Conservativization

Use it up, wear it out
Make it do, or do without

   Of the four major inputs that economists call the "factors of production," only one -- Land -- has built-in limits.
   The other three -- Labor, Capital and Entrepreneurial Skill -- can be expanded, enhanced, and improved.
   Labor -- the number of people in the world -- can be increased through population growth and their skills can be improved.
   Capital -- investment in machines, roads, bridges and buildings -- can be expanded and made more efficient through technology.
   Entrepreneurial Skill -- the ability to coordinate the other three -- can also be improved, either by increasing the number of entrepreneurs or by enhancing their skills, or both.
   But as for Land, they ain't makin' any more of it.

   There are some natural resources that can be renewed, such as trees and crops, for example, but others -- oil, coal and natural gas -- cannot.
   Therefore, society must learn to use available, non-renewable resources wisely, or risk depleting the supply entirely.
   There are those who say they don't care, that by the time a resource is used up, they will be long dead. But this ignores the reality that there will be others living on the planet who, at whatever time in the future shortages occur, will need these natural resources that are now being depleted, wasted or used inefficiently.
   Political conservatives claim that people have a right, an entitlement, to use whatever is available in whatever manner they choose.
   Others, including Barry Goldwater, the founder of the modern political conservative movement, believe in the original meaning of the word: Conserve.