DEGROWTH
SOLUTION TO CONSUMERISM
The world is drowning in stuff. The stuff we cram into our closets, store in our garage and acquire in malls, shops, and boutiques. Stuff that gets thrown out and washes up on shore, and stuff that causes billions of tons of carbon dioxide to spew into the atmosphere every year. But all this stuff isn’t really necessary to live, indeed often we’re less happy because of it. So why do we buy? But more importantly, how do we stop this rampant consumerism fueled by capitalist growth?
Consumerism is a social and economic order that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts. The reality of today’s world is that we are so busy consuming that we just don’t know the ethical way of living well on this planet. Whether a brand new Tesla Model S or nice pair of jeans we buy for our status, acceptance, desire, or because of an advertisement. Such thoughts are all ingrained in our conception of success and mental well-being.
Under capitalism, we buy things as a way for us to seek acceptance from and connect with our peers. The barrage of ads we encounter every day equates to smiles with khakis, suaveness with sunglasses, and even love with headphones. But this drive to purchase that new Swiffer wet jet or that new car is not an inherently biological trait. Man’s biological urge to consume stops at a point. Now, the machine that produces has an infinite capacity to produce. So the producer wants the urge of consumption to increase day by day so that he is in profit. But the problem for the producer is that the biological urge to consume stops at a certain point, hence the producer has to artificially create an urge within you to consume. Our quest for more — our relentless overconsumption — is a symptom of capitalism. Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. An economic system is reliant on constant growth to create profits. For a business to succeed, outcompete others, and ultimately rake in more profits, it must grow.
One of the outcomes of this profit and growth imperative is an advertisement. A way to make new and useless products seem fresh, exciting, and even essential. These companies create a void in you by saying that you are incomplete if you don’t buy our product. That new iPhone, Bose noise-canceling headphones, and all of the fast-fashion are the epitome of this phenomenon.
This advertising is not telling you what the company’s products are, but instead, what you could be with their company’s product. In this way, the products of the capitalist profit machine are foisted onto us, the consumers, as life-altering goods that, in reality, change very little of our material circumstances. In short, capitalism needs to make more and more shit to remain effective, so corporations transform these products through marketing from goods that don’t need to exist into necessities. More consumption and more income do not equate to more happiness. Studies reveal that after our basic material needs are met, any additional consumption does little to improve happiness and it even causes us more suffering. This loop keeps on going for years and years and we end up even more frustrated rather than feeling contented. We all have experienced it ourselves and then also we fall into the same trap again and again.
In addition to its impact on individuals’ self-conception & mental health, capitalist overproduction, and subsequent overconsumption especially drives massive waste, emissions, and pollution. A country’s rise in emissions correlates strongly with its growth in GDP. Same with energy consumption and production. The capitalist growth model is incompatible with a zero-carbon world.
We’re emitting more than we ever have. We need to drastically reduce our emissions quickly if we are to stay below 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming. So, if the capitalist growth and profit economy can’t exist alongside a zero-carbon, environmentally ethical one, what other options do we have?
DEGROWTH
Degrowth is a solution under the pressures of capitalism and consumerism. Whether it be minimalism, zero waste, or slow living, those with the privilege to do so are working to carve out some respite from the unhappiness of capitalist alienation. All of these lifestyle choices correctly recognize the detrimental effect of capitalist consumption on life and the environment, but they lack a structural approach that recognizes the importance of both the individual and the system. This is where degrowth comes in.
Degrowth positions itself in an anti-capitalist framework that seeks downscaling of production and consumption in a way that increases human well-being and enhances ecological conditions and equity. Essentially, degrowth calls for a realignment of the economy from one based on overconsumption and “obsessive accumulation” to one that produces goods to satisfy real needs like housing, health, education, transport, and arts.
At its core, degrowth seeks the dramatic contraction of rich countries to allow for an increase in well-being for poorer countries. Models show that a world population of 10 billion people cannot exist on this planet living the current capitalist North American and European lifestyle. It now takes the Earth one year and eight months to regenerate what we consume in a year, and by we, I mean the richest 10% of the world, who are responsible for 50% of carbon emissions.
It means buying less, repairing, reducing meat consumption, and no second homes on an individual level. Ultimately degrowth cannot function as just individual lifestyle choices. Systemic pathways, like subsidizing all housing retrofits, shutting down the 100 companies that are responsible for 71% of the world’s emissions, redistributing all food waste, dramatically expanding public transportation methods, localizing food production as much as possible, eliminating unnecessary marketing, and a robust emphasis on low carbon, care-oriented jobs like educators, therapists, and in-home care providers, are just some of the many ways to simultaneously improve the well-being of all while drastically reducing the consumption levels.
Degrowth doesn’t mean going back to the stone age, but it does mean a drastic reduction in energy and material consumption from the largest historical emitters like the United States. The stark truth is that to both avoid global warming above 1.5 degrees Celcius while simultaneously establishing a decent living for the majority world, consumption levels need to plummet.
One study modeled that countries with the highest per-capita consumers could cut their energy consumption rate by 95% and still live well with a combination of efficient technologies and alternative lifestyle choices. In addition, they found that a global reduction of energy consumption by 60% is not only feasible but also could be done in a way that brings a comfortable lifestyle to every single person on this planet.
We can together raise awareness about this topic so that the growing blind consumption can be stopped. We have to remember that it all starts with us and then grows eventually. We should all form a society that is compassionate towards the environment and gives value to what is needed.
