There are some words which are used a lot these days, which make me uncomfortable. Every time I hear them used I find my mind filling with questions and doubts.
The first of these is “Growth”. The Labour government in the UK has come to power from a campaign fixed firmly on the concept of growth. It’s a word used by politicians and economists all the time. But growth of what? If I understand them, they are typically referring to something called “economic activity”, by which they mean the production of more goods, the delivery of more services, and the greater consumption of both by the populace. But is this not a bit lacking in nuance? Does a better, more sustainable future for us, for our children and their grandchildren, lie down the path of ever greater consumption? All this in a finite planet? I read the Club of Rome report, “Limits to Growth”, back when it came out, I think, in the 70s, and whilst much of the projected data in that report didn’t pan out, the underlying principle was that we can’t keep depleting limited natural resources, destroying ecosystems, and producing every more pollution. That seems right to me. There are natural limits to growth, just as there are natural limits to healing and to Life. But, more than that, just chasing growth without specifying growth of what, and for what purpose, lacks all value. Producing and consuming more highly processed food is causing an epidemic of obesity and chronic disease. Producing and consuming more oil and gas is heating up the planet, and polluting the oceans with plastics which will never disappear. If we want to pursue growth, shouldn’t we at least be clear about exactly what it is we want to grow, while remaining mindful of the damaging effects of too much production and consumption. There is also the issue of distribution of the fruits of any growth. The economies of the world have been growing – they’ve been shovelling more and more wealth into the hands of a tiny handful of people, whilst populations everywhere creak under the strain of a “cost of living crisis”. The pursuit of growth for growth’s sake, makes me uncomfortable.
The second word which bothers me is “‘utility”. I read a great quote the other day – “those who believe in utility have to answer the question – utility for what? if the answer is just more utility you have a problem”. It’s the same issue as the growth question I suppose. When utility become the exclusive goal, again we lose all contact with quality and values. Something which is “utilitarian” just lacks something, doesn’t it? It’s limited, superficial, thin. It leads to the charge about “knowing the cost of everything and the value of nothing”. Yes, we want our goods and services to be useful, and in that respect, we have to pay attention to their utility, but we’ve got to ask – utility for what? Is it to further our pursuits of Beauty, Truth and Goodness? Is it to further our wellbeing? To increase justice and fairness? Is it to facilitate the flow of love and kindness? Or what?
The third word which troubles me is “efficiency”. Especially, “cost efficiency”. The extreme pursuit of “the greatest bang for the buck”, of “paying attention to the bottom line” is replacing value in Life, with profit in corporate pockets. Our Public services, of health care, education, social care, and so on, are in crisis. We’ve closed hospital beds, failed to invest in training and employment of highly skilled professionals, and we find ourselves with increasing, unmet demand, and an annual cycle of “how are we going to cope” every single winter. Living organisms are complex adaptive systems and our services should be modelled on them, because they are there to improve the quality of Life, not to increase profits for a small group of “investors”. One of the characteristics of complex systems is “redundancy” – they have more adaptive strategies, systems and resources in place than they “need” at any particular moment, so that when a new, large challenge comes along, they can respond. They can deal with it. We’ve trimmed everything back to the bone. Didn’t the Covid pandemic show us that? Clear as day? Didn’t it expose our vulnerabilities, our inequalities, our impoverished resources? The efficiency of a machine, of the production of machines, is not the same as the efficiency of living, natural organisms. We are not machines. We are not machine like. And we need the services which are designed with Life in mind, with humans in mind, not those with the goals of profit making industrial production.
What are your bug bear words? These are my top three. I don’t think I’ve articulated them here before, so I thought I’d take today to do so. I hope that next time you hear someone talk about growth, utility, or efficiency, you’ll stop to reflect and ask what they actually mean by those words, and whether or not you think they are contributing to a more healthy, more flourishing society.
Heroes Not Zombies 