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June 16, 2005
Sustainability's Purview
Michael, a thoughtful reader of our Fundamentals blog, posted a comment about our proposed principle, Ensure every child is wanted, in which he asks: "[This] goes beyond sustainability's purview, doesn't it?"
NEW has long argued that family planning plays a significant role in a range of sustainability issues, starting with our book Misplaced Blame back in 1997, and as recently as our latest book, Cascadia Scorecard 2005 (pdf)--not to mention as a regular feature of this blog.
But what do you think?
Does "Ensure every child is wanted" belong on our short list of sustainability principles?
Don't leave your comment here, though. Navigate to our full discussion of principles and values and give us a piece of your mind!
Posted by Parke Burgess | Permalink
Comments
Hi Parke,
Thoughtful reader here. Thanks for the shout-out.
I just wanted to make it clear that I was being a stickler (even a niggler) re: that particular principle.
While I do think that family planning has a very clear link with sustainability, my concern is that "ensure every child is wanted" is, practically speaking, impossible. Like financial planning, a lot of family planning is done in an ad hoc manner, and I don't see human nature changing that much.
But maybe I'm looking at this from the wrong angle. I'll be curious to see what other people have to say.
Posted by: Michael | Jun 17, 2005 4:20:40 PM
Every pre-born is wanted by someone. Just ask the people waiting and waiting and waiting to adopt.
Posted by: Dennis | Oct 25, 2005 3:15:19 PM