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| How much is a Ladybird ? |
Look at paintings such as the many versions of the Card Players or the representations of apples by Paul Cézanne or innumerable works by Claude Monet or Pablo Picasso or any of the other great painters of the 19th and 20th centuries. These works are beyond monetary value; whether they are in public or private collections they belong, in some sense, to all humans, such is their profound emotional presence. Having seen the recent BBC programme in the Storyville series about the Barnes collection - 'valued' at $25 billion, I have my reservations about putting a price on things, and about those who do so for their own mercantile motives. Some things are simply too precious and valuable to be judged in terms of some currency or other. It is common knowledge that money can all of a sudden become worthless, but throughout the short history of humanity, value still remains. From the earliest stone tools, to the first representations of animals or humans, to the cave paintings at Lascaux to the most exuberant Matisse, some of the things made by humans are the most loving, joyful, masterful creations of the Tribal Monkey.
Who can dispute this profound emotionality who has approached the Guernica by Pablo Picasso in the Reina Sofia in Madrid. It's presence is brooding and felt even when it is out of sight - probably because you are treated to some of the artist's sketches and drawings in preparation for the painting as you draw near. When you actually see it it is rather like a blow to the stomach such is the wave of emotion which fills you and overwhelms you. What is the value of this painting ? If it were to be sold, who could afford it ? Spain might be tempted in its hour of economic need. Its sale could make a dent in the deficit no doubt, but whether a price could be put on it is uncertain.
One thing on which a price has been put but which is not valued is energy and energy production. We have been brought up to believe that energy, be it electricity or petrol or gas or coal is freely available in unlimited quantities and can be bought cheaply, so cheaply in fact that it matters not how much we use or waste. Modern societies are founded on the fact that vast quantities of energy on a scale unimaginable to our ancestors who were limited to mainly wind, wood and animal power are immediately available to us for transport, manufacturing, home heating etc. Now that is probably less so now than it was only a few years ago mainly because speculators have driven up the price of oil, but it must be said that the price of fossil energy particularly bears no relation to how precious and finite a resource it is. Air transport in particular pays no premium of any kind on its use of energy. Nor does the price take account of the damage to the earth system done by large scale emissions of carbon dioxide and the risks that this implies for the future stability of our climate, and the availability of food and water for the multitudes of humans now present on this planet.
Would it not be better to price energy fairly and enable people to use less of it and more efficiently in a society which is good at using small amounts of energy from mainly renewable resources to produce prosperity and stability ? The means, financial and technological, already exist for us to achieve this. What is lacking is the will to do so. Our governments must act to produce the conditions for this to happen. Oil companies would do well to divert their vast resources into energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. We as individuals should look at the little things we can do to make our own lives more efficient, less wasteful, more at peace with existence. What is the cost of a species lost through our fault or more precisely negligence. What price can you put on a Ladybird or a Great Auk, an Otter or a Peregrine ?
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