Faustian Economics (Part 2)

"The real names of global warming are waste and greed." Throughout the article "Faustian Economics", author Wendell Berry defends this statement. He calls us "limitless animals," which is a label that I can't say I disagree with. Us human beings want EVERYTHING handed to us. Like Berry said, many people believe that there is a "supposed possibility of limitless growth, limitless wants, limitless wealth, limitless natural resources, limitless energy, and limitless debt" (Berry, 2). People think that life will just go on and be okay, which is ignorant. They think we'll be fine for the foreseeable future, but they have no substantial evidence to back it up. The "Unbridled Energy" summit in Louisville, Kentucky talked about converting coal to liquid fuels, but by doing that, the consumption of coal by the country would have to be doubled, and that would last us 100 years. I don't know about anyone else, but 100 years? Sure, we might be dead by then, but what about our kids? What about our grandkids? It's not right to be so present-minded.
This kind of thinking reminds me of the Philadelphia Phillies Major League Baseball team. This past December, after trading for arguably the best pitcher in baseball, Roy Halladay, they traded their top pitcher, Cliff Lee, to Seattle in order to replenish their minor league system so they wouldn't be bad again in two years. Fans were irate because they thought the team would have both pitchers on their staff and that they'd be unstoppable, but it wasn't meant to be. Phillies General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. explained this in a way that relates to this topic completely. He said that, since talks with Cliff Lee about an extension weren't going anywhere, he had to find a way to get a pitcher of the same caliber for a longer period of time, since this year was the last on Cliff Lee's current contract. So he traded for Halladay and signed him to a 3-year extension. Afterwards, he traded Cliff Lee because he gave up so many prospects for Halladay, that he wanted to make sure there were some more prospects with high potential in his minor league system. Although fans were mad, it was completely understandable, as they would definitely rather have 3+ years of Roy Halladay and a high-end minor league system than 1 year of Halladay & Lee with nothing left afterwards and a huge decline within the next 2-3 years. That's what this is talking about. For many people, the future is now. That's not the right mentality to have, especially when talking about the future of America's economy.
Like Berry says, limitation is needed to make sure our economy is in check, and to make sure that it'll be stable for longer than just the next 100 years. "Our national faith so far has been: 'There's always more'" (Berry, 3). Even though many people believe this, this is not true. There is ALWAYS a limit to EVERYTHING. It's not to say that we'll reach it soon, but, if we keep going the way we are, our economy will reach it's limit unless people in power start thinking far along into the future, rather than just the next 100 years. People might see limitations as extreme and they might see them as unneeded, but these are the same people who think it's ok to look no further than 100 years into the future. These are the same people who, 100 years from now, people will be talking about as the people who destroyed the country's economy. These are the same people that always think about the here and now, and waste their own money on unnecessary items because, like Berry said, "there's always more". Things need to change. Berry's ideas on economics are far-fetched, but they are very plausible and they would definitely help out the country in the long run.