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Kohei Saito’s “Start From Scratch” Degrowth Communism | if taken seriously, it would lead to political disaster for both the socialist left and the environmental movement | Jacobin (jacobin.com)

submitted 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Degrowth is a popular concept among solarpunks. This Jacobin article discusses some of its flaws from a Marxist standpoint. In particular, Jacobin reminds us an interpretation of Marxism which blames the Western working class for exploiting the Global South, and lectures the ever-more-exploited Western worker on the need to consume less, divides international labor against itself and sabotages its own best hope of success.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 months ago

It needs to avoid being couched as "you'll have to make do with less."

I wonder how much degrowth can be achieved by hollowing out production without broad utility (yachts, expensive military toys) while still promising the masses the basics.

On the other hand, we're seeing the status quo pushing the same stories-- the whole "scrimp and cut out anything beyond bare survival and maybe you'll qualify for a mortgage by 60." We don't need degrowth to get quality of life degradation!