Degrowth Insanity is Ecological Suicide
What we really need to solve climate change
“Degrowth” is the notion that global growth and consumption need to be reduced to solve climate change. Obviously, there is truth in this perspective. If we can reduce consumption to below the levels we are at today, that could help solve climate change. But it will never be enough.
The problem with degrowth is that it focuses on individual consumer behavior, and it comes off as a caustic blaming of people for going about their normal lives. One commenter, for example, rages about people idling their cars at restaurant drive-thrus — never mind that that was the only way one could purchase from those restaurants for the last two years. It all comes across as, “All these other people need to stop living their lives the way they do and live like me.” Fortunately or not, most people don’t want to live that way. Because of that, they will not do it. And that’s why this approach is suicidal for humanity.
But there is another reason, too. The focus on individual behavior is disingenuous. Proponents call on people to “use less,” but there are no real numbers, and for most of us, there is no real way to do it.
Let’s take an example. Let’s say I live in a suburb on one side of a metropolitan area. My spouse works nearby, and my kids and…
