In response to skyrocketing oil prices, many people are changing their lifestyles, trying to lead simpler lives as they tighten their belts. While these changes may be a response to increasing prices, they have the added benefit of conserving energy and decreasing carbon emissions. We must, however, ask ourselves how much we can change, what specific environmental benefits we can expect and how we should define our new lifestyles.
Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) statistics indicate that the industrial sector produces 52 percent of the nation’s carbon dioxide emissions. The residential and commercial sectors account for 18 percent, the transportation sector accounts for 14 percent and the energy sector accounts for 7 percent. The industrial sector is, in other words, by far the largest polluter.
Conserving energy by changing our consumption patterns and lifestyles is undoubtedly a significant step. Stricter regulation of the energy used in manufacturing, however, must be undertaken and our whole concept of development scrutinized.
One may well wonder whether we can maintain our competitiveness without industrial development. The “6-3-3” economic policy of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) promises a 6 percent annual economic growth rate by bolstering development. In a sluggish economy, any policy focusing on boosting GDP is bound to attract voters. In the long term, however, focusing on development alone will fail to improve our living standard. In addition, it will only increase energy consumption and pollution.
The countries of northern Europe are now among the most competitive in the world, despite their low economic growth rates. Economic development and growth are not the primary goals of these countries, where people are more concerned with quality of living. These countries have not only retained their competitive edge, they are among the most successful in terms of energy conservation and carbon reductions.
So how did northern Europe pull this off?
These countries have not sought to compete on other countries’ turf. Instead, they have placed an emphasis on developing their own special strengths. The major industries and companies in these countries, such as Finland’s Nokia and Sweden’s Ikea, have found success in integrating their operations with the culture and resources of their societies. This has fueled their ingenuity, creating unique products. Their competitiveness comes from skillfully utilizing the strengths of their environs and this is also what gives their products higher added value.
This qualitative form of competitiveness is vastly different from countries focused on quantity.
In terms of personal development, primary and secondary education in these countries focus on self-exploration. Students are encouraged to pursue their interests and choose their career paths based on these. They are not obsessed with class rankings. In fact, in these countries, schools do not even have class rankings. But that has hardly resulted in lazy students. On the contrary, students in northern Europe are largely serious about their studies because they enjoy what they are doing and their creativity is valued.
Northern Europe contrasts starkly against East Asian countries that place an overemphasis on development figures. These countries have not yet learned to exploit their special characteristics and strong points. Instead, they are constantly occupied with a game of trying to catch up to developed nations. Competitiveness based on quantitative assessments is destined to waste more resources and risk damaging quality of living. Individuals do not know what they want in life because they are not encouraged to flourish through their interests and when this happens to an entire country, it spells a lack of creativity.
“Localization” is a constructive process based on subjectivity. It is not an ideology nor based on isolationism. On the contrary, globalization is a necessary part of localization, or we could say that the two compliment each other. Only by interacting with the rest of the world can a country discover what is special about itself and what significance these features have. This is also the only way to develop these strengths and exploit them as resources. This is what Taiwan needs to boost its competitiveness. The KMT is rightly working to increase direct economic links with China and exploit globalization, but the economic progress we seek cannot be found without localization as well.
As we change our lifestyles, we should not think only of saving money but take a good look at our goals in life and seek to understand that simplicity can also be fulfilling. By gaining confidence in ourselves and our goals we can lead interesting and meaningful lives.
This is also the only way to find the creativity that is so important to competitiveness. With this perspective, we can observe globalization and understand where we fit in it and what we hope to gain from it. Eventually we will discover that competitiveness does not necessarily mean chasing on the heels of other countries.
Lii Ding-tzann is a professor of sociology at National Tsing Hua University.
TRANSLATED BY DREW CAMERON
Could Asia be on the verge of a new wave of nuclear proliferation? A look back at the early history of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which recently celebrated its 75th anniversary, illuminates some reasons for concern in the Indo-Pacific today. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin recently described NATO as “the most powerful and successful alliance in history,” but the organization’s early years were not without challenges. At its inception, the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty marked a sea change in American strategic thinking. The United States had been intent on withdrawing from Europe in the years following
My wife and I spent the week in the interior of Taiwan where Shuyuan spent her childhood. In that town there is a street that functions as an open farmer’s market. Walk along that street, as Shuyuan did yesterday, and it is next to impossible to come home empty-handed. Some mangoes that looked vaguely like others we had seen around here ended up on our table. Shuyuan told how she had bought them from a little old farmer woman from the countryside who said the mangoes were from a very old tree she had on her property. The big surprise
The issue of China’s overcapacity has drawn greater global attention recently, with US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen urging Beijing to address its excess production in key industries during her visit to China last week. Meanwhile in Brussels, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last week said that Europe must have a tough talk with China on its perceived overcapacity and unfair trade practices. The remarks by Yellen and Von der Leyen come as China’s economy is undergoing a painful transition. Beijing is trying to steer the world’s second-largest economy out of a COVID-19 slump, the property crisis and
As former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) wrapped up his visit to the People’s Republic of China, he received his share of attention. Certainly, the trip must be seen within the full context of Ma’s life, that is, his eight-year presidency, the Sunflower movement and his failed Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, as well as his eight years as Taipei mayor with its posturing, accusations of money laundering, and ups and downs. Through all that, basic questions stand out: “What drives Ma? What is his end game?” Having observed and commented on Ma for decades, it is all ironically reminiscent of former US president Harry