Economic Reform
Bravo to The Times and Tom Falvey for his article (Opinion, Feb. 22), “Saving Trees and Saving Us from Peril of World Debt.” It’s the most succinct and intelligent article I’ve seen to date in the popular press about a subject that will become one of the most important issues of the 1990s--economic restructuring.
Avoiding the negative tone of a prophet of doom, Falvey begins to suggest that economic reform--even revolutionary new economic thinking--is tied to our very survival as human beings. By pointing out an economic solution to the seeming dilemma of Third World rain forest loss (that is: exchange of foreign debt for preservation of the forests) he reminds us of the inter-connectedness and interdependence of all people on Earth.
Economics is the invention of man’s mind, and as such can be changed if man’s opinion about it changes. But the rain forest is not man’s invention, and is destroyed by his exploitation.
I’m with Falvey in encouraging us to rethink our invented institutions if they cease to be effective and to stop trying to force more economic blood out of an already overburdened Earth, destroying its vital life systems in the process. After all, if nature ceases to be effective, we’ll all cease to be.
GRIFF LAMBERT
Los Angeles
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
