Since the industrial era, the Western development model has been based on the increasing exploitation of natural resources – including fossil energy. The problem is that this limited capital is going to run out. For some, degrowth is the answer. This concept was theorized by the economist Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen in the 1970s and has once again come to the forefront because of the world recession. The principle: as the end of growth is unavoidable, we better pre-empt it if we want to keep living comfortably. Degrowth is a keyword that brings together many personalities from many different walks of life. It is also a “shell word”, meant to criticise the idea of sustainable development which is, in essence, a contradiction in terms since infinite growth is impossible and therefore, not sustainable. Living better with less. This is the individual form of the idea that is also called voluntary simplicity. Those who apply it try to resist being conditioned by advertising and the artificial needs it slips into people’s minds. Just as Greek and Oriental wisdom encouraged moderation and contentment, they are seeking inner peace. They are also seeking social equity and a lower ecological footprint: as Gandhi used to say, “There is enough on earth for everybody's need, but not enough for anybody's greed.”
One question remains: how can we apply degrowth to an entire society?
Degrowth implies difficult controversial changes – relocating the economy, favouring less material wealth indicators over the GDP, encouraging a culture of being rather than a culture based on possessions and appearances - that require us to re-evaluate our societies’ model, and affect the way we behave on Earth. The environmental crisis therefore has an anthropological dimension. This could mean that we might have to redefine the very meaning of the individual and collective human adventure.
Extract from the book "2 degrees too high: understanding the Copenhagen Summit" written by the editorial team of GoodPlanet and available from November 12th 2009, published by Abrams.
| david dunn |
degrowth is possible and deisreable egrowth is not desirable but essential for the survival of mankind. Degrowth or what i call SMART RECESSION , is where we can and must use less natural resources and at the same time achieve a better standard of living for the average man, woman and child. To achieve this we have to think in an all together different direction,away from technology directly and towards the incentives and what is really causing the damage, MONEY. At present we have taxes based on earnings and this has to stop , and the present tax system has to be fundamentally reformed into a tax on pollution and environmental damage. To achieve this ,A tax or duty on all natural resources should be collected as near to source as possible at a rate determined by their environmental impact. It would include all base natural resources , ie land, minerals and rocks and oil and uranium. This tax shift is fundamental and would replace all existing taxes, and achieve substantial savings in tax fraud,evasion and collection costs, so the net tax take could be reduced substantially with reduced burdens on inderviduals and businesses alike. The down side is that all excess waste of the present systems would mean high temporary unemployment of the tax collectors, accountants and the like, but new opportunities would open up in all the new fields of rationalization of natural resource use and the wiser use of them! we have no time left for science to come up with the answers we need a quicker solution that we can all agree will work and get on in a new direction with less natural inputs. |
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