There is no wealth but life

admin
, 02 March 2020
There is no wealth but life
Buzzard © Peter Brooks

By Dr Tony Whitbread

President of Sussex Wildlife Trust

If we win the war against nature, we will have crushed the very life support systems on which we depend.  This will be our ultimate “Pyrrhic victory”.

So what is driving us towards our own self destruction?

“There is no wealth but life” is the second in the Sussex Wildlife Trust’s series “Ending the war on nature”.  In this we will be looking at our value systems, our idea of wealth and the problem of infinite material gain in a finite world. 

Our current concept of economic growth requires a continual and increasing consumption of materials, emission of waste products and conversion of land.  All of this is finite, yet our society is built on the premise of exponential expansion.  This cannot end well!  And our current race towards climate breakdown is perhaps its worst symptom.

Flaws in our valuing systems confer value on useless things, like plastic trinkets, but confers very little value at all on essential things like nature.  Even worse, our current measure – Gross Domestic Product – counts all economic activity as positive (whether producing things, using things, creating pollution or clearing up the mess afterwards).  Yet nature is always counted as a “cost” against the economy.  The dice could not be more heavily loaded!

At the very least the huge flaws in our economic system must be rectified.  Nature provides us with huge, almost infinite, benefits and these must be considered in our economics and decision making.  Economic activity, on the other hand, has huge devastating costs (often ignored as externalities) that must also be fully recognised in any measure of our “wealth”.

We must not, however, make nature subordinate to the economy.  This is a reversal of logic and is what got us into the problem in the first place!  It is the other way around – the economy must be recognised as a subset of (not superior to) the environment.  We should not “monetise” nature - on the contrary we should “naturalise” the economy.

Ending the War on Nature talks

Leave a comment
Time Δ Debug Message - Perch Runway 3.2
1783257733.60020 [906] SELECT p.pagePath, pr.routePattern, pr.routeRegExp, p.pageTemplate, pr.routeOrder, s.settingValue AS siteOffline FROM swt_pages_staging p LEFT JOIN swt_page_routes pr ON p.pageID=pr.pageID LEFT JOIN swt_settings s ON s.settingID='siteOffline' UNION SELECT NULL AS pagePath, pr2.routePattern, pr2.routeRegExp, pr2.templatePath AS pageTemplate, pr2.routeOrder, NULL AS siteOffline FROM swt_page_routes pr2 WHERE templateID!=0 ORDER BY routeOrder ASC, pagePath ASC
1783257733.62840.0282Matched route: news/[slug:s]
1783257733.62850.0001Server address: 216.73.216.170
1783257733.62860Using master page: /templates/pages/blog/post.php
1783257733.62860Page arguments: 
Array
(
    [0] => /news/there-is-no-wealth-but-life
    [s] => there-is-no-wealth-but-life
    [1] => there-is-no-wealth-but-life
)
1783257733.62890.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783257733.62970.0008 [86] SELECT DISTINCT settingID, settingValue FROM swt_settings WHERE userID=0
1783257733.63140.0017 [1] SELECT locationID FROM swt_shop_tax_locations WHERE locationIsHome=1 LIMIT 1
1783257733.63190.0005INSERT INTO swt_shop_cart(memberID,locationID,currencyID,cartPricing,cartProperties) VALUES(NULL,'1',47,'standard','[]')
1783257733.63380.0019 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22653342
1783257733.63430.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22653342
1783257733.63470.0005 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_sales WHERE saleFrom<='2026-07-05 13:22:00' AND saleTo>'2026-07-05 13:22:00' AND saleActive=1 AND saleDeleted IS NULL ORDER BY saleOrder ASC
1783257733.63610.0013 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='there-is-no-wealth-but-life')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-05 13:22:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 10
1783257733.63840.0023 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1783257733.63890.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postID=1992 AND postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-05 13:22:00'
1783257733.63970.0007 [13] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_sections ORDER BY sectionTitle ASC
1783257733.64020.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blogs ORDER BY blogTitle ASC
1783257733.64090.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=124 LIMIT 1
1783257733.64140.0004 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=56 LIMIT 1
1783257733.64190.0006Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783257733.64220.0002 [162] SELECT catID, catPath FROM swt_categories
1783257733.64290.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-05 13:22:00' AND postSlug='there-is-no-wealth-but-life'
1783257733.6640.0212Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783257733.66460.0006 [250] SELECT country, countryID FROM swt_shop_countries WHERE countryActive=1 ORDER BY country ASC
1783257733.66610.0015Using template: /templates/pages/attributes/seo.html
1783257733.66630.0002 [1] SELECT regionID, regionTemplate, regionPage, regionRev AS rev FROM swt_content_regions WHERE regionKey='Banner image' AND (regionPage='/news/post' OR regionPage='*')
1783257733.66720.0008 [nil] SELECT * FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, c.regionID, idx.pageID, c.itemJSON, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_content_index idx JOIN swt_content_items c ON idx.itemID=c.itemID AND idx.itemRev=c.itemRev AND idx.regionID=c.regionID JOIN swt_content_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev AND idx2.indexKey='_order' WHERE ((idx.regionID=104 AND idx.itemRev=0)) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev ) as tbl GROUP BY itemID, pageID, itemJSON, sortval, regionID ORDER BY sortval ASC
1783257733.66840.0012 [82] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageDepth >=0 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783257733.67170.0033 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783257733.67220.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783257733.67420.002Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template.html
1783257733.67420 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783257733.6750.0007 [4] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783257733.67540.0004 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783257733.67780.0024 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783257733.67880.001 [7] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783257733.67950.0007 [9] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783257733.68180.0023 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' OR pageSortPath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783257733.68260.0009 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageHidden=0 AND pageNew=0 AND pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition
1783257733.68480.0022 [1] Using template: /templates/navigation/breadcrumbs.html
1783257733.68520.0004Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783257733.68540.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='1' LIMIT 1
1783257733.68610.0007Using template: /templates/blog/author.html
1783257733.68650.0004 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='there-is-no-wealth-but-life')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-05 13:22:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 1
1783257733.68850.002 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1783257733.6890.0005 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783257733.69190.0029Using template: /templates/blog/comment_form.html
1783257733.69290.001 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_comments WHERE 1=1 AND postID=1992 AND commentStatus='LIVE' ORDER BY FIELD(webmentionType, 'like', 'repost', 'comment', NULL) ASC, commentDateTime ASC
1783257733.74320.0504 [0] Using template: /templates/blog/comment.html
1783257733.74340.0002Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783257733.74370.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='1' LIMIT 1
1783257733.74450.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/what-we-do' OR pageSortPath='/what-we-do' LIMIT 1
1783257733.7450.0005 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-002' LIMIT 1
1783257733.74550.0004 [7] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-002%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783257733.74810.0026 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783257733.74860.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783257733.75050.0019 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783257733.75120.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1783257733.75180.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1783257733.75220.0005 [38] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783257733.75450.0023 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783257733.75490.0004 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783257733.75670.0018 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783257733.75980.0031 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/visit' OR pageSortPath='/visit' LIMIT 1
1783257733.76040.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-004' LIMIT 1
1783257733.76090.0004 [30] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-004%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783257733.7630.0021 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783257733.76350.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783257733.76560.0021 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783257733.7680.0024 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1783257733.76860.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1783257733.76910.0005 [11] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783257733.77130.0022 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783257733.77180.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783257733.77380.002 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783257733.77490.0011Request time: 0.1776
1783257733.77490Process time: 0.1774
1783257733.77490Memory: 1.6276