Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World

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It is perhaps well enough that the people of the nation do not know or understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.” -Henry Ford But for all the immiseration around us, one thing is undeniable: For the past several centuries — and especially for the past 70 years, since the end of World War II — the world has been getting much richer.

Het tweede deel schetst, in hele grove lijnen, wat je wel moet willen. Wat kan een wereld waarin groei niet meer het overkoepelende doel is betekenen? Zoals wel vaker in dit type boeken is dat utopistischer, misschien een beetje naïef. Maar tegelijkertijd vond ik het wel inspirerend. Een wereld gericht op overvloed aan wat nodig is, en die niet meer de harde natuur/mens grens hanteert. Volstrekt utopisch natuurlijk, maar niet absurd. Een alternatief op het kapitalisme waar ik wel over wil dromen. Leisure time, too, has increased — and hours worked have declined — as the world has gotten wealthier.

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And if you are telling to yourelf that won't happen in your lifetime, then it is good to know that: The window for countries to alter earth ’s frightening ecological trajectory is rapidly passing. As climate change has morphed into a climate crisis over the past twenty years, the proposed solutions that would reshape economic life have become more urgent and bold. Especially since legislation for a Green New Deal in the United States was introduced by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey in 2019, progressives have made climate justice focal to how we approach employment and innovation, living standards, and social equity. The core principle is that without climate justice, policies to create a more egalitarian society will fall terribly short—and might have no lasting impact at all. Yet as potent as the concept of a green economy is, the radical requirements that climate justice entails expose a rift between reformers and those seeking systemic change, one that has implications for how activists articulate what’s at stake in the crucial decade ahead. One of the most important books I have read ... does something extremely rare: it outlines a clear path to a sustainable future for all.' RAOUL MARTINEZ, author of Creating Freedom This riveting offering explores a world that has finally woken up to the reality of climate change and ecological collapse. Arguing that a change of thinking is desperately needed, he charts a path to a post-capitalist world and an economy that is more just, caring and fun. The Sunday Post Our fears of needing more to achieve a “good life” is contrasted with the actual measures of wellness. Historically, this has not been from working to death/destroying our surroundings but from the creation of new Commons: public sanitation, public healthcare, public education, public housing/land reforms, improved working conditions, socialized safety nets/old age pensions/childcare, etc. ( Perilous Passage: Mankind and the Global Ascendancy of Capital). …Thus, degrowth is the transformation from artificial scarcity to radical abundance.

There’s a lot of broad-brush policy prescriptions in the degrowth lit, but those details never really add up. A masterpiece... Less is More covers centuries and continents, spans academic disciplines, and connects contemporary and ancient events in a way which cannot be put down until it's finished. So much needs to change; although beginning that change might require nothing more than asking the right question. Danny Dorling, Professor of Geography, University of OxfordThat will, of course, have deeply negative climate impacts. But the alternative is a nonstarter — should the world really prioritize curbing emissions and economic growth if it meant suppressing the growth of those countries? Excellent analysis...This book explores not only the systemic flaws but the deeply cultural beliefs that need to be uprooted and replaced.' ADELE WALTON