Today, industrial societies are living at the expense of future generations. Urgent environmental problems, national indebtedness that is spiraling out of control and monetary gaps in social security  are only some of the most obvious problems. The sobering long-term consequences remain repressed. Only an immediate change of political strategies in all three areas can safeguard the chance that our offspring will have a future worth living.

Therefore, our current idea of sustainability must be extended to encompass also economical developments. A sustainable society has not only to avoid overexploitation of natural resources, it will be just as important for us to defuse the timebomb of public indebtedness which can be seen as a mayor cause for environmental damage.

Future-oriented behavior will have to care for ecological resources and, at the same time, dam up economic indebtedness. If efforts to bring indebtedness under control are not successful, all endeavours to protect the environment will be in vain.

The financing of our current standard of living through debt proves itself unsociable from an intergenerational point of view, even when federal expenditures serve social purposes.



Published in book form in 1998 in German from Herbert Utz Verlag (ISBN 3-89675-908-6):

“Staatsverschuldung und Umweltzerstörung - wie sie vereint die Zukunft berauben: Status quo, Ursachen und Folgen - Gemeinsamkeiten und Zusammenhänge - Kriterien und Strategien für umfassende Nachhaltigkeit” (National Indebtedness and Environmental Destruction - how they rob the Future together: Status Quo, Causes, and Results - Commonality and Connections - Criterion and Strategies for thorough Sustainability)

Please read the english summary!