More is never enough

Dear Editor: Canadian John Saul wrote a great book – The Unconscious Civilization – in which he points out that ideological government insists upon relentless positivism – confronting reality is viewed by this system as negative, threatening to close the door on their private agenda; that’s why it vigorously, often deviously, opposes activism and insists on a passive citizenry.

Some citizens of Penticton know it very well; they recognize the constant barrage of paternalistic statements based on the mindless dogma that we will all get to the promised land if only you and I, the people, get out of the way and allow the mayor, council, senior city management, and real estate developers to get on with “moving the city forward.”

As a testament to the failed ideology that infects these people, Penticton councils, mayors, and city management have made the same plea in each of the last 60 years, always pushing La La Land down the road, like a carrot in front of a mule. To these people more is never enough!

As an ecologist that thinks about the science of human behavior and interaction, and how that fuels resource consumption, I take an ecological and systems approach to what is going on in Penticton, Kelowna, and Osoyoos — virtually everywhere around us. I see clear evidence that Penticton is already overcrowded (thank heaven we’re not at 45,000 persons.)

That evaluation takes in this context:

1. The physically and ecologically narrow valley-space available; gone is the “easy” landscape, and seriously endangered are the environmentally unique ones 2. Limited water sources, 3. State-forced social engineering, mostly via immigration — those people lured here by taxpayer handouts for the sake of fueling commercial and business profits — has produced a false community,

4. The immunity of the Penticton Indian Band to any democratic process (as they fuel residential growth and overload housing, all while unfairly undercutting the price of goods around them),

5. Growing commercial and visitor exploitation of green and Park space (like Skaha Lake), city and provincial public lands that are historically under-represented, already producing off site conflicts, and already unable to cope with overuse,

6. A taxation regime that is distorted to drive over-consumption and over population, and has done so,

7. Global climate change that will bring extremes in temperature and drought, intensifying pressures on water, energy sources, infrastructure, fruit agriculture, and human capacity to deal with heat, and

8. The highly seasonal nature of the majority of economic activity (tourism, fruit) that is now at or beyond peak ecological, social and economic capacity, and can never escape these limits. Brian L. Horejsi

Penticton