For a society to be a sustainable society, you must take into account in what the said society has done to reach its status. There are factors which should be done and should continue to be done for the society to be sustainable. This report will be dealing with the role of the government, the environmental issues such as adapting to the land, litter management and how to utilize the land as well as trade and security alliances.
Government
Social security
Social security is a way for people to feel better about life. People now no longer worry about working at an old age because there is now pensions. It should keep people happy that the government actually does care for them, and people also know that their tax money is not going to waste. If a country has a good social security that the people like, there would be fewer clashes between the government and the people.
In Denmark and Sweden (amongst other European countries), have high taxes. In Demark, 50% of a person’s wages goes to tax. However, the government spends half of its money on providing benefits such as health care and education, essentially giving back what it took. Sweden has a high level of living, has the same high tax as Denmark and also its social security is very strong. Tuition is free and financial support is provided for going to university. The health care in Sweden is excellent, you need only to pay a small fare to see a doctor and if you are hospitalized, it is for free and services take up 70% of the GDP.
Accepting change
The government accepting change is a major factor to sustainability. To be able to accept change is to understand that the world is changing and we must change along with it. Bhutan is a country that accepted change in its own government. Bhutan was a hereditary monarchy, with the title of King passed down, which is not always a good idea as not everyone in the family is good at leading a nation. It was isolated to the world until 1971, when it joined up with the United Nations and with the help of India, into global scrutiny. Although Bhutan is a very small country and trades mainly with India, it does not change the fact that in 2006, the King had stepped down from his throne and Bhutan became a democracy.
With the changing climates around the world, global warming has become a very big issue for people and governments to think about. While some people say that we should plant trees or try to cut down on green house emissions, others do not believe in it. The whole point of the Kyoto Protocol is to cut down on emissions in a global effort. The Kyoto Protocol can also be read as an acceptance of climate change as well as a way of fighting global warming. It signifies that Japan is well aware of the changes in climate, the results it could have on the world and knows how to battle it in a particular way they think is most effective.
Environment
Adapting to the land
Many societies have tried to change the land to suit their wants. Sheep and cows are introduced species in Australia, and their hoofed feet have contributed to soil erosion. Sheep and cows eat grass as food and as a result, trees have been cut down to grow grass for the cows and sheep. But in cutting down trees, the soil is more likely to be eroded and the water table is allowed to rise and cause salinity. Therefore, for a society to be able to sustain itself the land should not be adapted to the wants of the people, but rather the people should adapt to the land instead.
A way of adapting to the land is the staple food of the people. Instead of fishing, the Greenlandic Norse has bought cows over to colonize, and tried to grow crops that wouldn’t grow in the climate even though there was fish everywhere around them. When the Little Ice Age struck, the grass died and their livestock has nothing to eat. However, this wouldn’t have been a problem if they actually went fishing and it’s highly probable that some saw the Inuit hunting for fish. This is not the case for the Dominican Republic. The staple foods of the people in the Dominican Republic are all native, and most of the agriculture is bananas and sugar cane which can grow easily in their climate.
Sweden has many rivers which were formed from the melted snows from the mountains and by rainfall. These rivers have been utilised, and they have built hydro electrical plants over the rivers. Fifty-one percent of Sweden’s power comes from the hydro electrical plants, as opposed to burning fossil-fuels. Although Sweden has decreased its dependency on fossil-fuels, it still has nuclear reactors which Sweden plans to phase out by 2020. In doing this, Sweden has turned to renewable energy which doesn't harm the environment.
Litter management
Litter management is quite important, as we know if we were to throw out our plastic bags out into the ocean it could possibly cause death to various sea animals. Unless we are using scraps wisely (for example, kitchen scraps as a fertilizer and in other words, recycling), we are most likely putting the environment at risk. Back in the days when people in Europe threw their excretions out of the window onto the streets, they were putting their health at risk. Diseases and illness could roam more freely and widely, and streets would be dirtier. Add in the fact that animals can carry diseases without being effect because of the species barrier, and that they can spread the disease to other animals. In a short amount of time, the whole city could be infected.
