Getting Dirty: Politics

I have long hesitated to spend much time & space on political topics. My original inclination with Sustainable Frederick has been to target issues that are under-represented in media, not to mention that are less divisive. I may be able to avoid national politics, but at least on the local level I've come to accept that it is naive and even negligent for me to pretend there is no elephant in this room. I hope I don't alienate -- and therefore lose the ability to influence and inform -- those who will reflexively dismiss what I write when they begin to suspect I am not on their political team, but there is no time to be timid.

So here goes -- my first political salvo:

In broad terms, sustainability requires democracy. Further, sustainability requires a government that sticks its nose right into the issues of resource use.

This is really the sticking point: conservatives tend to want little or no government. They argue that any government is a slippery slope to tyranny, and besides the economy works better and more efficiently without government busybodies getting in our business.

I felt that way once, myself -- in college as a recently declared economics major I was in love with the idea of the free market unfettered by government regulation. Who can argue that capitalism and the relatively free market provides tremendous social benefit through innovation and through the individuals raising themselves up to reap the gains of opportunity? With that in mind, my naive student self argued that businesses wouldn't pollute the Earth knowingly, because then they would face increasing costs as the labor pool sickened. I argued that because rational people agree that an economy that systematically disenfranchises the poor is inherently unstable, then who wouldn't be in favor of a progressive system that provides opportunity to all?

Well, I still believe that the innovation and motivation that are inherent in a capitalist system are among the most potent potential forces for good on Earth. Now, however, I also understand what is known as the Tragedy of the Commons. In short, the tragedy of the commons is a metaphor that describes how people tend to shortsightedly eat up and ultimately destroy all of the value of "public goods" such as clean air and water.

See, the polluting company won't face costs associated with a sick labor force for years, and investors in the form of shareholders only care about this quarter. The company will move its production to China and investors will be long gone to other stocks, bonds and god knows what else long before any accountants post the costs of polluting the environment to any income statement. And while rational people may desire the stable economy that comes with economic equity, they would just as soon take the money and run off to some fortress playground of the rich.

Here in Frederick County, we want individuals and businesses to develop the land so that people gather what value we can from our most precious resource. What we don't want is for the land to be developed such that it loses the unique and irreplaceable value of the land itself. Imagine Frederick County looking like the sprawly parts of Montgomery County, or even worse like the fully sprawled Prince Williams County, VA? We don't want that.

And so we need our representative government to help us sustainably administer the land development process. We need public servants to work with and for us to protect our land from the devils of our worst nature who want to suck the blood of the Earth and turn it into gold in their pockets.

Looking for an Argument
I hope there exists someone out there that sees these issues differently and is willing to share. I would like nothing better than to have people who support less fettered land development to help us understand what sustainability looks like to them. If you know any who works to maximize the profits to be made by turning Frederick County into one large swath of ugly houses, or politicians who want to help them -- please send them this post and ask them to get in touch.

As 2010 progresses, I will be looking into how the candidates for County Commissioner see this issue.