Re: The Skeptical Environmentalist

[Claude Genest <genest@together.net>]

Steve,

Just to play devil's advocate:

couldn't it be said that the "solution" to these increases in disease is mo'
money to pay for treatment ?  you and I know that an ounce of prevention is
worth a pound of cure, but then we 'd have to "prove" that the link between
e.g. poor health and poor soil/food is "consclusive" and think how hard it
was just to prove the link between cigarretes and cancer ....

Claude

> From: "Steve Bonney" <sustainableearth.steve@verizon.net>
> Reply-To: "permaculture" <permaculture@franklin.oit.unc.edu>
> Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2002 09:55:25 -0500
> To: "permaculture" <permaculture@franklin.oit.unc.edu>
> Subject: Re: The Skeptical Environmentalist
> 
>> The figures have been used as evidence that economic growth is the key to
>> global wellbeing, a notion popularised by the North American academic
>> economist, Dr Julian Simon, some years ago.
>> 
>> What do you say in response, Claude asks?
> 
> Economic analyses never contain an assessment of quality of life, which is
> the real indicator of wellbeing. The following information comes from the
> Partnership for Solutions, a Project of Johns  Hopkins University and The
> Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
> More than 125 million Americans (45 percent) have at least one
> chronic health condition and 60 million (nearly 25%) have more than one
> condition. A chronic condition lasts a year or longer, limits what one can
> do and may require ongoing care. Examples of chronic conditions are
> diabetes, cancer, glaucoma and heart disease.
> Many people with different chronic conditions face common
> problems,
> including very high costs that are often not covered by insurance, and a
> complex health care system that it is difficult to use. Both private
> insurance
> plans and government programs are not easy to navigate.
> The number of people with chronic conditions is growing at an
> alarming rate.
> In 2000, 20 million more people had one or more chronic conditions than the
> number originally estimated in1996. By the year 2020, 25% of the American
> population will be living with multiple chronic conditions, and costs for
> managing
> these conditions will reach $1.07 trillion.
> The number of people with chronic conditions is projected to
> increase
> from 125 million in 2000 to 171 million in the year 2030.The current health
> care
> system excels at responding to immediate medical needs such as accidents and
> severe injury and sudden bouts of illness. American health care is less
> expert at
> providing ongoing care to people with chronic conditions and improving their
> day-to-day lives.
> 
> Steve Bonney
> Sustainable Earth
> a not-for-profit membership organization dedicated to the
> development of sustainable family farming systems
> and local food systems
> 100 Georgton Ct.
> W. Lafayette, IN 47906
> (765) 463-9366
> 
> 
> ---
> You are currently subscribed to permaculture as: genest@together.net
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-permaculture@franklin.oit.unc.edu
> Get the list FAQ at:
> http://www.ibiblio.org/ecolandtech/documents/permaculture.faq