Short-termism is killing the planet

Why intergenerational justice demands we think long-term

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Apologies for the long-winded intro. This week’s post is a short one, aimed at opening up discussion. Next week, I’ll return to one of my normal deeper dives.

Cheers,

Jono

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The Roman’s knew how to build things that lasted. The Pont du Gard is an aqueduct bridge built by the Romans in the 1st century CE. I visited this impressive structure when attending a workshop in the south of France in 2023.

I've been wrestling with something lately. I write here to convey the urgency of taking action—for the sake of both our generation and those to come. But here's the thing: we're stuck in a system that operates on short-term cycles. This note I posted recently reflects my thinking here:

Political cycles last 3-5 years. 
Buildings now stand for 50. 
Appliances now break in five and can’t be fixed. 
We buy new clothes each year to align with what’s hot.
We’re stuck in short-term thinking—quick wins, fast fixes, fleeting trends. 
But the best things take time.
We used to know this, but seem to have forgotten.
Cathedrals took centuries to build and still inspire centuries later. 
Gaudí never saw the Sagrada Família finished, but Barcelona thrives because he started. 
Trees live for generations—let’s plant them, not just cut them down.
Let’s give a gift for those who follow us.
Let’s think beyond now. 
Let’s build, create, and invest in a future worth inheriting.

Markets chase quarterly earnings, politicians think in election cycles, and even academics are chasing the next pot of money or the next big paper. This doesn't even cover the fact that social media conditions us for instant gratification.

We continually chase what’s urgent, but neglect what’s important.

Why are we so bad at thinking long-term? I want to expand very briefly on my note to get you talking. I don't have the answers. This is me thinking out loud, hoping to get an interesting discussion flowing.

Let's consider this recent note I posted:

Short-term: Approve a subdivision in a high-risk flood zone.
Long-term: Buy back land to give space for a river to flood.
Short-term thinking builds risk.
Long-term thinking builds resilience.
The path to a safer, more just future is through long-term thinking, not short-term financial gains. 

For the Aotearoa New Zealand readers, this may sound familiar to you with what is going on in Napier right now, with a subdivision being approved in a high-risk flood zone (see here and here) only a year or two following an unprecedented flood that caused billions of dollars of damage.

Our collective memory is very short!

Somehow society tends to prefer transferring all the costs to future generations for short-term gains.

Let's consider some alternatives:

1. Politics and governance

Short-term: Policies designed around election cycles. Politicians push for immediate economic wins or tax breaks instead of long-term climate resilience and societal wellbeing.

Long-term: Ireland has pioneered the use of Citizens' Assemblies to make long-term policy decisions on major issues like biodiversity loss and constitutional amendments.

2. Economy

Short-term: Companies prioritising quarterly earnings over sustainable growth. We are inundated with massive, publicly traded companies with ownership that is outsourced to people who aren’t making decisions.

Long-term: Patagonia reinvesting profits into environmental initiatives rather than maximising shareholder returns. See Yvon Chouinard’s letter.

3. Infrastructure planning

Short-term: Cities (and countries) prioritising highway expansion over public transit, leading to congestion and emissions.

Long-term: Amsterdam and Copenhagen designing cities around cycling and public transit, reducing pollution for generations. Paris continues to make great strides in this space too.

4. Environment

Short-term: Investing billions to build a new water filtration plant to clean degraded water for drinking.

Long-term: Rather than spending $8–10 billion on a water filtration plant, New York City invested $1.5 billion in protecting the catchments that supplied the water. This not only saved billions, but it also provided key co-benefits like protecting biodiversity. This is a key example of a Nature-Based Solution. And you know I love a good co-benefit!

5. Consumerism

Short-term: Fast fashion cycles that create waste, transfer that waste elsewhere, and exploit labor.

Long-term: Clothing brands investing in repairability and circular fashion models. Patagonia’s Worn Wear programme is a prime example. (Excuse the excessive use of examples from Patagonia, but they just so happen to make it easy! I'm not endorsed by them — I wish!)

Discuss!

As mentioned, I don't have all the answers here. Far from it. But it's an important topic that deserves discussion.

We inherited so many wonderful things from our ancestors. Think of the beautiful architecture our historic cities are graced with. Think of the oak tree down the road that was planted three centuries ago. We're fortunate our ancestors thought long-term. But we have also inherited a damaged planet, largely from the decisions made over the past century. We need to be thinking about what our descendants are inheriting.

So, how do we turn this around? What would policies look like if governments had to report on 50-year outcomes? Where do you see short-term thinking causing the most damage? What would change if we measured success in centuries, not seasons?

Jump into the comments! And, I’ve opened a chat on this—let’s talk about what needs to change.

I'll leave you with one final question: Are you being a good ancestor?

This might just be the most important question we can ask ourselves in the current world.

Are your grandchildren going to thank you for your actions? Or have you been too focused on the present? Do you think in seconds, days, weeks, or do you think in decades, centuries, generations? What actions are you taking to leave a positive mark on the world? How will your grandchildren judge your actions?

Jonas Salk, who developed the polio vaccine, used this question to guide his life.

It’s hard to debate the contribution he made.

The current polycrisis needs everyone to think in this way.

This story is nicely told in The Good Ancestor by Roman Krznaric.