INDIVIDUALISM AND COLLECTIVISM - HOW WILL SUSTAINABILITY AFFECT THE ROLES OF THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS

While this paper recognises that the goal of sustainability may require philosophical and institutional changes of a radical nature, it compares the strengths and limitations of a range of strategies within the context of reform. Beginning with education, at the 'soft' end of the spectrum, it works through regulation, rationing, taxing and price controlling, to the 'hard' strategy of public ownership. But the authors argue that the soft/hard dichotomy is not an accurate perception of the implications of these strategies. Education may prove to be the most radical tool of all, while the impact of public ownership on the environment depends on the private sectors, and their interdependence, makes value judgements about their respective merits environmentally irrelevant. Different mixes will be appropriate for different purposes in different contexts. The important thing is clarity of purpose, which is where value judgements are important, and to select the strategy which will work best to achieve good results without being confused by ideological preconceptions.