The Degrowth movement is gaining momentum. You’ve probably read articles about it and thought “Yeah, that makes sense, but it’ll never happen”. And today, you’d be right. Any government that tried to introduce it would soon become like the parrot, an ex-government.
However, we all know that infinite growth on a finite planet is impossible. Perhaps you’ve read one of the reports showing that environmental damage can’t be decoupled from GDP. COP26 showed there is no time to wait for a large number of countries to agree on meaningful action.
So, imagine that you and your social media buddies launch a campaign, and Degrowth becomes a household word, understood by many, and one brave government (my money’s on the Kiwis) decides to take the plunge. They secretly make preparations then introduce it – overnight.
You’re eating your muesli and your normal radio programme is interrupted with: “We now cross to the capital where the prime minister is about to make an important announcement”.
But first, a word of warning.
Some people might find the speech confronting. Scaring people is not my aim; rather, it is to present a scenario that could actually happen quickly enough to avoid catastrophic environmental and social collapse.
Facing reality is difficult. Ignoring the problems, or believing in myths like tech-will-save-us, is so much easier. And then there are those who are happy to just blame capitalism; but simply wishing it away won’t work. Or those who say we are doomed so why bother. Perhaps we are but we owe it to our kids not to give up.
The speech begins:
The time for pretending is over.
The governor-general has signed a proclamation declaring a state of emergency.
The stock market will not open this morning, and will remain closed for one week while investors come to terms with what you are about to hear.
…click on the above link to read the rest…
