The Classical Discourse—From Start-Up to Harmony. What Is Sustainable About It?

The chapter draws attention to the fact that human specificity, not homogeneity, is the one that matters for sustainability. It renders imperfect the substitution of labour with capital. Creative destruction is, therefore, limited. It is argued that nature generates, in a predestinated manner, inequality. Society compensates, adding or subtracting. It results that sustainability is incompatible with the image of hungry children and irresponsible parents or governments. Novel things will be revealed about the sustainable part of a special unequal—the entrepreneur. From a particular perspective, sustainability rests on an ingratitude: without work it does not exist. In relation to the humanely laziness and the dream of stationarity, the market leads to sustainable diligence. It is argued that the equality-justice relation is filtered by opportunism. Individual interests come first, and social justice bears a difficult task.