Economic growth or quality of life

Lest these comments cause you to descend quickly into gloom, let me say I am filled with hopeful expectation of a meaningful future for humankind. Nevertheless, this will happen only if we find enlightened leaders for a new world and put them in charge as a matter of urgency.

The current lot are obsessed with clinging to power, not being willing to take carefully planned and calculated risks, and living in fear of failure rather than the satisfaction of kicking goals. To be very kind, a charitable description of them is that they are a very ordinary rabble leading us down paths to nowhere.

So, when we replace the current GDP with a new, far broader, General Domestic Prosperity figure calculated as a score out of 10 being the ultimate quality, then Australia deserves a four right now, while the world overall rates a two. Norway and Sweden top the poll with a six.

There is a long way to go, but it will be an interesting journey. Those who live in the 22^nd century will praise us for having curbed the culture of greed and replacing it with responsible conservation of the resources of the planet and excellent care of its environmental health, together with the fundamentals of a basic living standard built on a provision of hope for all who want to try.