Scope, Profit & Greed

Scope

Any city, with the right climate, in the vicinity of a farming population can do what Havana and Belo Horizonte did. But the problem comes with distance. With 2.8 million people, Chicago is about the same size. The climate is not tropical but will yield spring, summer, early fall crops and with the right equipment and plants, and some winter crops as well. Farmers would have to traverse Chicago’s suburban sprawl. In order to get to the central city it could take over three hours for some in bad traffic. Chicago has lost its direct access to food. The sprawl has eaten up those very farms that could have supported the city. That’s considered development.

However, much of the land in the suburbs could be made into communal or public gardens that could produce surplus. Large private lawns could be converted to garden space. But, when the suburbs were built the topsoil was stripped and sold to farms. The soil there now would be marginal at best and take years to build up to past levels of fertility. It would be smart to start the process of soil recovery sooner rather than later. Without a crisis it takes the will of the people to make things happen. With a crisis, the government mandates it.

Havana and Belo Horizonte are not typical. They are models for all the worlds urban centers as to what is possible. The situation in Cuba could become a reality for any industrialized country with a sudden cut off of fuel. It shows that if faced with a crisis, industrialized cities and farms can survive without the industry. People can make do with less. People will have less land to grow grass on and more gardens to cultivate. People will drive less and walk more. But, they are fed and they are healthier. Belo Horizonte shows that if the people want to, they can end their own food supply problems before there is a crisis. Belo also shows people that they have rights beyond what the ruling classes say they have. Belo’s model shows that no one should be allowed to take those rights away in order to make a profit.

Profit

Corporate sustainability is rooted in profit. From a corporate point of view to be sustainable is to survive as a corporation. And, the CEO is bound by law to take advantage of any situation that will increase profit for the investors and the share holders. If being green is profitable then the corporation will be green. They don’t become green because it’s the right thing to do, but because it makes them money and gives them power and control. That is the same reason corporate behavior destroys the planet’s ecosystems:

For money, power and control.

Corporate profit is different than independently owned, small business profit. It is different than an independent farmer’s profit. Corporate profit is extra. After all expenses are paid, after payroll is met, After taxes have been paid, after donations to charities have been made, after the buildings have been taken care of, after money has been set aside for business improvements, what is left over is the profit. The extra. The more than necessary. This extra does not go to feed people who need it. It does not go to house people who need housing. It does not go to increase benefits or pay the workers more. It certainly does not go to permanently fix the damage to the environment done by the corporation. It goes into the pockets of the investors. And this amount of profit must stay the same or increase. Nothing may stand in the way of profit.

Nothing.

Greed

Everyone can get paid well and have benefits if a business is non-profit or not for profit. So why do we have for profit hospitals now? Why do we have for profit food businesses? Why do we have for profit anything when all can be provided if businesses were run as non or not for profits? Because the investors would not make money. And, it’s the investors who put up the money to start new businesses so they can make more money and control more businesses.

What if the money came from somewhere else?

In a highly evolved society, profit cannot even be a factor. Food needs to be made available to all people regardless, with no strings attached. All the food necessary to maintain a complete, healthy human being connected to the food and the Earth. Basic needs such as healthy whole food, clean and safe water, clean air, whole body healthcare and healing services, safe and healthy housing, education systems that nourish and develop the whole person, these things need to be available to all people. If profit is eliminated from the equation then the above becomes possible.

A non-profit hospital? A non-profit grocery store? Free water from municipalities? Non-profit housing? Free heat? People’s basic and fundamental needs should not be for profit. No one should be exploiting another human’s need to feel secure and safe and healthy. No one should be exploiting someone’s need to eat and feed their family. No one should stand in the way of someone being able to be educated to a point where they can reach their personal full potential. No one should be allowed to exploit and profit from the destruction of the Earth, its environment or ecosystem. No one. These exploitations in industrial society have lead us, as a planet, to a pivotal and critical time. These exploitations need to end

now.