I'm going to do my best to explain degrowth and all the ways it could make life better. If we can sell Chia pets and cheeseburgers, we can sell things that are good for people, too. We have to emphasize the benefits, and neutralize the fear of change, natural to most of us. Degrowth isn't a concept most have heard of, so making it known far and wide is the critical first step. It will be fought tooth and nail, even if we can create demand, and of course time is critical. There is so much we should have started doing 50 years ago, when this looming crisis was seen by those who were paying attention. As the system crashes and chaos results, the opportunity to transition to sustainability could easily be lost. Thank you for your thoughts, much appreciated.
I could not agree more regarding degrowth - it is inevitable- by choice or catastrophe. . I am an eternal optimist, but I cannot imagine the general public "sacrificing" any of the excesses we now encourage. The simple request to wear a face mask to protect others during the last few years has really exposed how selfish and self serving most Americans are. An economy based on unlimited growth... is truly unsustainable. So much misinformation and distraction is engaging the majority of the population. Montreal has the worst air globally- but the wildfires which should be extremity alarming are just treated as old news by the media. There are so many stories not getting traction- North Atlantic sea temps, 140 degree heat indexes in Pakistan, Arctic sea ice disappearing. Thank you for promoting the degrowth idea.
This is an excellent piece, well written and supported. I agree with you entirely that we are teetering on the edge of a terrifying precipice, if we have not already begun our descent - evidenced by the wholesale collapse of the natural biosphere. Far too many of us are somnambulant, suckling at the warm baby bottle offered by the decaying neoliberal puppet state of global capitalism, thinking there's still time to change the paradigm with electoral politics. That time is long gone, and we're already waist deep in social collapse; as of this writing, we've had 356 mass shootings, a growing figure that shows no sign of slowing down - and that's just one of many canaries in the coal mine that have gone limp, or are beginning to.
I wholly recommend The Shock Doctrine to anyone who reads your posts; it is a phenomenal book that could be treated as a prophetic roadmap to how societal collapse would proceed and be exploited well over a decade after it was penned. As Churchill once said, and Klein often quotes - "never let a good crisis go to waste" - and our bloodthirsty oligarchs are making sure "degrowth" will happen on -their- terms, with the rest of us proles are too busy tearing eachother to pieces over sociocultural illusions while they hide away in their disaster retreats and bunkers.
Thank you, David, I appreciate your thoughtful comments deeply. It's reassuring to meet others who recognize the reality of our situation, and I relate to your frustration.
The Shock doctrine is an amazing book. Naomi Klein is an amazing journalist. Without journalists courageous enough and given the outlet to speak the truth, and the best authors I have read in my life, I would be unable to think rationally, or express a relevant thought. I also give the deepest of thanks to the scientists who have a firm hand on reality. I see myself neither as equal to Ms. Klein, and certainly not as knowledgeable as scientists, but believe I have a gift for parsing information and communication. With that ability comes responsibility to do what I can.
It also comes from love. I have ridden tens of thousands of miles over mountains on bicycles and hiked hundreds of summit trails. The natural world is where happiness and reality live. Also, of course, our survival.
I hope to do justice in my follow-up on Degrowth. I truly believe there are a couple of details in it that are critical, that go beyond the Green New Deal, itself nowhere near realized, that need to be explained. In my own personal circles, Degrowth isn't even a term my liberal family and friends have ever heard, so it's my job to get it out there, as well as all that's relevant to climate change. The essay is in progress, I hope to get it out within a couple of days. Hope you will read it. Be well.
We can all be ambassadors of the truth, every day. Often it takes, subtly and patience, planting seeds. When I sense an opportunity, I speak. One or two points, max and gently. There is a lot of disinformation and ignorance to overcome. Many good-hearted people are simply misled.
Unfortunately, while I agree that degrowth is necessary, I strongly believe that it will not be implemented nationally, let alone around the world.
What makes me say this, although some may find it silly, is that in looking at people in my country, I realized how much greed and growth are part of their everyday decisions. It seems it got so bad that a psychologist made a video on TikTok last year “mocking” her patients about how they all, or at least most of them, complain about being single and unable to find a significant other while only accepting dates with engineers and doctors (the two highest-paying and status-generating professions in my country).
