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> From: Mark Graffis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Our Lost Wealth: People + Natural Resources = Real Wealth > > > THE UNITED STATES WASTES MORE THAN $2 TRILLION ANNUALLY > > > `Our Lost Wealth' is excerpted from Paul Hawken's `Natural Capitalism' the > cover story of Mother Jones magazine's April '97 issue. Hawken argues that > business' focus on `using more resources to make fewer people more > productive' has the perverse effect of eliminating jobs when labor is > plentiful while depleting our limited natural resources. The result: > immense resource waste and incalculable social waste stemming from a > growing population of un- and underemployed people. Look for Mother Jones > on your local newsstand or call 1-800- GET-MOJO to request a trial issue. > Paul Hawken is an internationally known businessman and author. > > The United States prides itself on being the richest country in the world. > yet we can't balance the budget, pay for education, or take care of the > aged and infirm. How is it that we can have both a growing economy and a > growing underclass? > > In politics, they say "follow the money." What you find is that > the waste in resources and people shows up in our overall gross domestic > product (GDP). Of the $7 trillion spent every year in the United States, > we waste at least $2 trillion. What is meant by waste? Money spent where > the buyer gets no value. > > GET OUT YOUR CALCULATORS > > The World Resources Institute has found that roadway congestion costs $100 > billion per year in lost productivity, not counting gasoline, accident and > maintenance costs. Highway accidents cost $358 billion per year, including > $228 billion in pain and suffering and $40 billion in property damage. We > spend another $85 billion indirectly subsidizing free parking at shopping > malls and workplaces. The hidden social costs of driving - hidden because > they are not paid by motorists directly - also include disease and damage > to crops and forests caused by auto exhaust. these charges total $300 > billion. > > We spend $50 billion a year to guard sea-lanes and to protect oil sources > we would not need if President Reagan had not gutted emission standards in > 1986. We spend nearly $200 billion a year in supplementary energy costs > because we do not employ the same energy efficiency standards for our > businesses and homes as do the Japanese. > > We waste around $65 billion on non-essential or fraudulent medical tests > and, by some estimates, $250 billion on inflated overhead generated by the > current health insurance system. We spend $52 billion on substance abuse, > $69 billion on obesity treatments, $125 billion on heart disease, and, > some estimate, as much as $100 billion on health problems related to air > pollution. > > Legal, accounting, audit, bookkeeping and record-keeping expenditures to > comply with an unnecessarily complex and unenforceable tax code cost > citizens at least $250 billion a year; what Americans fail to pay the IRS > adds up to another $150 billion. > > Crime costs taxpayers $450 billion a year; lawsuits, $300 billion. These > figures don't include disbursements for Superfund sites, monies to clean > up nuclear weapons facilities (estimated to be as high as $500 billion), > the annual cost of 25 billion tons of material waste, subsidies to > environmentally damaging industries, loss of fisheries, damage from > overgrazing, water pollution, topsoil loss, government waste, gambling, or > the social costs of unemployment. Conceivably, half the GDP is spent on > waste. > > If we could shift a portion of these expenditures to more productive uses, > we would have the money to balance our budget, take care of those who > cannot care for themselves, raise wonderfully educated and responsible > children, restore degraded environments, and help developing countries. > If, for example, we had simply adopted stricter energy standards in 1974 - > standards in use by Japan - and had applied the savings to the national > debt, we would not have a national deficit today. (Reprint, Earth Times, > May, 1997 edition) > > > Copyright © 1996. The Light Party. > > > The Light Party, > 20 Sunnyside Ave., Suite A-156 > Mill Valley, CA 94941. > Tel: (415) 381-4061 * Fax: (415) 381-2645 > Dedicated to "Health, Peace and Freedom for All"</CENTER>Your > Feedback is important to us. Please send us E-Mail. > Our E-mail address is on our Home Page > > <A HREF = "http://www.lightparty.com/index.html"> [Unable to display image] > Back to The Light Party Home Page... -- |
Title: FW - Interesting re-post
