by Lynette Molyneaux |
John Gardner, US Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare joined Lyndon Johnson’s cabinet in 1965 to help create a ‘Great Society’ to end poverty, promote equality, improve education, rejuvenate cities and protect the environment. Of these goals he said: “What we have before us are some breathtaking opportunities disguised as insoluble problems”. In a few short years the insoluble problems transformed into: the Civil Rights Act and Medicare to promote equality; the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to improve education; and the formation of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to inform the people.
Breathtaking opportunities are driven by vision and inspiration rather than efficient allocation of resources. Any cost-benefit analysis would have failed to quantify the benefits of the Civil Rights Act, taking on Nazi Germany, space exploration, the formation of the United Nations, and the development of the motor vehicle. Analysing cost is an important component in decision making but it should not preclude the opportunity for transformation.
The breathtaking opportunity that we face today is the transformation of global energy use from fossil fuels to renewables; a journey to environmental sustainability. The insoluble problem that we think we face is cost.
No comments:
Post a Comment