“Capitalism is the natural order” is the new “the King is God’s appointed leader” of the 21st century
These people always seem to forget that the majority of economic growth- or the accelerated rate of growth at least- is only possible thanks to the achievements and suggestions of those “weird academics”.
But fuck those weird nerds, amirite?!
I really don’t understand the degrowth movement.
We can have sustainable economic growth. Installing solar panels, insulating houses, etc is economic activity.
But also, having unemployed people get a job as a nurse or teacher or personal trainer - that’s also economic growth and I don’t see how that is bad for the environment.
Obviously, growing fossil fuel consumption is bad.
But the more logical strategy seems to decouple the economy from fossil fuels - not to create a huge recession or depression that will create a lot of misery.
My understanding is that degrowth is a movement not necessarily away from growth altogether, but tailoring growth or contraction to meet the needs of human and planetary well-being. For example, the things you mention, especially in the Global South, can raise standards of living. But it’s plain to me that in the Global North, we are already over-developed and extracting resources to create profit rather than to improve lives. I think we could contract the economy while making lives better, if only we could align our economic policies with the world’s real needs. I’d recommend checking out Kate Raworth’s Doughnut Economics, I find it to be a useful framework.
Sustainable economic growth is just growth.
What are we growing?
Are we just growing fake numbers? Making them go up an arbitrary amount without concern for the methods used?
Is this growth natural or is it forced? Are we trying to have a positive impact on the community? Is the growth in balance with society’s needs and it’s dreams?
Are we actually growing as a species, or do we just alternate in cycles of growth and decay? From infancy to middle age and then back again repeating endlessly?
Are we hitting checkpoints that we can go back to without starting over from nothing?
There is “growth” and then there is growth.
Actually, there IS a reason that growth is needed, and that is to pay the interest on the loans they took out.
