STRENGTHENING THE UNITED NATIONS

XIII.

Optimal Production

No one need flinch at the challenge of optimal basal production for the whole world. For world survival, it is quality of production that counts and the form of its distribution. The most recent reports on future world trends strive to soften their pessimistic conclusions by accepting growth of capital and production in its conventional unacceptable form, putting aside the character of the production. The quality of present day production and services is so poor, however, that an additional dimension of pessimism has to be added. Unless politics finds a beneficial solution to the transformation of the GNP of nations, the impending world crisis will both occur sooner than predicted and will result in worse dislocations.

The problems of quantity, quality, and distribution of world capital and production must be handled together. There are twenty trillion dollars of goods and services generated in today's world. Most of these are dysfunctional to beneficial world order. Every activity of individuals, associations, companies and governments must be examined to determine them:

What part is wasted production, such as most armaments and consumer packaging? What part creates new indirect costs, such as pollutants, ecological ravaging, the costs of commuting and of crowding? What part is fraudulent, meaning payments to produce less, excessive advertising, criminal activities, etc? What part is incompetent or malorganized, such as flying empty giant planes over wide oceans, or using rich soils for urban sprawl? What part is wrongly distributed, like extravagant consumption by the rich ? Estimating both partial and total elements of each category, a cost of stupendous proportions is arrived at. Of all of those energies that go into the paid goods and services of the world (the twenty trillion dollars) a total of ten trillion dollars, or one-half, is dysproduction and dyspending, contributing to the continued injustices and early ruin of the world economy and its social-political system.

From the same calculus may be concluded that there is already sufficient production potential in the world to raise significantly the world average standard of living without any further acceleration of the rate of use of natural resources or any increase in pollution levels. Even if one-fourth of the estimated current product were refashioned by new world goals and better coordination of work and resources, the average welfare level of the worId's people would be doubled.