Wow- Another excellent column!

I totally agree we need to get off the treadmill and start thinking in terms of sustainability rather than growth.
Growth is only good for the people on top and some economists do not get anything but economics.

You know the columnist Thomas Sowell? He wrote a column once blaming the high housing costs in California on the environmentalists for setting aside green space.
I told him it was the demand from an ever increasing population that drives up the costs of homes. Long story short, he ended the disagreement by sending me one of his books which still sits here unread.

I don't need to understand economics to know that basing your whole existence on growth, not only degrades your quality of life in the short run but will eventually destroy the chances for someone elses existence altogether. (Someone elses like our kids and grandkids.)

When you think about it, what has growth really done for us? Are we any better off than our parents? Sure a few of us have more money but a few of us have less too. But are we any better off? Are we any happier? Less stressed? Healthier?

That's where quality of life comes in.
Are the extra things we have worth knowing that in the process of getting them we polluted the very air and water we need to survive.

That some little kid can't go out and run and play some days because he has asthma? Or worse, cancer?
Or you can't eat the fish you caught because it has tumors?
That their genetically modifying and dousing our food with chemicals just in order to feed a growing population-cheaply, with no regards to our health?
That the gap between rich and poor grows wider everyday and the opportunities for having a job that you love and pays the bills grows smaller everyday?

Well, I could go on and on but will end with this:
We can achieve a sustainable population for the Treasure Coast but we will have to work on it at the U.S. level.
And no, it doesn't call for anything like what China did.

First we need to call for a 5 year moratorium on legal immigration with a cap of 100,000 a year and of course put a halt to illegal immigration.

Then we need to support the Prevention First Act that will be coming through Congress soon. It will provide funding for access to birth control for an additional 7 million low income women who wish to use them.

We also need to repeal the Global Gag rule, but that's for another day.

Thank you Mr. Ward for giving us hope that maybe, just maybe we don't have to choose between staying on the treadmill or running to another state only to find our escape is merely temporary.

We can have prosperity and our quality of life- we just need to redine in our minds what prosperity is.

7:46:08 a.m. on February 1, 2007
LEANNA TAYLOR | 02.01.07 - 7:51 am | # |Report as offensive

The Growth Machine benefits a few at the expense of many. Much of South Florida has relied on population growth for its economic engine since the land boom of the 1920's. Now we are paying the price with degraded quality of life, traffic gridlock, loss of natural areas, polluted beaches and skyrocketing taxes and living costs. Relying on continued population growth is not sustainable. We must find a new way of increasing our living standards that doesn't rely on more people, roads, buildings and exploitation of the natural environment.

9:02:48 a.m. on February 1, 2007
GARY TORTORA | 02.01.07 - 9:07 am | # |Report as offensive

Let me fix my last sentence from above:

We can have prosperity and our quality of life- we just need to "redefine" in our minds what prosperity is.

9:10:06 a.m. on February 1, 2007
LEANNA TAYLOR | 02.01.07 - 9:15 am | # |Report as offensive

One problem is that people who live in built out areas like Miami and Ft. Lauderdale don't think they are vested in the growth issue. They represent a lot of votes. They think it's all over for them. They don't realize things can get worse.

Also, there have always been so many new people coming into Florida, it's hard to get them up to speed and informed.

More people other than those in hot spot areas like ours have to get involved.

9:46:19 a.m. on February 1, 2007
JASPER JOHNS | 02.01.07 - 9:51 am | # |Report as offensive

Terrific article and comments.

The last line, "Your quality of life is on the line, and you have a stake in defining it. If you don't, somebody else will do it for you." could not better describe the fight over growth in M-C. Developers, builders, and short-sighted commissioners should not dictate the quality of life and cost of living for everyone else.

If you value what's special in M-C, stay involved, or get involved now, before it's too late.

10:12:14 a.m. on February 1, 2007
JOHN EMGE | 02.01.07 - 10:17 am | # |Report as offensive

The thing I resent the most is the distruction of 'wild' land. The lanscape designer has his/her own idea of beauty and imposes it on all of us. This idea that 'wild land needs taming' only insures a long term lancaping contract for the landscape designer. Cha-ching!

10:36:58 a.m. on February 1, 2007
JIM ZABCIK | 02.01.07 - 10:41 am | # |Report as offensive

A very nice thought-provoking article. For my part, I do think we need to work towards "economic diversification" here on the Treasure Coast. That does not mean that I endorse jumping on the bandwagon to make massive business campuses to attract business (as a recent consultant suggested). I do not endorse the County's "build and they will come" philosophy so aptly displayed at the recent State of the (Martin) County address by Administrator Ballantyne (who stood before a slide of the County's abbreviated objective, which began with something like "Build a world-class community"). Why does everything in Martin County start with building something, Duncan?

Mr. Ward, thank you for an excellent and reasoned article.

7:17:51 p.m. on February 1, 2007
HENRY COPELAND | 02.01.07 - 7:22 pm | # |Report as offensive

Thank god this paper hired someone with a clue about our reality!

Your writing ability is excellent.

Please keep up the great work.

8:21:33 p.m. on February 1, 2007
KERRY COCHELL | 02.01.07 - 8:26 pm | # |Report as offensive

Mr Ward
Great article you really hit the nail on the head I'm glad to see that we still have people at Scripps with writing skills .

8:59:23 p.m. on February 1, 2007
CHRIS PHOENIX | 02.01.07 - 9:04 pm | # |Report as offensive

First - Bravo, someone in MC does understand Economics.....

Second - isn't it sad that this came from the Stuart News and not the Martin County Economic Council ?

Do you have anything to add to this Tammy?

9:14:12 a.m. on February 2, 2007
DAVID BULK | 02.02.07 - 9:19 am | # |Report as offensive

Wow, somebody at the Stuart News actually knows what is going on. What a breath of fresh air Mr. Ward is. Congrats on a well written piece. You may want to give Mr. Campell some education, he has only been here for 2 years but writes op eds like he is a life long resident.

4:24:36 p.m. on February 3, 2007
BETTY MURPHY | 02.03.07 - 4:29 pm | # |Report as offensive

Unfortunately he plays for Scripps in Vero. Any chance we can do a trade for a the developers opinion columnist, we will throw in three county commissioners will Stuart News trade?

1:55:13 p.m. on February 8, 2007
JR EWING | 02.08.07 - 2:00 pm | # |Report as offensive

Kenric,you're the only writer with the smarts or the guts to write something like this editorial piece from July 5 Palm Beach Post.

Can you take Rich's place when he moves on?

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/ opi..._edit_0705.html

10:27:27 a.m. on July 6, 2007
DALE BEETLEY | 07.06.07 - 10:32 am | # |Report as offensive

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hquiprcxvb | Homepage | 08.18.07 - 8:40 am | # |Report as offensive