Energy and Human Ambitions on a Finite Planet, 2021a

19 A Plan Might Be Welcome 327
4. What institutions can you think of that are prevalent now but
will be rendered obsolete—or at least radically diminished—if the
economy stopped growing permanently?
5. Why do you think we have not yet formulated a master plan for
how humans can live on the earth indefinitely without exceeding
limits?
6. Do you see a route to global acceptance of a plan? What would it
take to get there? Would we first need a global government having
authority over all nations?
7. What is your major in college, <strong>and</strong> what insights or contributions
do you imagine may be offered by this field of study in formulating
a workable plan for the future of human life on this planet?
8. Presently, the American tendency is to buy a missing tool for a
job that may not be needed again for a very long time, if at all.
It is likely that some nearby neighbor already has the same tool
collecting dust. What do you imagine would be advantages <strong>and</strong>
disadvantages of pooling resources in a lending arrangement?
9. Why do you think the field of traditional economics does not
recognize limits to growth, <strong>and</strong> does not have a macro-macro
branch looking at the whole planet <strong>and</strong> its finite nature?
10. A central question in mapping a comfortable future has to do with
how large our economy is with respect to physical boundaries. 39
One solution would be to set aside some fraction of the planet (l<strong>and</strong>
<strong>and</strong> ocean) off limits to human extraction of any plants, animals,
or other resources. What fraction seems tolerable to you? If it turns
out that half needs to be protected to guarantee long-term survival,
do you think that’s possible/practical? How many generations
do you think could maintain the discipline to preserve that rich
world in a pristine state?
39: It is even possible we have exceeded
those steady-state bounds <strong>and</strong> are spending
down an irreplaceable inheritance right
now.
11. What do you find appealing about a steady-state economic model?
What do you find worrisome?
12. Section 19.3.1 contains four instances in which the economy is
compared to analogous systems. What are these four, <strong>and</strong> which
do you find most impressionable/memorable?
13. Do you think that human nature—the desire to improve one’s lot
<strong>and</strong> exp<strong>and</strong> empire—is compatible with a steady state economic
model? Can you see a way that it might work?
14. Are you left thinking that we are likely to establish <strong>and</strong> implement
a viable global plan for how humans might live prosperously on
the planet indefinitely, or do you think it is more likely we will fail
to do so <strong>and</strong> “wing it” into whatever fate awaits?
© 2021 T. W. Murphy, Jr.; Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Lic.;
Freely available at: https://escholarship.org/uc/energy_ambitions.