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There's a well-defined political argument called degrowth, which says that we need to stop economic growth in order to save the planet. There are some people wh
by dash2 5y ago
There's a well-defined political argument called degrowth, which says that we need to stop economic growth in order to save the planet. There are some people who put forward this argument. Noah Smith is arguing against them. I think it would be hard to do this without giving them a collective name.
- ricardobeat 5y agoWell, you don’t have to. You can discuss the ideas and not the people. The only purpose of labeling people based on a particular belief/position is to make it easier to attack with generalizations, and polarize the debate. Now you have to pick a side - are you a degrowther or not?
- dash2 5y agoI am not sure that doing a find/replace of "degrowthers think" with "degrowth theory says" would really contribute make the debate less polarized. Maybe. There are reasons to labeling people other than those you suggest. For example, maybe it simply was the first way to express his argument that came to mind. Or maybe, identifying a group of people who think X can be part of the debate. For example, suppose libertarians are all funded by billionaires. That might suggest a motivation for libertarian thought. You couldn't know this without identifying the people who are libertarians. Lastly, it's often good that people have to "pick a side". Do you think we should aim to stop economic growth, or don't you? It's good that you should come to a clear position on this topic. Unclear positions might be nuanced, yes. But they might also be based on unclear thinking, or a desire to please everybody.
- jcims 5y agoIs he arguing against the people or the idea?