Human creativity and productivity are the basis of economies. Since it is assumed there are no limits to our imagination, economists believe endless growth is possible, and is the very definition of success and progress. Following the Great Depression of the 1930s, the Second World War provided the stimulus for global economic recovery. The
... See moreDavid Suzuki • The Sacred Balance, 25th anniversary edition: Rediscovering Our Place in Nature (Foreword by Robin Wall Kimmerer)
The thing about growth is that it sounds so good. It’s a powerful metaphor that’s rooted deeply in our understanding of natural processes: children grow, crops grow … and so too the economy should grow. But this framing plays on a false analogy. The natural process of growth is always finite. We want our children to grow, but not to the point of
... See moreJason Hickel • Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World
Proponents of degrowth argue that economic growth is predicated on the continuous extraction of natural resources, and so infinite growth in a world in which resources are finite is, by definition, impossible. In fact, the pursuit of infinite growth is what led civilization down the path of climate change, ecological destruction, biodiversity loss,
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