THE NO-GROWTH PIONEERS

The fact that growth -- whether it be in terms of a population explosion, or in terms of a mushrooming of energy-use --cannot continue indefinitely has been recognized for a long time by some people. These were as voices in the wilderness; they were scoffed at or ignored.

Even a partial listing of those who have been concerned with the dynamics and consequences of growth is impressive in terms of who is on the list: Thomas Malthus, Henry David Thoreau, Count Leo Tolstoy, Mohandas Gandhi, Fairfield Osborn, Aldo Leopold, Louis Bromfield, Rachel Carson, Ralph Borsodi and E. F. Schumacher, to name some who are no longer living.

And, Helen and Scott Nearing, Kenneth Boulding, Albert Bartlett, Amory Lovins, Garrett Hardin, Paul Ehrlich, and Florence and Peter van Dresser, to name some of the living no-growth pioneers. Let me summarize the ideas of some of the latter people, so you can see what it is they advocate.

THE NEARINGS: Helen and Scott Nearing 'dropped out during the depression of the 1930's. They bought a small farm in Vermont. There, they raised large gardens, built with stone, harvested maple sugar and syrup for cash income, and generally lived a nearly self-sufficient life. Most of the energy they used was renewable: wood for heating and cooking; home-grown food for their energy; human muscle-power for all but and occasional task.

After 20 years in Vermont, a ski corporation bought the mountain across from the Nearings. They sold their farm, moved to Maine and started over.

Helen and Scott wrote a book entitled Living the Good Life. It is an account of their Vermont experience. After many years with few sales, the book became a bestseller about eight years ago and has continued to sell briskly.

BOULDING: Kenneth Boulding is a world-renowned economist. He is on the faculty of the University of Colorado at Boulder. He is a leader in the effort to establish modern, no-growth economic theory and practice.

In one of the most widely publicized articles of the 'new economics,' which he titled "The Economics of the Coming Spaceship Earth," Boulding argues that we must set aside our 'cowboy' (reckless, exploitative, romantic and violent) economy in favor of a more responsible 'spaceman economy.

In the 'cowboy' economy, according to Boulding, the measure of success is the amount of throughput. This throughput is roughly equivalent to our gross national product (GNP).

However, we don't distinguish between those aspects of the GNP which are based on exhaustible resources, or which create problems such as pollution, from those parts of the GNP that are renewable and 'truly' productive. Boulding feels this distinction needs to be made. We must look at the nature, extent, quality and complexity of the throughput; we must redefine success.

BARTLETT: Albert Bartlett, also a professor at CU-Boulder, applies simple mathematics to the processes of growth and of energy usage. He focuses on the mathematics of exponents.

He feels: "The greatest shortcoming of the human race is man's inability to understand the exponential function."

Very simply put, anything that grows (populations, energy consumption, air pollutants) at a fairly steady rate across time is growing exponentially.

The problem with exponential growth is that even very small growth rates can result in enormous increases. (Remember, world population is growing at less than 1.9 percent per year, but that population will double in about 36 years, unless something very dramatic interferes with the growth rate.)

Professor Bartlett is lecturing and publishing widely in an effort to raise public awareness of the dynamics and the consequences of growth.

THE van DRESSERS: Peter and Florence van Dresser 'dropped out' a generation ago and eventually settled in northern New Mexico. For many years, they have studiously avoided the dominant cultural concerns with material acquisition.

Meanwhile, Peter has written two books and many articles, with Florence's help, on the necessity for rethinking our basic values, on the need for regionalism and decentralization and on the potential for alternate energy sources, such as solar energy. Recently he founded the Sustained Yield Council, a group dedicated to renewable resource living.

The van Dressers built one of the earliest solar/adobe homes in this country (except for the cliff dwellings and early pueblos) in the 1950's and will soon move into a new solar/adobe home. Peter was the leader of the Sundwellings Group, which designed and supervised the construction of four solar/adobe test structures at the Ghost Ranch near Abiquiu, NM. These units have received world-wide attention.

The two books: Development on a Human Scale (also known as "A Landscape for Humans") and Homegrown Sundwellings, detail the van Dresser approach to living. The books are classics of their kind.

Thus, we see that a number of individuals representing broad spectrums of our culture have been aware of the meaning of mindless growth and rampant energy consumption. Through their efforts, word is getting around. Increasing numbers of people are making adjustments in their beliefs and in their lives.

Will enough people make enough radical changes soon enough? The problems are growing exponentially (that is, by leaps and bounds). Time grows ever shorter.