Join with me in calling this a financial crisis and not an economic crisis. The economy isn't only about money. Look out of the window - everything is still there. The earth's natural resources are still there. The financial system is basically a gambling game - and it's that game that's gone wrong. What's this got to do with sustainability? Well, we all have to take part in this game. We have to go to work and earn money to buy products and services to keep other people in work so that they can buy products and services, and so on. And it's no good making durable products, because that would put people out of work and they will no longer be playing the game, so we have to make products that won't last ("planned obsolescence") to keep the cycle of consumption going.
People aren't starving in this world because there isn't enough food. They just haven't got the money to buy it. Having plenty of something is not good for the monetary system. If there's enough food for everyone then there's no "market" for it. To have a "market" you have to have people trying to outbid each other for scarce resources. Polluting (say) the water supply is good in this set-up as it helps make safe water more scarce and therefore it can have a market value.
This is completely nuts. If we can raise enough food for everyone, surely we have a moral duty to? Surely we have to preserve and conserve the abundant, but not unlimited, resources of the planet?
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