It’s getting to look a lot like degrowth: Part 2
If economic growth cannot be sustained indefinitely, what is the alternative?
This is the second post of a three part series on the existential problem of degrowth in a world that still believes in perpetual economic growth. Part 1 looks at why the capitalist model of perpetual growth is unable to accept the concept of degrowth. Part 2 discusses why degrowth is inevitable, but unlikely to be adopted voluntarily due to the many forces arrayed against it, not least of which is humanity’s innate resistance to change. Part 3 considers how involuntary degrowth might unfold over the rest of this century, and what kind of civilization it is likely to leave us with once fossil fuels are gone.
There is only one alternative to the mental model of permanent growth, and that is degrowth, also known as energy descent, post-growth, sufficiency, the great contraction, the great simplification, the great unraveling, or living within planetary boundaries. This is another mental model, so it is subject to the same “stickiness” as its rival. But this model comes with neither the pedigree nor the chorus of defenders and true believers the capitalist model enjoys. Plus, it is based on a radically different set of core principles that are, at a minimum, hard to swallow:
