Logical Inconsistencies or Just Nonsense

Jeremy Rifkin is a hoot. (The picture with this post is not Rifkin) In this morning's Sacramento Bee he yammers that megacities are overtaking what is "wild." Rifkin would be a laugh a minute were his public policy pronouncements not taken somewhat seriously in some quarters. For example, one of his recent books aruged that European civilization was eclipsing American. Evidently, their culture, dismal economic growth (although admittedly improving), inability to deal with immigration and other societal trends are superior to our system.

This morning's diatribe continues the Rifkin tradition. His basic argument is that the world is evolving into a series of megacities and he goes on to claim that "Scientists tell us that within the lifetime of today's children, the wild will disappear from the face of the earth." Evidently it is terrible to move into larger cities. All of our efforts to preserve wilderness are coming to naught. In the US we have not successfully added new areas to wilderness protection in the last couple of decades and ditto for all other places in the world.

Fortunately, there are more rational people in the world who can look at an issue with some intelligence. Joel Kotkin, for example, argues that human organization is evolving in a number of ways. His books like the New Geography argues that Americans at least are making different choices in where they want to live. Those choices allow a mix of strategies and lifestyles. The Internet and quick travel now makes it possible for a person to live almost anywhere and still be a participant in the global economy. That would suggest, at least for some, that the megacities are no longer attractive. Kotkin seems to have a better record as an analyst than Rifkin. In the late 1970s, when the rest of the world was touting Japan,Inc. Kotkin correctly pointed out the potential foibles of the Japanese system. Kotkin presents a much more balanced understanding of the role of cities in his book The City where he uses his keen observer's eyes to explain the growth and development of cities. He understands both the positives and negatives of cities but he also has the good grace to think as an analyst rather than as a scold.

Consistentcy does not seem to be one of Mr. Rifkin's strong suits. One would assume that he is a supporter of the "smart growth" movement which encourages people to move back into the megacities, in an organized way. If you think about Rifkin's consistent theme it is that the real problem here is that the earth has been populated by these things called humans - if we could just move them out of the picture, then everything would be OK.