Remembrance of Things Yet to Come
Remembrance of Things Yet to Come: A Response to Ted Trainer
I’m going to make divert slightly from my previously anticipated track to respond to Ted Trainer’s valuable critique of Leigh Phillip’s much-maligned celebration of ecomodernism, Austerity Ecology and the Collapse-Porn Addicts (2015). I agree with much of Trainer’s critique, and am particularly thankful for his delineation of the mathematical fantasy of continued economic growth, as well as his demystification of the dream of “decoupling,” so often used to animate this fantasy. The limits to growth do indeed render the ecomodernists plan silly at best. We have yet to see a case made for a continuation of modernity or the creation of a hyper-modernity not based on serious exclusions.
That being said, I find the alternative vision for the future that Trainer suggests improbable as well, though I should also add that it is only presented briefly in the article in question. There, Trainer seems to imagine a future in which we might pick and choose from the bounty of modernism and the sustainable wisdom of pre-modern times so as to put together a rational society that is pleasingly moderate and modest, alike, yet adorned with high-tech festoons. This view is common within “environmentalist” circles, where the well-situated liberal consumer entertain serious elements of sustainability, but with no real intention on cutting the umbilical cord to modernity and prosperity. Here, nevertheless, is how Trainer describes it, criticizing Phillip’s view that anything but continued modernization and across-the-board growth and innovation will do.
Most importantly, apparently Phillips cannot grasp that we could opt for a combination of elements from different points on the path.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
