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> So the idea here is that we don’t need degrowth; instead, we can keep raising everyone’s standard of living without exhausting the planet’s resources. Well,

> So the idea here is that we don’t need degrowth; instead, we can keep raising everyone’s standard of living without exhausting the planet’s resources. Well, we haven't been able to pull that off. Quite the opposite. Asia is a dumpster now, their rivers are black stinky waters, trash is everywhere, climate is changing at an alarming rate, we have lose 60% of all the insect species, oceans are emptying, full of micro-plastic and with great current disturbances, extreme weather events are occurring more and more and the amazon forest is getting eaten. But sure, tell me how your magical theory matches practice in your dream like land.

cool_dude85 5y ago
The trick is just what you see in the article: focus on country-level data where direct consumption of certain resources are going down while GDP goes up, and claim without evidence that this is possible for all countries.
courtf 5y ago
It reads like a religious sermon intended to ease the fragile consciences of a rapidly dwindling elite, jumping at shadows while they barricade themselves ever further into self-reinforcing fantasy. Complete and utter detachment from reality, complete with an imaginary foe in the form of "degrowthers," who supposedly exist and spend their days relentlessly banging at the gates of prosperity with intent to needlessly sack the city on the hill. Economics as a discipline has always been abused to justify the unjustifiable, but here it seems to be employed purely to defend the psychological safety of the most privileged, who cannot even bear to observe the destructive results of their lifestyles from a safe distance. The violence committed all around them, in their name, and the cries of anguish that result are easily brushed aside in service to maintaining the desperate illusion that cause and effect don't exist.

cool_dude85 5y ago

The trick is just what you see in the article: focus on country-level data where direct consumption of certain resources are going down while GDP goes up, and claim without evidence that this is possible for all countries.

courtf 5y ago

It reads like a religious sermon intended to ease the fragile consciences of a rapidly dwindling elite, jumping at shadows while they barricade themselves ever further into self-reinforcing fantasy. Complete and utter detachment from reality, complete with an imaginary foe in the form of "degrowthers," who supposedly exist and spend their days relentlessly banging at the gates of prosperity with intent to needlessly sack the city on the hill. Economics as a discipline has always been abused to justify the unjustifiable, but here it seems to be employed purely to defend the psychological safety of the most privileged, who cannot even bear to observe the destructive results of their lifestyles from a safe distance. The violence committed all around them, in their name, and the cries of anguish that result are easily brushed aside in service to maintaining the desperate illusion that cause and effect don't exist.