LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Reconsidering inflation for a stable future

Dear Editor:

Disputes over ongoing inflation and the reduced buying power of take-home pay epitomize the partisan nature of self-destructive delusions that threaten our future. That future is jeopardized by the diminishment of our capacity for pragmatic, reality-based decision-making, needed to both restore our democracy and curb the alarming deterioration of essential life-support systems.

Numerous reputable financial institutions, including the Bank of England, have confirmed that ongoing inflation is propagated by insatiable corporations that have wrested record-breaking profits by gouging consumers. The devious practice is so prevalent that it now has a name: Greedflation.

As pernicious as it is as a political decoy, Greedflation masks far more destructive forces than unethical economic opportunism. Many analysts conclude that post-COVID supply-chain failures, adding to inflation by impeding availability of products in demand, are often caused by various environmental constraints, from extreme weather to recklessly exceeding Earth’s natural carrying capacity. These escalating problems are generated by a combination of humanity’s ravenous industrial-scale resource depletion and related rapid global heating.

If we hope to secure a sustainable future, living within the finite limits of planet Earth, our notion of collective self-interest and the methods for pursuing it must be radically reformed. This will require equitable stewardship of natural resources and vigilant accountability for the consequences of meeting the basic needs of a massive population.

Economic goals must be responsibly sanctioned, achieved by minimizing heat-trapping emissions and through a circular economy, featuring enlightened reuse of resources instead of one-way disposal of products, now dominating our wasteful consumer society.

David Kyler

Center for a Sustainable Coast

Saint Simons Island