Scarcity: Prerequisite to Abundance

Abstract

"Adjust to current world scarcities and to limits imposed by Planet Earth's fixed endowment of non renewable resources: learn to live with less." Such counsel reflects not a shortage of material endowment, but a short age of the quality of man—his state of indifference, inept ness or incompetence. "Adjust to current scarcities and threats of limits by resuming economic expansion so that output continues to increase more rapidly than popula tion." This course assumes no cornucopia of material abun dance in the world. It reflects the conviction that man has the power to assure continuous improvement in the quality of life. These alternative views are assessed in the light of existing doctrines of economic and societal change and in the light of the actual scarcities of 1974 and 1975. The article argues that today's food, energy, materials and over all national product scarcities are not caused by limitations of the earth's material endowments, but rather follow from man's limited horizons and limited performance. There is ample scope for continuous progress, particularly in the poor lands of the world. The real problem is the political will of man, operating through his private and public institutions, to create economic, legal and social conditions that encour age the expansion of individual participation in produc tive activity and that enhance each individual's capacity to contribute to national progress.