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In this issue

404 What of Britain's future ?

by Edward Goldsmith Predictions about life in Britain in the years ahead

412 Unravel the grid!

by Andrew MacKillop The national electricity grid is inefficient; energy could be saved and environmental impact reduced were we to adopt alternatives

420 Musical imperialism by Tran Van Khe The acculturation of traditional societies as reflected in the decline of their music

424 The Delaney Amendment by Samuel S. Epstein A defence of the US law that prohibits the use of food additives suspected of being carcinogenic

432 Schools eco-action

433 Chrysler in Leicester

434 Notebook

435 Friends of the earth

436 Books

438 Letters

433 Coming events

440 Classified advertisements

Note: While every care is taken with manuscripts submitted for publication, the Editors cannot guarantee to return to their authors those not accepted. Articles published in the "Ecologist " do not necessarily express the views of the Editors.

Publisher: Edward Goldsmith; Editors: Robert Allen, Peter Bunyard. Edward Goldsmith; Managing Editor: Michael Aliaby; Associate Editors: John Davoll, Jimoh Omo-Fadaka, Gerald Foley, Lawrence D. Hills, Brian Johnson, Jean Liedloff, Andrew MacKillop, John Papworth, Graham Searle, Robert Waller, Richard Willson. All communications should be sent to The Editors, Ecologist, 73 Moles worth Street , Wadebridge, Cornwall PL27 7DS . Telephone Wadebridge 2996/7. All advertising enquiries to Interpress, 19 Anne Boleyn's Walk, Cheam, Surrey. Tel. 01-642 5826.

Published by Ecosystems Ltd., registered office 73, Molesworth Street, Wadebridge, Cornwall. PL27 7DS and distributed by the Hachette Group, Continental Publishers and Distributors Ltd., 164 Duke's Road, London W3 ; Telephone: 01-993 0744; Telegrams: Alibrairi London W1 ; Telex 25114. Subscriptions to: The Ecologist, 73, Molesworth Street, Wadebridge, Cornwall PL27 7DS. Printed by The Garden City Press Ltd., Pixmore Avenue, Letchworth, Hertfordshire SG6 US .

© Ecologist November 1973

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402

You've never had it so good continued from page 401 proportion to per capita GNP.)

I f economic growth is not solving human problems, its cost in terms of the resulting biological, social and ecological damage is very much higher than anyone ever thought. Mr. Heath has been warned repeatedly that the biosphere cannot sustain the massive quantities of five hundred thousand or so different pollutants with which it is continually bombarded at an ever greater rate. He has been warned that the world's finite resources are not sufficient to sustain further growth for very long. He has been warned that social systems throughout the world can no longer stand the increasing strains imposed on them by the population explosion, massive urbanisation and ever increasing mobility. As could be predicted he has chosen to ignore these warnings and heed instead the comforting voice of largely second-rate Government "experts" who, mainly for reasons of diplomacy, reassure him that such warnings are unfounded.

Yet, every day it becomes clearer that these warnings, if anything, were based on a very conservative estimate of present day realities. The situation is far more serious than we thought when we wrote the Blueprint for Survival.

In the meantime the Confederation of British Industries is clamouring for more growth, as is the Trades Union Congress. I t is politically expedient to satisfy the short-term demands of the large and powerful sectors of the electorate that they represent. I t is also politically expedient to maintain that all is well, that the British people "have never had it so good" as it is to avoid embarking on that radical programme of change required for our society to adapt to biological, social and ecological realities.

Mr. Heath's behaviour is indeed quite predictable, but so are its consequences for which posterity will one day hold him largely responsible. Both were predicted over three years ago in the final chapter of Can Britain Survive? I t is reprinted in the following pages, in the somewhat naif hope that, faced with the probable, in fact, largely inevitable consequences of his policy, he might reconsider it, and substitute in its stead one that places the future of his country before that of short-term political expediency.

Edward Goldsmith