Degrowth: A Path Forward

In his book "Less is More," Jason Hickel examines capitalism's role as a key driver of ecological decline. This system, which began with the enclosure of common lands and the dispossession of communities, thrives on creating artificial scarcity and relentless accumulation, often quantified by GDP. Hickel labels this obsession with GDP as "growthism," which is detrimental to both humanity and the environment.

Degrowth presents a remedy to this dilemma. This concept, championed by organizations like the Wellbeing Economy Alliance and Vikalp Sangam, advocates for scaling down our economy to restore balance with the planet. It marks a necessary first step toward achieving an Ecological Civilization and entails a significant transformation in economic operations—from one focused on perpetual growth that disproportionately benefits the wealthiest 1% and the Global North to one that prioritizes collective human and ecological wellbeing.

Degrowth is grounded in principles that ecological economists refer to as steady-state economics:

1. Never extract more than ecosystems can regenerate.
2. Never waste or pollute more than ecosystems can safely absorb.

Hickel proposes several policy measures to mitigate material consumption, which he describes as the "emergency brake" on our current trajectory:

1. Abolish planned obsolescence: It's irrational to consume resources only to render them obsolete shortly thereafter. Potential policies include extended warranties and the right to repair, exemplified by products like the Fairphone.
2. Reduce advertising: Advertising, particularly from social media giants, manipulates public perception en masse. Hickel refers to this as an "assault on our consciousness." Possible measures include spending quotas on advertisements and restrictions on ads in public spaces.
3. Transition from ownership to usership: This approach applies to infrequently used items, such as lawnmowers and cars, fostering systems like Common Asset Trusts.
4. Eliminate food waste: Approximately 50% of global food production—around 2 billion tonnes—is wasted annually, which incurs significant ecological costs. Addressing this waste could substantially lessen the agricultural industry's environmental impact.
5. