Blog 3 How can I tell what is sustainable.

Sustainability can come in many forms, but always results in something positive occurring. Using feedback loops as an example, the positive feedback loop is a win win for everyone in that loop. The example presented in class was wages and goods. The cost of living will increase, so wages must go up to match the cost of living, increased wages leads to an increased demand for goods, which means more goods must be produced, creating more jobs in all sectors involved with that, prices will rise as demand goes up, which then starts back as wages increasing again.

Its easy to tell what is not sustainable. A basic example of this is spending more then you earn, you put more into the system then what you get out of it. Along the sustainability lines of that, is the extraction of oil for consumption / processing. With oil reserves in depletion (which is still up for debate) all over the world, new methods of extraction are emerging, but at a cost.

A place not too far from my education home is called Fort McMurray Alberta. It seems to be the center hub of the Alberta oil sands boom. The oil is located within the sand and oil, and the extraction of it is very costly. It requires a lot more energy to extract, then is given from that oil, so it is very unsustainable.

I believe an example of sustainability in the energy sector is nuclear power. Its clean, produces ample power and provides lots of jobs to people. This ties into the positive feedback loop also, where everyone benefits from wage increases.

A topic that was discussed in class was “what is unsustainable in my neighbourhood”. The example I chose was unions, specifically the TTC, although the same can be said for any union. I know I’ll be making some sweeping generalizations here, but I’m a risk taker and a heart breaker, so I’ll continue on.

I believe that unions are just as detrimental as they are needed. They allow lazy workers to hide and get lost in the cracks of the system. I know that from my days of working in a unionized shop, I was amazing at how little work was done at a job. I don’t want to bash unions too much, but I believe that they hinder progress and I believe that to be unsustainable.