Doing “Degrowth” - Part 1
“To see the world through the degrowth lens is like being freed from a prison… a prison of the mind, narrowly constrained by the idea of endless economic growth, suddenly a whole new world opens up, a world of infinite possibilities.” Twitter 25/4
Before doing degrowth you must do a little mind preparation. To many, the word “degrowth” sounds scary. I understand that, so let’s begin by putting your mind at ease.
Degrowth is not an uncontrolled collapse, as some may imagine, with job losses, food shortages and social chaos. That’s what happens when you reach the end game after attempting endless growth on a finite planet. That is “collapse” and is a very different thing. Collapse is a situation many of you already sense is looming under the current system as pressures continue to build on so many fronts.
No, degrowth is simply the economics term for carefully reducing the scale and impact of the economy. Degrowth is the process of finding balance, harmony and resilience as a sustainable platform from which to pursue genuine progress. Think of it as “degrowth for regrowth” if that helps.
Degrowth is a carefully coordinated and managed response to the dangerous state of overshoot we now find ourselves in thanks to our recent obsession with short term economic growth. A highly volatile state of overshoot which is now manifesting itself in a climate crisis, mass extinctions, resource stress, armed conflict and countless other dangerous and ugly forms.
It is also important to consider that degrowth is not a process without end, just a means to bring us back to a sustainable operating scale, whereupon “steady state” economics can be applied to keep us safe and secure for countless generations to come, thus providing a long term operating base upon which to plan and organise. The steady state economy is about stability and resilience.
I’m hoping I am starting to break down your initial wariness around the term “degrowth” and that you are starting to find the idea a little more appealing.
But please allow me to continue because I do not want you to be “less wary” and to consider degrowth “a little more appealing”. I really want you to become as absolutely passionate as I am about degrowth. I want you to come to understand that the degrowth path is the ONLY viable context within which attempts to save the planet, to save civilisation can succeed.
So please give me another 2 minutes of your time. I’ll try to be brief:
The degrowth movement is founded on the following 4 principles:
1. The economy is the foundation of society- It therefore must be resilient, strong, equitable, and most importantly sustainable over the long term.
2. The environment is the foundation of the economy- An economy which is degrading the environment is undermining itself and therefore doomed to fail.
3. The environment is finite and sets limits to the scale of the economy- It’s just common sense, but a notion rejected by those blinded by the short term profit motive, who advocate the alternate economic paradigm- that of endless economic growth.
4. Environmental limits must NEVER be breached. To do so, is to steal from our children, from other life, and is a disgusting, unethical inter-generational crime of the worst kind. It’s like mining the foundations to build an apartment block- the bigger the building the more dangerous for all who occupy it.
If these four points resonate with you, If you understand how crucial and how immutable these tenets are, then you are ready for the degrowth movement.
Solving all problems begins by recognising that you have a problem. Economic growth is the problem, so it stands to reason that if growth has caused our problems, then degrowth will alleviate them.
So I just ask you for now to accept the need, in theory, for degrowth. Do not be put off by the “but how do we do it?” question, that will be the subject of “Doing Degrowth”-part 2. One thing I can assure you of, it is nowhere near as difficult as you may think, especially when compared to the impossible task of sustaining endless “growth”.
#Degrowth4Regrowth
Thank you for reading- M
