the modern economy needs constant and indefinite growth in order to survive. If growth ever stops, the economy won’t settle down to some cosy equilibrium; it will fall to pieces. That’s why capitalism encourages us to seek immortality, happiness and divinity. There’s a limit to how many shoes we can wear, how many cars we can drive and how many ski
... See moreYuval Noah Harari • Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow
An attitude to life which seeks fulfilment in the single-minded pursuit of wealth – in short, materialism – does not fit into this world, because it contains within itself no limiting principle, while the environment in which it is placed is strictly limited
E.F. Schumacher • Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered (Harper Perennial Modern Thought)
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 transit
... See moreDavid Suzuki • The Sacred Balance, 25th anniversary edition: Rediscovering Our Place in Nature (Foreword by Robin Wall Kimmerer)
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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