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Growth... Growth is proclaimed as the key to the development !!
Every one is looking all over the world for only one thing, how to keep growing !! bigger, better, more powerful, more richer, more popular and supposely more happier !!
No one, Ok may be I am exaggerating, but really I mean barring a few handfuls, no one in this world is satisfied with maintaining a status quo or preserving what we have, this includes you, me and everyone around us !!
See for example, what the Bureau of Economic Analysis, US Govt says :
Gross domestic product (GDP) is the most comprehensive measure of U.S. economic activity.
http://www.bea.gov/bea/dn/home/gdp.htm
Ok, let's for a minute not debate whether growth is good or not, and move on to next. If we consider growth is required, then questions is whether a normal growth rate is just sufficient ??.
No way !!! every where there is scrambling for a need to have exponential growth.. There are thousands of examples to prove this again, for the sake of it here is the popular example, Moore's law and what Intel says on its web site ..
" Moore observed an exponential growth in the number of transistors per integrated circuit and predicted that this trend would continue. Through Intel's relentless technology advances, Moore's Law, the doubling of transistors every couple of years, has been maintained, and still holds true today. Intel expects that it will continue at least through the end of this decade. The mission of Intel's technology development team is to continue to break down barriers to Moore's Law." - http://www.intel.com/research/silicon/mooreslaw.htm
When I say, every where it means all configurations whether it's countries, socieities, companies or individuals... all of the active universe want to grow at exponential rates if it is possible or given a choice,
The question is Why ?
(I learnt through my basic industrial engineering background that to get to basic root of a problem, don't stop with one why ? ask multipe why's ? , so let's do it !!!)
- Why Grow ? ... to be rich ! or to be better !! or to progress !!! (you can go on and on ...)
- Why be Rich ? ... Why be better ? .. Why not be content with status quo ?
- What is Progress ? How do we measure we progressed or not, especially when you argue in favor of growth ?
- What are the measures of development ?
- Does the measures of development that are in use really reflect the trends we want to pass on to the generations ahead of us ?
Is it the social ability (or rather money) for all members of a country to be able to afford a beautiful house, car, spend time on lavish vacations ?
Is it having great infrastructure - well built roads or transportation network, organized facilities to provide any kind of service, modern buildings, clean surroundings, easy access within community, well zoned layouts ?
Is it having maintaining great health standards with in a country interms of - great hospitals, qualified super specialists, advanced medical diagnosis, effective drugs and treatment options ?
Let's look at more of these in my future blogs and see if we can take an informed look at the truth behind so-called development and its measures..
