PART 4 —
Excerpts from an article titled “A (Friendly) Critique of the Degrowth Movement”…
_________________________
Degrowth literature does not recognize the stunning enormity of the task. We are confronted by a daunting ‘degrowth conundrum’. Degrowth of the magnitude described above means phasing out, writing off, and scrapping most of the present amount of factories, corporations, transport, trade, industry, investment, financing, and profit-making.
It requires ceasing most of the producing and consuming going on. And this in an economy, a society, and a culture that is fiercely and blindly committed to constant and limitless increases in production and consumption and ‘living standards’. It is also an economy structured in such a way that it must have growth or it implodes.
Degrowth means reducing production, jobs, incomes, investments, profits, and living standards. But even a slowing of growth in the current economy creates bankruptcies and unemployment and discontent with government. It is an unavoidable ‘grow or die’ trap.
The most obvious consequence is that capitalism cannot possibly move in the degrowth direction. Capitalism is a growth system. Its fundamental nature is about investing capital to accumulate more capital to invest in additional productive ventures. If growth even slows, the system sickens. The few who own most of the capital constantly look for investment outlets for their ever-increasing volumes of capital. They have no choice about this. If a capitalist doesn’t try to take or generate more sales opportunities, then his rivals will do so and drive him bankrupt. Capitalists are trapped in capitalism like everybody else.
Again, the existence and magnitude of this conundrum receive almost no recognition in the degrowth literature. There is no discussion of what to do with those workers who used to produce goods to sell but will no longer do so. Most accounts calmly state vast and highly problematic utopian proposals (such as debt cancellation) without any sign of trepidation in the face of the overwhelming difficulties. The implicit reassuring assumption is usually the one common in Green New Deal literature, that at worst only slight reductions will be needed, existing institutions will be capable of making them, and more efficient technology will cut waste, etc.
The literature shows little or no sign of shock or despair at the magnitude of the task we are confronted with, and it offers no ideas as to what is to be done with the displaced workers or the capitalist class. This is a stunning failure to join the dots; degrowth means, among many other hugely difficult things, scrapping capitalism. Anyone within the movement who is reluctant to face up to this is seriously confused.
_________________________
Part 5 will follow soon.
Full article is here -- https://medium.com/postgrowth/a-friendly-critique-of-the-degrowth-movement-f0bd2297072d
#Science #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #Degrowth
Bread and Circuses /
npub1a6…lmqgc
2024-05-09 12:40:57
in reply to nevent1q…5ccc
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npub1a6chd0jfrl8wc47pmft2q5l2kds8tj4k7j08e73csev69cceau6q8lmqgcPublished at
2024-05-09 12:40:57Event JSON
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