People are Questioning Growth at Any Cost

Better late than never.

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

A recent survey by GlobeScan showed that many people are rethinking the wisdom of our growth at all costs culture.

In the survey, nearly 32,000 from around the globe were given the choice to choose one of three responses:

• Protecting the environment should be given priority, even at the risk of slowing down economic growth

• Economic growth should be given priority, even if the environment suffers to some extent

• Both should be given equal priority.

The graphic below of the survey results shows that public opinion around the globe has moved substantially in the past eight years.

People’s opinions tended to move from the extremes of the environment or economic growth taking priority, with far more people saying that both should be given equal weight. You can also read the results as “87% of people do not think that economic growth should be given priority over the environment”.

A note of caution however, this result may lead people to believe that an easy balance can be struck between economic growth and environmental protection. The truth is that we have overshot so far on economic growth that we need to pull back on economic growth to get to a steady state economy within planetary boundaries

The graphic below shows where we are now - at the peak of that “economic metabolism” mountain. That is well beyond the safe operating zone of our global economy - well beyond safe planetary boundaries. Simply putting nature and growth on equal footing in our decisions going forward won’t get us to where we need to be. Like it or not, degrowth is the answer.

Degrowth is the answer.

I have seen the discussion of degrowth, ecological economics, doughnut economics, a wellbeing economy and other ways to get to a post-growth economy gain traction in recent years. Mainstream media outlets like the New York Times, the Financial Times, and the Washington Post have all written about degrowth, even if they sometimes write about it to warn against degrowth.

Yesterday, I spoke to the third group of college students in the past month about the necessity of degrowth and moving to a post-growth economy. In two of those cases I was asked to speak by administrators or a professor. In one instance, students reached out to me themselves.

It is clear that degrowth is becoming a more acceptable topic of conversation in polite society and the Overton Window is moving to accommodate degrowth. The Overton window is the range of subjects and arguments politically acceptable to the mainstream population at a given time. Degrowth was not inside the window recently, but it is getting there. Degrowth is probably somewhere between acceptable and radical in the chart below.

The survey by GlobeScan shows that people’s consciousness about our predicament is being raised. That is good. But it is likely that most people don’t truly understand the predicament. They aren’t going to go from zero to degrowth in a short amount of time. In the Overton Window context, degrowth was unthinkable to most people ten years ago, five years ago it was simply radical to most people. Now people seem to be negotiating as to whether degrowth is acceptable or even sensible. That is why you see affinity for the answer “both should be given equal priority”.

I know what the survey will look like in 8 more years, with the environment given more priority over economic growth. This will be because the further breakdown of our environment will be even more evident then. Collapse will show up at people’s front doors more often then.

So do what you can today to talk to more people about what is going on. Invite them to join this movement.