Opinion of Degrowth
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Author Topic: Opinion of Degrowth  (Read 166 times)
First1There
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« on: April 23, 2024, 05:25:39 PM »

From Wikipedia:
Quote
It argues that the unitary focus of modern capitalism on growth, in terms of the monetary value of aggregate goods and services, causes widespread ecological damage and is not necessary for the further increase of human living standards.[9][10][11]

Quote
Degrowth theory's main argument is that an infinite expansion of the economy is fundamentally contradictory to the finiteness of material resources on Earth. It argues that economic growth measured by GDP should be abandoned as a policy objective. Policy should instead focus on economic and social metrics such as life expectancy, health, education, housing, and ecologically sustainable work as indicators of both eco-systems and human well-being.[15] Degrowth theorists posit that this may increase human living standards and ecological preservation, even while GDP slows down or decreases.[16][17][18]
Degrowth theory is highly critical of free market capitalism, and it highlights the importance of extensive public services, care work, self-organization, commons, relational goods, community, and work sharing.[19][20]
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Upper Canada Tory
BlahTheCanuck
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« Reply #1 on: April 23, 2024, 05:40:23 PM »
« Edited: April 24, 2024, 04:33:52 PM by Make Canada Boring Again »

If infinite economic growth really is impossible, that is actually a strong argument against expanding public services - the modern-day welfare state is mainly a product of post-World War II economic growth and cannot really be maintained without some degree of economic growth.

However, I am not sure that infinite economic growth is really impossible due to the finiteness of resources on the earth - in theory, it is probably possible despite that factor if the resources consumed are then re-used or raw resources are used efficiently and without causing damage to the natural environment.

However, I think another factor that may make infinite economic growth impossible in the near future is demographic realities - people don't have many children anymore and it's difficult to grow an economy with low fertility rates and population decline.
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First1There
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« Reply #2 on: April 23, 2024, 07:06:19 PM »

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VPH
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« Reply #3 on: April 24, 2024, 03:39:48 PM »

I think its proposed policies and conclusions are often faulty and would end up hurting people. But degrowthers make some valid criticisms of hyper-consumerist society and an overly extractive approach to the environment.
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