Edo Period Japan had managed to avoid this, although the people in the Edo Period probably did not notice what their actions led to. The people reused and recycled everything. There was hardly anything that was not used. If a tool was broken, it would be fixed. If it broke again, it would be repaired again and again until it truly couldn’t be used anymore. Used paper was collected and sold to warehouses that could the turn it into toilet paper or printing paper. People on the streets would collect paper that was rubbish and sell it for money. Umbrellas were made out of bamboo ribs, and collectors bought them and sold them to specialised warehouses. Workers would take the old oiled paper off the bamboo ribs, put a new sheet of oiled paper on, sell the new umbrella and sole the old oiled paper for packaging use. Candles were expensive to make, so the wax drippings was collected, sold and remade into a new candle. Ash was stored and sold to buyers, who in turn sold the ash to farmers who would then use it as fertilizer. Night soil (human waste) wasn’t thrown out; it was stored until farmers (who had a contract with the household and paid or offered crops that they grow) came and collected it and used it as fertilizer, which would keep farmland fertile. All this kept the streets clean and the people were unlikely to have a disease running through town.
Utilization of land
Another environmental factor on sustainability is how the society used the land. If the society is rich in a certain commodity and exploits it too much, it would not survive for very long after the resource has been dried up. The society would then have to use the commodity in moderation or put restrictions or laws on it and to make it last for as long as possible.
An example of this would have to be Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Both are on the same island which was formed by volcanic eruption. But one side is particularly more forested than the other. While the Dominican Republic did not cut deforest its part of the island, Haiti had completely deforested its land. In a result Haiti would not have a large diversity of wild life, poor land for crops and any farming that is done is mostly for local use and hardly any export. On the other hand, the Dominican Republic did not deforest itself, which made it the complete opposite of Haiti, despite being the on the same island. By preserving its forests the trees will continue to prevent the rich soil from erosion and thus, keeping the land fertile. Dominican Republic also has restrictions on timber exports and has set up national parks to protect it land.
Alliances
Trade and security alliances
Alliances help keeps friendly relationships between countries. It lowers the possibility of an outbreak of war between the two and is beneficial to participating countries. Alliances offer protection or a stronger hold in one area amongst others. While a trade alliance is the exchange of commodities, a security alliance could be a defence over a certain area, such as a border.
An example of this would be ANZUS (involving Australia, New Zealand and the US). This alliance was about the defence of the Pacific region. With this, relationships between the three countries strengthened, and ANZUS was beneficial to all three countries. It offered protection to Australia and New Zealand, while it gave the US a stronger hold on the Pacific region. However, New Zealand refused entry to American warships believing that they had nuclear weapons or nuclear-powered. As a result, the US suspended the alliance with New Zealand, although it still continues with the alliance with Australia.
Conclusion
The government should look after its own people in a wise manner and should be able to accept changes as different problems present themselves at different times and must be fixed. Sustainability depends heavily on the environment and how the society uses it. If it were to deforest itself for, say, farmland, the soil will be eroded away and the earth would not be the same as how it first started. If people were to be unhygienic, diseases could be more widespread and it’ll be easier to catch it. Another factor is alliances with other countries. This ensures that outbreaks of battle between the two are unlikely to happen and encourages a friendly relationship between the two. These factors are important for a sustainable society.
Bibliography
Books
Hansen (1997) Country Insights Denmark, Wayland Publishers Ltd,
Schack-Nielsen (2006) Countries of the World: Sweden, Evans Brothers Limited
Brownlie (2002) The Changing Face of the Caribbean, White-Thompson Publishing Ltd,
Encyclopaedia
“
“
“
Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, www.britannica.com/eb/article-25009/Bhutan
Energy Bulletin, [2003], www.energybulletin.net/5140.html
Australian War Memorial, www.awm.gov.au/korea/origins/anzus/anzus.html
http://www.japanfs.org/en/supporters/paper/A_Sustained_Society-a.pdf