And as someone who tries to live a simple life, eschewing luxuries and stuff (not just for the environment, but because I never really cared about it), I know firsthand how lonely that is. I kind of stopped looking for a partner for now, but when I did, I can't count on one hand how many times the girl I was seeing made snarky comments about me not caring about money and status, or about my plain vehicle. Same thing with making friends. This means that to achieve degrowth we don't just need willing governments and shiny new laws, but we need to change what society and its members deem important, and I don't see that happening voluntarily.
What I think will happen is what Nate Hagens describes as post-growth, a state where our society doesn't stop growing because it wants to, but because it can't. The early stages can already be felt when you consider, as some economists point out, that many of the world's economies, at least since 2008, have been experiencing a kind of false growth, purely financial. This is bound to stop or at least abate as cheap and plentiful energy becomes scarcer. For now, I'm just waiting to see how long the EV and renewable energy craze lasts.
First, thank you for your thoughtful response, and the link, which I look forward to reading. Much appreciated.
I agree that degrowth faces long odds. I am certain that most here in the US have never even heard the word, and of course the powers that run the world will do everything they can to undermine it, if it becomes known. I also agree with you about your assessment of people chasing what is perceived as success, money, therefore jobs like engineers and doctors are aspired to as socially desirable. There is also the reality that the jobs in service for the good of other people don't pay well, and have negative social status for that reason. It is, of course, backwards.
These are tremendous social and reality problems, resulting in behavioral problems which are rooted in a failure of education, values, and the success of 24/7 advertising creating a fake world. Truly, we have been living in The Matrix for decades now, likely much longer.
For me, awareness is responsibility. If I see, and I know, I must do something. People are risking their lives and going to jail as I write for climate change and social justice. People are dying in heat domes. Win or lose, trying to do something gives my days meaning, and meaning is happiness, or as close as I can get.
We should all fight in whatever way we can, because you never know what moment, what words, what person could make a difference. I understand your loneliness. I am certain there are women out there for you, sharing similar frustrations, that understand the value of sincerity and a good heart.
I'm going to do my best to explain degrowth and all the ways it could make life better. If we can sell Chia pets and cheeseburgers, we can sell things that are good for people, too. We have to emphasize the benefits, and neutralize the fear of change, natural to most of us. Degrowth isn't a concept most have heard of, so making it known far and wide is the critical first step. It will be fought tooth and nail, even if we can create demand, and of course time is critical. There is so much we should have started doing 50 years ago, when this looming crisis was seen by those who were paying attention. As the system crashes and chaos results, the opportunity to transition to sustainability could easily be lost. Thank you for your thoughts, much appreciated.
Until I hear a better idea, this is the path, so I'm going to explain it and promote it as far and wide as I can. It's the answer to so many problems.
I could not agree more regarding degrowth - it is inevitable- by choice or catastrophe. . I am an eternal optimist, but I cannot imagine the general public "sacrificing" any of the excesses we now encourage. The simple request to wear a face mask to protect others during the last few years has really exposed how selfish and self serving most Americans are. An economy based on unlimited growth... is truly unsustainable. So much misinformation and distraction is engaging the majority of the population. Montreal has the worst air globally- but the wildfires which should be extremity alarming are just treated as old news by the media. There are so many stories not getting traction- North Atlantic sea temps, 140 degree heat indexes in Pakistan, Arctic sea ice disappearing. Thank you for promoting the degrowth idea.
This is an excellent piece, well written and supported. I agree with you entirely that we are teetering on the edge of a terrifying precipice, if we have not already begun our descent - evidenced by the wholesale collapse of the natural biosphere. Far too many of us are somnambulant, suckling at the warm baby bottle offered by the decaying neoliberal puppet state of global capitalism, thinking there's still time to change the paradigm with electoral politics. That time is long gone, and we're already waist deep in social collapse; as of this writing, we've had 356 mass shootings, a growing figure that shows no sign of slowing down - and that's just one of many canaries in the coal mine that have gone limp, or are beginning to.
I wholly recommend The Shock Doctrine to anyone who reads your posts; it is a phenomenal book that could be treated as a prophetic roadmap to how societal collapse would proceed and be exploited well over a decade after it was penned. As Churchill once said, and Klein often quotes - "never let a good crisis go to waste" - and our bloodthirsty oligarchs are making sure "degrowth" will happen on -their- terms, with the rest of us proles are too busy tearing eachother to pieces over sociocultural illusions while they hide away in their disaster retreats and bunkers.
