"Next time you get a chance, look yourself in the mirror and say:
'My purpose in life is to work to produce goods and services and consume goods and services so that the economy grows 2-3% per year.’”
Then, ask yourself, where do I derive this purpose? Who tells me that my job is to work hard to produce and consume more so that the markets can give everybody more?
Then, ponder this possible answer: it is the markets that give you that purpose. Specifically, the securities trading markets for financing enterprise through profit extraction from volatility and growth in market-clearing prices for securities in the markets for maintaining volatility and growth in the market-clearing prices for those securities.
Economist D’Maris Coffman tells us that 17th Century Mercantilism was the special pleading for the special interests of the British East India Company in co-opting the common sense, and military might, of the English Crown to protect and perpetuate its monopoly control over trade in the East.
In the same way modern Growthism can be seen as the special pleading for the special interests of securities trading markets professionals (a decidedly more ephemeral entity than the British East India Company) in co-opting our common sense of fiduciary prudence and loyalty, to protect and perpetuate their monopoly control over tens of trillions in society’s shared savings aggregated into social trusts for socially provisioning the social safety nets of Workforce Pensions and Civil Society Endowments.
Humanity does not need Growth, but the securities trading markets do.
I don’t call on you to accept this proposition, but I do invite you to consider it, by joining a new conversation at the vanguard of public discourse, to explore the possibility that it is, in fact, more true than not.
No argument from me. I discovered Townes through the Cowboy Junkies, who covered a few of his songs. He was such a great songwriter. I highly recommend people taking the time to discover him.
One more. I think my favorite of Towns' may be "rake". Look it up and read those lyrics. Then listen to the song. Just an outstanding songwriter. You could see and feel the struggles he was going through in his words and music - part of what makes him relatable. He influenced a whole generation of singers/songwriters. Highly recommend people check him out.
But, but, but… according to the late ecologist Howard Odum (who formalized previous work by Lotka), the "purpose" of any organism is to dissipate the maximum amount of power that it possibly can!
Gunderson and Holling further generalized this to apply to non-living entities, from sub-atomic particles to black holes to galaxy clusters. This is called the "Maximum Power Principle" (MPP), and has even been suggested as a 4th Law of Thermodynamics.
I would say digging energy out of the ground is where we went wrong. Using it up as quickly as possible appears to simply be the natural consequence of having discovered it.
I think Dave Berry summed up the "purpose" of both business and the MPP:
"All the big corporations depreciate their possessions, and you can, too, provided you use them for business purposes. For example, if you subscribe to the Wall Street Journal, a business-related newspaper, you can deduct the cost of your house, because, in the words of U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger in a landmark 1979 tax decision: 'Where else are you going to read the paper? Outside? What if it rains?'" — Dave Barry, Sweating Out Taxes
"Next time you get a chance, look yourself in the mirror and say:
'My purpose in life is to work to produce goods and services and consume goods and services so that the economy grows 2-3% per year.’”
Then, ask yourself, where do I derive this purpose? Who tells me that my job is to work hard to produce and consume more so that the markets can give everybody more?
Then, ponder this possible answer: it is the markets that give you that purpose. Specifically, the securities trading markets for financing enterprise through profit extraction from volatility and growth in market-clearing prices for securities in the markets for maintaining volatility and growth in the market-clearing prices for those securities.
Economist D’Maris Coffman tells us that 17th Century Mercantilism was the special pleading for the special interests of the British East India Company in co-opting the common sense, and military might, of the English Crown to protect and perpetuate its monopoly control over trade in the East.
In the same way modern Growthism can be seen as the special pleading for the special interests of securities trading markets professionals (a decidedly more ephemeral entity than the British East India Company) in co-opting our common sense of fiduciary prudence and loyalty, to protect and perpetuate their monopoly control over tens of trillions in society’s shared savings aggregated into social trusts for socially provisioning the social safety nets of Workforce Pensions and Civil Society Endowments.
Humanity does not need Growth, but the securities trading markets do.
I don’t call on you to accept this proposition, but I do invite you to consider it, by joining a new conversation at the vanguard of public discourse, to explore the possibility that it is, in fact, more true than not.
Great post, brilliant song. And Townes' version ain't half bad - I believe you can hear that he is the one who wrote those lyrics and first felt them.
No argument from me. I discovered Townes through the Cowboy Junkies, who covered a few of his songs. He was such a great songwriter. I highly recommend people taking the time to discover him.
One more. I think my favorite of Towns' may be "rake". Look it up and read those lyrics. Then listen to the song. Just an outstanding songwriter. You could see and feel the struggles he was going through in his words and music - part of what makes him relatable. He influenced a whole generation of singers/songwriters. Highly recommend people check him out.
The idea that simply being and thriving is enough, for both individuals and society is a very liberating idea.
I've seen so many people burdened by guilt for not chasing some imaginary benchmark of success or accumulating more than they need.
Thank you for sharing and as always, Degrowth is the answer 💪🏿♥️
But, but, but… according to the late ecologist Howard Odum (who formalized previous work by Lotka), the "purpose" of any organism is to dissipate the maximum amount of power that it possibly can!
Gunderson and Holling further generalized this to apply to non-living entities, from sub-atomic particles to black holes to galaxy clusters. This is called the "Maximum Power Principle" (MPP), and has even been suggested as a 4th Law of Thermodynamics.
I would say digging energy out of the ground is where we went wrong. Using it up as quickly as possible appears to simply be the natural consequence of having discovered it.
I think Dave Berry summed up the "purpose" of both business and the MPP:
"All the big corporations depreciate their possessions, and you can, too, provided you use them for business purposes. For example, if you subscribe to the Wall Street Journal, a business-related newspaper, you can deduct the cost of your house, because, in the words of U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger in a landmark 1979 tax decision: 'Where else are you going to read the paper? Outside? What if it rains?'" — Dave Barry, Sweating Out Taxes