An Agenda for Sustainability: Fairness in a World of Limits [Paperback]

William M. Bueler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1997

William Bueler's book is on the cutting edge of an emerging issue--sustainability. Richard D. Lamm, former Govenor of Colorado says,"sustainability is the next great revolution facing humankind. No trees grow to the sky. No population or economy can grow indefinitely. It is a very tough issue, but one that we have to face.

Editorial Reviews

Review

David Pimentel at Cornell University says, "Fairness, freedom, and sound leadership are all essential if we are to achieve a society that is both politically and environmentally sustainable. Mr. Bueler has stated the case for this both elegantly and clearly." -- Publisher Comments

About the Author

William Bueler is a widely published author and lecturer on environmental issues.

Product Details

• Paperback: 136 pages
• Publisher: Cross Cultural Pubns/Crossroads (March 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0940121425
• ISBN-13: 978-0940121423
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,047,320 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Valuable for those already interested in sustainability, March 19, 2008

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Reading Maven "Dani" (MN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Agenda for Sustainability: Fairness in a World of Limits (Paperback)

An Agenda for Sustainability - Fairness in a World of Limits
by William M. Bueler

Although I did not agree with many of the generalized statements in this book and I don't believe that our government will ever adopt the major changes he suggests, I agree with the premise that all citizens of Earth should be striving for sustainability. I think with some of the prejudices and the forced adopting of his policies removed this same information would make a good "primer to an American citizen" in the area of sustainability.

The immediate future he paints is not a fun one for many people. Reduced incomes for the super wealthy, 100% taxation on spendable income over a preset amount, soaring prices of scare resources, and removing tax incentives for more than 2 children will drastically reduce the quality of many individual Americans lives. These sacrifices are made by the few to bring up the quality of life of the many in the areas of health care, and education and more. Its a trade-off that I am willing to consider.

The Good:
I was drawn to this book by its extended title "Fairness in a world of limits". This book does a great job of pointing out the areas that we as a nation need to improve upon to be on the road to sustainability. Trying to develop a more fair economic, educational and health care system in America can have great positive impacts on our chances for getting there. An opinion of mine that was greatly reinforced by this book was that education is the key to this. Educated women have lower birth rates and are better able to obtain safe and secure living situations. In more stable environments the next generation will carry on the same values to their adult lives and then on to raising their own children.

He did a great job in demonstrating that the low end of our society is a horrible place to be. To be faced day after day with TV, billboard, internet and magazine ads showing us what the good life in America looks like and to see in every aspect of my day to day life that I can never achieve it would suck out my will to carry on. Decreasing our current emphasis on material things at all economic levels of our society can make that hard reality of pay disparity less apparent. The author also states areas like "elemental safety in the streets, much less high-quality education, health care and a good environment" (p34) will decrease the gap between what they see as the good life and the realities of their own lives. The author suggests trying to limit the programming of TV shows that perpetuate the myth, and increase good programming however I don't see a way to do that because it is audience demand that drives programming.

The vision of the future that is presented briefly at the end of this book sounds like a great place to exist in. There is more contentment in our lives because our worth and happiness is based not only on incomes and material wealth, but more focus on the arts, intellectual development, and physical well being.

The Bad:
This is a book of many generalizations and opinions. There were many places in the book where a statement was made that did not agree with my personal knowledge and when I encountered them they were stated in very general ways with "could be", "might include", "most". "plenty of", or "lower rates of". There was not only no quantitative information in these statements but there were no references cited either. This makes me seriously doubt some of the conclusions he comes to since they seem to be based on opinions rather than any hard facts.

If I had to answer True False to the question "I think people are generally good" I would answer True in a heartbeat. I am also a realist however and know that there are currently plenty of people looking for a free lunch. I had a problem with trying to visualize how some of the legislation could be made in a way that discouraged cheating. People who currently try to rip off the system will not change just because there is a tax incentive to only have 2 children, or a resource board has inflated the cost of timber because of its future scarcity. People currently cheat the system and bribe board members and all manner of lesser crimes and the author seems to neglect this point.

The Ugly:
I had a couple uncomfortable moments when reading this book where the rhetoric turned very prejudicial. In relation to birth's there was much talk of marriage being the only way society should encourage child raising which leaves out single parents and if I read between the lines also gay couples who want to have children. These would be discouraged by not offering the same tax breaks to parents of children born outside of a marriage and any 3rd or following offspring.

In relation to race the author commented on minority birth rates being the only ones that were above replacement level, while white birth rates were below, so he had much understanding that his population control mechanisms would more greatly affect minorities. The reasons that he gives for minority birth rates being much higher are not backed up by hard data and end up sounding like bad stereotypes. I seriously doubt that minorities have a higher birth rate because "it gives them a growing share of political power" (p104). I suspect in the specific case of Americans with roots in Latin countries that it has more to do with a culture that historically values the large extended family, and religious affiliations. The reasons for each of the individual minorities having a higher birth rate is not as relevant as the reasons why economically disadvantaged people have more children.

On this last point I believe that increased education and greater assimilation into an environmentally conscious mainstream will work itself out. Future generations of people raised on new American values of sustainability is vastly more important than calling out minorities as the problem.

Conclusion:
This book left me feeling "where is the love"? There is a bit much of the doom and gloom, and the outlines of suggested plans the author suggests are complete fantasy. I see no way for even one of the freedom limiting initiatives ever coming to pass in this country while we still govern ourselves. The main agenda items I speak of are capping income used for spending, reducing CEO/Athlete/Entertainer salaries, dis-incentives for having more than 2 children, and a resource board that can set high prices on scarce resources. I can only picture these events in a militia lock down as a result of some as yet unforeseen environmental catastrophe.

In the end I think it was a valuable read for myself and anyone else who is already interested in sustainability for our Earth. You will get the most out of it if you are willing to separate the practical actions that every citizen can take to work towards sustainability from the ideals expressed by the author.