Good and bad motives in the search for positive news  January 6,
2005  The nonsense that underpins the modern, almost universal,
acceptance of the economists' "growth is good" mantra was
graphically illustrated by Peter Martin when he referred to Fred
Bergsten's pronouncement that the tsunami tragedy "might be a
good thing for the economies concerned" ("Dismal failure to
count the true cost", Herald, January 5).  The wellbeing of
future generations of Australians, and people everywhere, is
being seriously compromised by policies and programs designed to
maintain economic growth rather than to serve humanity and its
supporting ecosystems.  Imagine your disbelief if your child's
school report read, "John had an outstanding performance this
year, he grew five centimetres, outranking his classmates by a
clear one centimetre".  The adoption of a measure of
environmental and social wellbeing is urgently needed.  Gordon
Hocking, Oyster Bay, January 5.  There is no greater cohesive
factor than a common goal for uniti