The '80s were about "greed is good." The '90s are about "growth is good."
by Chris Klein
have noticed that we have an built-in positive response
to the idea of growth. Our children grow, our plants grow, our bank accounts
grow, our relationships grow. The growth of our nation; the growth of democracy
- all these things are good. Our relationship to growth is informed by our
very language; synonyms for growth include: increase, development, evolution,
flowering, progress, promotion.
The point is, based on our common experience
and usage, any context that suggests growth comes pre-packaged with a positive
association. It's automatic - no thinking required. Opposition to growth
feels, somehow, disloyal. Unnatural.
Imagine, just for a moment, standing up in
front of a large group of people and saying, in a loud, clear voice, "I'm
for growth!" Now imagine the same scene - take two - where you proclaim,
"I'm against growth!" Without even defining the topic, I bet you
can feel a difference in the emotions it invokes.
I came to this consideration of growth because,
in our work here (particularly with respect to the land use issues we have
reported on in the last few issues), I have found myself standing in opposition
to growth. If we're going to preserve what little of our natural environment
is left, at some point growth is going to have to stop. Our quality of life
is already suffering, and as a native San Diegan, I'd like to stop growth
before it becomes insufferable.
This is really what the Multiple Species Conservation
Program is about: drawing a line and saying, growth will stop here. There's
still a lot of wrangling going on about positioning the line, and probably
no one will be completely satisfied with the result. But if it is accepted,
it will be the first time we have a few real limits to growth.
To counteract my own built-in bias and encourage
critical thinking, I've started playing devil's advocate with my own preconceptions.
The devil's position is, "growth is not good, it's destroying our natural
heritage, quality of life and children's future." Then, I let both
the positive and negative attitudes gather evidence and fight it out.
Once I allowed myself the anti-growth heresy,
it was surprising how many unquestioned positions fell into doubt. Give
it a try. It isn't easy, but who said life was supposed to be easy?
