Still can’t get over the fact that an editor of the Financial Times said that we need to do away with #capitalism in order to deal with the #climate. If that’s not a sign of mainstream economics/finance finally waking up to the reality of the situation we’re in, I don’t now what is.
@Brendanjones Thank you. From my informal conversations, it seems most people have never even heard of Degrowth. I truly believe if we don't shrink the economy, renewables won't have a chance to bring global warming under control. It's important to get the concept out there and promote it.
@Brendanjones That means you and I have to be the ambassadors of getting it out there. It wouldn't be easy to accomplish, but could solve so many interwoven problems.
@gdeihl@Brendanjones A small handful of us on Vancouver Island have been trying to get folks to learn about degrowth & community oriented sustainable circular economies for almost a decade. I hope more folks learn about why degrowth is important for our futures.
@msquebanh@gdeihl@Brendanjones Hopefully you manage to get the idiotic zoning removed so that more reasonable densities without gratuitous suburban sprawl are achievable.
@lispi314@msquebanh@Brendanjones Seems to be built into American culture doesn't it, sprawl, ever expanding? Achieving #Degrowth would encompass thousands of battles and much resistance. In relation to sprawl, supporting small regenerative farming would help. So many farms get turned into five acre plots for McMansions or half acre lots for pop-up neighborhoods.
@gdeihl@Brendanjones How about #DeGreed instead of #DeGrowth. Growth is about creating more value, not necessarily more stuff. In fact, if we redefine the measures of growth, it can help drive the change. I.e. include measures of energy reduction, green space, mental health, etc.
@gordotango@Brendanjones I agree, Degrowth is not an appealing word. Scientists are often brilliant people, but writing and marketing aren't generally their thing. I've read enough scientific papers to know, lol. Peter Kalmus does a pretty good job. He gets published on the Guardian occasionally.
I’m a big fan of Erin’s writing. I’m still not 100% convinced, I’d prefer there was an equally effective name that had positive framing, but I’ve not heard it yet and I sure haven’t thought of one.
Goes hard:
"If we want oil companies to stop selling fossil fuels we should consume less of them and we should vote for governments that make them more expensive, not less. Yes, our physical infrastructure has been built over decades around petroleum use. Yes, oil companies have lobbied forever to preserve this arrangement and slow down alternatives. But no one is compelling those of us in the rich world to fly so much, drive Escalades, devour so much meat, or buy so much stuff.
…”
“[…] Oil demand will hit a new record high this year, with almost half of it still burnt in the rich 38 countries of the OECD. Don’t fly across Europe for your skiing holiday or business meeting and then complain that the poor world isn’t doing enough on climate and that BP is still making jet fuel.”
Damn straight. On another note, I can’t wait for the European sleeper train network and high speed train network to expand and get cheaper (than flying).
Australia has lousy rail and we just can't get to other countries without flight. Oil has conquered the tyranny of distance but at a cost. All suggestions appreciated.
@dbell2100 yeah Australia is basically the worst place in the world for sustainable transport. Only a few other places like it - Russia, Greenland, Canada come to mind. Internally it’s got vast distances, low population density, some rugged terrain, and cities designed purely for automobiles. Externally there’s a bloody great ocean in all directions. You could make better rail between cities but uptake will stay low when you often need a car at the other end 😕
Behind systematic consumption are marketing and sales specialists who work tirelessly to increase sales, banks and finance which provide credit to increase sales, laws which encourage cheap air travel (there is no VAT on jet fuel) etc.
Individual choices are important but the system has to change.
@Brendanjones Normalizing WFH (with due affordances for networking limitations) would also allow for normalizing sail & solar based ocean crossing, which are much slower but magnitudes more sustainable than flights will ever be.
@Brendanjones
What I wonder - forgive my cynicism - is this: have the richest people on planet finally found the way of getting rich without any investment whatsoever, and without making anything at all?
@Brendanjones Thanks for the link. That article was paywalled for me even though I am an FT subscriber, as it was only made available to premium subscribers. (Though this sort of article makes me think it might be worth supporting the FT with a premium sub).
@Brendanjones Nothing in that passage contemplates abolishing capitalism. Bill Gates said pretty much the same thing in his book, “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster.”
@Brendanjones btw/fyi: my game Slartboz has a mission to educate and influence users about a few serious urgent issues, like dangers to democracy, and also to climate, ecosystems and agriculture due to unbounded carbon emissions
@Brendanjones ha, cool. not yet. plan to put the 1st demo video up in a week or two (showing actual gameplay/UX of the working prototype program.) then some number of weeks after that I'll make a Mac build avail for folks to download and play themselves. then add versions for Windows and Linux some weeks after that. it does all depend on how much positive feedback and engagement I see from potential fans and early players
@Brendanjones Obvious isn’t it. Pentagon is government spending
Public schools, fire and police… free markets do a lot of things, major infrastructure like water, sewer, electricity, roads, bridges not so efficient. Neoliberalism won’t fix this. Trillions is urgently needed to be spent on climate mitigation ASAP
@Brendanjones maybe capitalism needs a new brain cell?
If climate change is as we normal thinkers anticipate They have WAY more cash €¥$£ to lose than those with nothing! Poetic justice? No? as we all suffer!
But we'll die laughing at the wickheads!
@Brendanjones but the huge herd of #cows & flock of #sheep in the rooms of #ClimateChange conversations is almost always ignored. This is despite #meat , #dairy & other products of #animal exploitation accounting for around 30% of global #greenhousegas emissions when including the opportunity cost of misusing #land to feed farmed animals. An area equivalent to the whole of the African continent could be returned to nature, & therefore #carbon#sequestration , in a #vegan world
@Brendanjones Part of it is just to pass the financial burden onto the state, just as they did when the banks collapsed and like, soon, when the water companies break.
But, yeah, to see someone in a publication like this pointing to the cracks in the system is pretty extraordinary.
@Brendanjones I interpret it as sheer hubris; that there's no reason not to publish something that will draw people to click on it, regardless of what it says.
It doesn’t say anything about doing away with capitalism. Capitalism is fully compatible with public-sector infrastructure projects.
There have always been projects so large that the government is the best choice. For example, major dams take decades to pay off, but the government can handle this.
@Brendanjones The will doesn't exist. If the West actually did surrender its position, China and others would just take our place, and their concern for the planet would be limited to making it serve them.
Whatever is going to happen with climate, will happen. All humans can really do is adapt. Fortunately we are good at that.
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