Category «de-growth»

The economic driver of the industrial era – the supply of low-cost energy from oil, natural gas and coal – is winding down, and there is no assured replacement at hand.

The title of this piece is taken from Tim Morgan’s latest blog. This is an important piece, which should be circulated widely.   Not necessarily to be believed that this is how things are, but rather to rise awareness that this view exists. Whether you agree or not with the information presented in the piece, depends …

Let’s call it grassroots growth

I agree with the concept of degrowth, but isn’t there a better term for it? This piece by Erin Remblance and, Jennifer Harvey Sallin in the Illuminem blog chimes with my frustration at the use of the word degrowth. We get this question a lot from people who fear that the term “degrowth” sounds too …

There can be no more growth

It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it. Upton Sinclair This is a deliberately short piece to make a simple point. The oncoming recession is not a temporary blip in the economy. Unlike past recessions, there can be no more growth to get us …

Degrowth is now happening

In a recent piece, I wrote about  “Global Transition: From growth to degrowth and top-down to bottom-up” I explained the process in which top-down organisations are shrinking and will eventually disappear as a result of de-layering. At the same time, individual and cooperative activities are emerging from the grassroots. In a recent post in “The consciousness …

Degrowth: Fact or Ideology: Both

The two explanations of degrowth (1) that it is an energy-related process and (2) that it is an ideology, are misleading fruitful discussions.  It is neither one nor t’other.  It is both. I  believe in the ideology of degrowth and I also believe in the fact that the economy is an energy-based system. [If you …

What is Degrowth?

We have a problem. There are currently two fundamentally different understandings of the word “degrowth”. Jason Hickel’s view is that “Degrowth is a planned reduction of energy and resource use designed to bring the economy back into balance with the living world in a way that reduces inequality and improves human well-being.” A planned reduction …

MANAGING THE REALITY OF ‘LIFE AFTER ORTHODOXY’

Tim Morgan’s latest piece is worth reading. However, I wonder whether his perception is seen generally.  The opening paragraphs introduce his idea, A new ‘heavenly body’ has entered the cosmology of political and corporate decision. This new influence is the emerging reality that the economy is turning out, after all, to be an energy system, …

The Overton Window

Why does the Government see global warming as a problem and not see degrowth as reality? Those of us who are committed to the idea that economic degrowth is unavoidable just cannot understand why intelligent powers-that-be will not even acknowledge that it is possible, let alone inevitable. The Mackinac Center for Public Policy provides a …

Delayering

In a recent discussion on Tim Morgan’s blog, he says: ” … de-layering is going to eliminate huge numbers of white-collar jobs, and lots of intermediate/intermediary businesses, though I doubt if even the biggest corporate players really understand this yet.” Not a subject which is reported much. I understand that thousands of management jobs going …

Post Doom

Regenerative conversations exploring overshoot grief, grounding, and gratitude.  These are worth spending time on.   Mostly around an hour each. A post-doom mindset is a hard-earned and often fluctuating state of being. Classic stages of grief mark a well-worn path. However, mere acceptance of what is unavoidable need not be the endpoint. Michael Dowd (with occasional co-hosts) …