GDP

Gross Domestic Product or "GDP" is a measure of the world's, but more commonly a nation's wealth; usually on an annual basis. If Canada's GDP goes up, we should be happy; when it goes down we should be sad. Likewise for a province.

This article includes a quote by António Guterres “We must place true value on the environment and go beyond gross domestic product as a measure of human progress and well-being. Let us not forget that when we destroy a forest, we are creating GDP. When we overfish, we are creating GDP.”

Newfoundlanders will understand this message immediately.

Before the 1992 Cod Moratorium the local fishery hauled in decreasing volumes of cod (known locally as Fish) and made money.The harvested fish was processed and sold in Europe. After 1992 the coastal towns shrank as people moved away. Newfoundland had depended on fishing as the backbone of its economy. Hauling fish from The Atlantic Ocean was so profitable that large "dragger" boats ploughed over the sea floor and ruined the habitat for the life forms that began the contribution towards the cod's diet.

Thirty-four years ago (as I write) Newfoundland's economy collapsed through over-fishing.

GDP is a convenient scalar measurement for economists and governments. This makes it no different for the lazy national governments to define "Adult".

An adult, says the government, is someone who has reached age 21, or 18, or whatever the government decides.

But you are not adult until you can demonstrate your ability to provide for your Shelter, Clothing, and Food.

Every parent’s goal must be to ensure that if the parent(s) died today, their children could survive in this world.

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