Degrowth

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Discussions about degrowth and all sorts of related topics. This includes UBI, economic democracy, the economics of green technologies, enviromental legislation and many more intressting economic topics.

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Genuine question - is degrowth compatible with human nature? (slrpnk.net)

submitted 6 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Degrowth is a noble ideal to strive for, and it would certainly mitigate a lot of our current problems if implemented. However, I fear that it is an ideal that can be adopted by the few but not the many. Growth, progress and personal ambition are inherent human traits - it may not be the case for all people, but it is certainly evident in today's society and many societies that have come before. In my opinion, we need solutions and frameworks that most (if not all) personalities can exist within. I worry degrowth is wishful thinking, and would love to hear your thoughts.

All of that said - I believe it is a very worthwhile thought exercise and even if all degrowth principles cannot be implemented, some can and that is what matters.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (2 children)

Degrowth is absolutely not compatible to capitalism because as an economic system it has growth embedded in its model. One of the biggest problems is that this economic system has taken over the decision making processes of human societies all over the globe (ie representative democracy). Like models of the past they portrait themselves as invincible, like kings thought of their situation, slave owners etc. I believe we should first be able to imagine a world without capitalism in order to achieve this goal. Btw I don't have the answers, we do.

So the way I see things degrowth is fully compatible with humans and human societies (sorry I can't use the term "human nature" but I suppose that's another topic), personal growth and societal prosperity because it is anti-capitalistic.

So I also thought of sharing a 15-min video from a few years back:

New Economies: How Degrowth Will Save the World with Jason Hickel

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I agree that in the long run degrowth is not compatible with capitalism, at least not capitalism as we know it. Even if markets and private property continued to play some role in the economy. However, I think it's important to emphasize that we don't need to first somehow completely rid of capitalism (that would require some higher order magic) and then implement degrowth. There are many reforms that can start building the path of a prosperously degrowing society. A good overlook of degrowth policies can be found in this article. Of course, the need to reduce material flows is absolutely urgent, and I definitely advocate building popular support and implementing degrowth policies asap.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I read the article you linked but I don't see how it backs your argument that degrowth could be compatible with some form of capitalism (as you mention in your first sentence). It seems to me this article does the opposite.

Personally, I can't think of any kind of capitalism that is compatible with policies / goals / objectives related to:

Tax justice for social ecological justice

Redistribute land, labour, capital and resources within and between countries

Direct activism and sabotage For example - anti-capitalism malware program

Restrict platform capitalism (e.g. AirBnB); Promote decentralised platform cooperative models

etc

(found in the Appendix A. Thematic synthesis of degrowth policy proposals)

For me degrowth is potentially one way to get rid of capitalism.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago

Thanks for the insight and the video :)