Should socialists support degrowth? By Don Fitz The question is not should we advocate reducing production within capitalist society but rather: How do we best relate to those struggles that are already occurring?
Activists across the globe are challenging economic expansion which threatens the survival of humanity. It has never been more urgent to provide a vision of a new society that can pull these efforts together. Climate change is justifiably the focus of concern in the early 21st century. The Earth is approaching the level of 450 parts per million (ppm) of atmospheric carbon, a level which must be averted if humans are to avoid a cataclysmic turning point when climate change will loop into itself and increase even without additional industrial activity.
Yet corporate politicians shriek blindly that the only solution to economic crisis is increasing production. Each of these deserves attention. 1. In 1880, Frederick Engels wrote: It is similar with medicine. 2. 3. Similarly with imperialism. 4. 5. Endnotes 1. Sustainable development. Sustainable development is an organizing principle for human life on a finite planet.
It posits a desirable future state for human societies in which living conditions and resource-use meet human needs without undermining the sustainability of natural systems and the environment, so that future generations may also have their needs met. Sustainable development ties together concern for the carrying capacity of natural systems with the social and economic challenges faced by humanity. As early as the 1970s, 'sustainability' was employed to describe an economy "in equilibrium with basic ecological support systems. "[2] Scientists in many fields have highlighted The Limits to Growth,[3][4] and economists have presented alternatives, for example a 'steady state economy',[5] to address concerns over the impacts of expanding human development on the planet. The term sustainable development rose to significance after it was used by the Brundtland Commission in its 1987 report Our Common Future. Steady state economy. A steady state economy is an economy of relatively stable size.
It features stable population and stable consumption that remain at or below carrying capacity. The term typically refers to a national economy, but it can also be applied to the economic system of a city, a region, or the entire planet. Note that Robert Solow and Trevor Swan applied the term steady state a bit differently in their economic growth model. Their steady state occurs when investment equals depreciation, and the economy reaches equilibrium, which may occur during a period of growth. Physical features[edit] The steady state economy is an entirely physical concept. Economists use gross domestic product or GDP to measure the size of an economy in dollars or some other monetary unit.
A steady state economy, therefore, aims for stable or mildly fluctuating levels in population and consumption of energy and materials. Limits to economic growth[edit] Transition Culture. Vous quittez Facebook... SteadyStaters. REconomy. Why we can't grow our economy forever. Decreixementacampadabcn. (català, castellano) Can Decreix is a place to demonstrate and reflect around the topic of degrowth.
In case you are nor familiar with the term: Degrowth is a word with many co-meanings. It is a call to scale down of the capacity to produce and consume, to scale down the importance of markets and monetary transactions in human relations, but also a proposal to live simply and critically evaluate the role of technology in human life, to keep on reconstructing the ‘joint project of society’ following the principles of deep and direct democracy.
Started by activist scientists from Research & Degrowth (www.degrowth.org), Can Decreix is a centre for transformation (of fruits, vegetables, societies), for research, for testing frugal technologies, arts and permaculture. Situated in Cerbere, a shrinking city, on the sea-side border between France and Spain, on the tail or nose of the Pyrenees, Can Decreix is a degrowth hut and space to accept limits and question borders. Me gusta: