It’s an ancient wisdom to understand that if you want to build great things, you need to build strong foundations. The fable the “Three Little Pigs” gives children an early insight into this universal truth, even then overtime things will eventually fall down, physics uses the term atrophy; just ask Okonkwo, from Chinua Achebe’s debut novel*, Blockbuster video, Kodak or Shelly’s Ozymandias*.
We are in an age where a few have got rich quick with minimal talent and effort, but this is not the reality for most. Hard work and focus still provide the foundations to both success and happiness, although one certainly does not guarantee the other. I know plenty of millionaires who, by their own admission, lead unhappy lives, where the sole pursuit for money and power has cost them the most precious commodities of time and value. Where like King Midas they have catered for their wants, but not their needs and, as the years pass, and their health fades they regret more and more. Perhaps, in the current fast-changing world, alongside hard work and balance, one also needs to understand how the world is changing, manage risk and position accordingly.
In a previous article “Mauritius, the Road Ahead from an Insider Outsider, I talked about how the changing Macroeconomic environment, global debt, currency debasement and the relentless onset of Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Block chain technologies, against the backdrop of a climate crisis, pose both a significant threat and a potential opportunity for the development of Mauritius. The conclusion was to look after the basics first, preserve positive culture, manage risk and make provision for ‘needs’ as well as ‘wants’. Many years ago, I visited the abandoned city of Fatehpur Sikri just west of Agra, built by the Emperor Akbar in 1569. Even today, the ruins are impressive, I recall a temple where every pillar when struck by hand would ring a unique note and tone for miles around. By 1610 however, this opulent city was abandoned due to lack of water. Perhaps in his need to show extravagance Akbar, or more likely his advisors forgot about basic needs and they weren’t the first and won’t be the last.
Mauritius, for better, or worse, is developing fast, but is it a sustainable house built of stone that has risk managed the future? Arguments rage about the real need for more roads, more metro lines, more shopping malls and more debt. I will stay neutral. My prediction was drought would be our first existential crisis, we came close in early 2023, and we will come closer still in the future. It was however, Cyclone Belal that has put needs firmly in the spotlight. Politics and blame aside, we need to invest in climate adaptation measures, such as better flood controls to preserve life and property, natural sea defences to preserve our beaches and tourist economy, like the reestablishment of dunes, coral reefs and protecting the last remaining natural areas that preserve the land behind them. We must invest in water security, for when the predicted droughts do come. This too will bring the forest fires that have raged elsewhere and we need to be ready. Economically, there is a requirement to ensure domestic food and energy security, preferably with both safer and reduced pesticides use and renewable technologies. Socially, focus should be on health and wellbeing, fairness and inclusion not division. This is what the UN Sustainable Development Goals aim countries towards, as once we provide for people’s needs and rights we then have the perfect platform to ensure the sustainability of our wants. If, however, in the rush for development basic needs are not met and sustainable risk not addressed, Pieter Both may in years to come like Ozymandias may be looking out at “the lone and level sands that stretch far away”.
* Things Fall apart, Chinua Achebe (1958)
* Ozymandias, Percy Bysshe Shelley (1818)
Mark Johnson is a former CEO and Advisor to the Mayor of London. He now works at Le Bocage International School as a humanities teacher and Sustainable Development Coordinator.