Thank you, David, I appreciate your thoughtful comments deeply. It's reassuring to meet others who recognize the reality of our situation, and I relate to your frustration.
The Shock doctrine is an amazing book. Naomi Klein is an amazing journalist. Without journalists courageous enough and given the outlet to speak the truth, and the best authors I have read in my life, I would be unable to think rationally, or express a relevant thought. I also give the deepest of thanks to the scientists who have a firm hand on reality. I see myself neither as equal to Ms. Klein, and certainly not as knowledgeable as scientists, but believe I have a gift for parsing information and communication. With that ability comes responsibility to do what I can.
It also comes from love. I have ridden tens of thousands of miles over mountains on bicycles and hiked hundreds of summit trails. The natural world is where happiness and reality live. Also, of course, our survival.
I hope to do justice in my follow-up on Degrowth. I truly believe there are a couple of details in it that are critical, that go beyond the Green New Deal, itself nowhere near realized, that need to be explained. In my own personal circles, Degrowth isn't even a term my liberal family and friends have ever heard, so it's my job to get it out there, as well as all that's relevant to climate change. The essay is in progress, I hope to get it out within a couple of days. Hope you will read it. Be well.
We can all be ambassadors of the truth, every day. Often it takes, subtly and patience, planting seeds. When I sense an opportunity, I speak. One or two points, max and gently. There is a lot of disinformation and ignorance to overcome. Many good-hearted people are simply misled.
Apologies, I should have said dozens of summits, not hundreds, mostly in the beautiful Adirondacks.
powerful words that left me speechless!
And I hope it is not to late to rewrite history !
A recent article on Counterpunch well presented the situation facing our society: https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/06/19/needed-either-degrowth-or-two-earths/.
Unfortunately, while I agree that degrowth is necessary, I strongly believe that it will not be implemented nationally, let alone around the world.
What makes me say this, although some may find it silly, is that in looking at people in my country, I realized how much greed and growth are part of their everyday decisions. It seems it got so bad that a psychologist made a video on TikTok last year “mocking” her patients about how they all, or at least most of them, complain about being single and unable to find a significant other while only accepting dates with engineers and doctors (the two highest-paying and status-generating professions in my country).
And as someone who tries to live a simple life, eschewing luxuries and stuff (not just for the environment, but because I never really cared about it), I know firsthand how lonely that is. I kind of stopped looking for a partner for now, but when I did, I can't count on one hand how many times the girl I was seeing made snarky comments about me not caring about money and status, or about my plain vehicle. Same thing with making friends. This means that to achieve degrowth we don't just need willing governments and shiny new laws, but we need to change what society and its members deem important, and I don't see that happening voluntarily.
What I think will happen is what Nate Hagens describes as post-growth, a state where our society doesn't stop growing because it wants to, but because it can't. The early stages can already be felt when you consider, as some economists point out, that many of the world's economies, at least since 2008, have been experiencing a kind of false growth, purely financial. This is bound to stop or at least abate as cheap and plentiful energy becomes scarcer. For now, I'm just waiting to see how long the EV and renewable energy craze lasts.
First, thank you for your thoughtful response, and the link, which I look forward to reading. Much appreciated.
I agree that degrowth faces long odds. I am certain that most here in the US have never even heard the word, and of course the powers that run the world will do everything they can to undermine it, if it becomes known. I also agree with you about your assessment of people chasing what is perceived as success, money, therefore jobs like engineers and doctors are aspired to as socially desirable. There is also the reality that the jobs in service for the good of other people don't pay well, and have negative social status for that reason. It is, of course, backwards.
These are tremendous social and reality problems, resulting in behavioral problems which are rooted in a failure of education, values, and the success of 24/7 advertising creating a fake world. Truly, we have been living in The Matrix for decades now, likely much longer.
For me, awareness is responsibility. If I see, and I know, I must do something. People are risking their lives and going to jail as I write for climate change and social justice. People are dying in heat domes. Win or lose, trying to do something gives my days meaning, and meaning is happiness, or as close as I can get.
We should all fight in whatever way we can, because you never know what moment, what words, what person could make a difference. I understand your loneliness. I am certain there are women out there for you, sharing similar frustrations, that understand the value of sincerity and a good heart.
THIS. DEGROWTH.