"Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of things . . . Gross National Product counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors, and jails for those who break them. It counts the destruction of our redwoods and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and the cost of a nuclear warhead . . .
"Yet the GNP does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate, or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile."
Senator Robert F. Kennedy, 1968
The David Suzuki Foundation, among others, offers a pragmatic and achievable economic and political definition of Genuine Wealth in Sustainability within a Generation: A New Vision for Canada.
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