“How do we grow the economy?” is an obsolete question.
Local initiatives across the world are looking for maturity instead as they
rebuild caring, place-based communities and economies.
by
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| (Photo: Jessica Lucia/flickr/cc) |
Listen
to the political candidates as they put forward their economic
solutions. You will hear a well-established and rarely challenged
narrative. “We must grow the economy to produce jobs so people will have
the money to grow their consumption, which will grow more jobs…” Grow.
Grow. Grow.
But children and adolescents grow. Adults mature.
It is time to reframe the debate to recognize that we have pushed
growth in material consumption beyond Earth’s environmental limits. We
must now shift our economic priority from growth to maturity—meeting the
needs of all within the limits of what Earth can provide.
Global
GDP is currently growing 3 to 4 percent annually. Contrary to the
promises of politicians and economists, this growth is not eliminating
poverty and creating a better life for all. It is instead creating
increasingly grotesque and unsustainable imbalances in our relationship
to Earth and to each other.
Specifics
differ by country, but the U.S. experience characterizes the broader
trend. Corporate profits as a percentage of GDP are at a record high.
The U.S. middle class is shrinking as most people work longer hours and
struggle harder to put food on the table and maintain a roof over their
heads. Families are collapsing, and suicide rates are increasing.
The assets of the world’s 62 richest individuals equal those of the poorest half of humanity—3.6 billion people. In the United States, the 2015 bonus pool for
172,400 Wall Street employees was $25 billion—just short of the $28
billion required to give 4.2 million minimum wage restaurant and health
care workers a raise to $15 an hour.
Humans now consume at a rate 1.6 times what Earth can provide. Weather becomes more severe and erratic, and critical environmental systems are in decline.
These
distortions are a predictable consequence of an economic system
designed to extract Earth’s natural wealth for the purpose of maximizing
financial returns to those who already have more than they need.
Please continue this article here: http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/05/09/why-economy-should-stop-growing-and-just-grow
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