailto:B.Tremeer@MAIL.UVA.NL> Subject: DEVEL-L:Sustainable economic systems.pre/post colonial times To: Multiple recipients of list DEVEL-L <mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU>
Doesn't the problem revolve around what an economic system is, and then what a sustainable one is? What is an unsustainable economic system? Am I right in saying that the ancient Egyptians used a form of money? Or do people not see them as African?At 10:02 AM 9/23/96 EST, Michael Patterson wrote: (snip) > Most indigenous cultures had to be sustainable. If they weren't,
> the people died. There are examples of non-sustainable cultures in
> the archeological record in the American Southwest, for example.
> Western technology allows one major luxury beyond the reach of
> most indigenous populations: the freedom to be grossly stupid, and
> not consider the effects of one's actions on future generations.
> This is the major blessing Western technology has conferred on the
> third world.
(snip)People can be 'grossly stupid' and not consider future generations in any culture, the gift of the West, I think, is the scale - the "bigger is better" mentality.
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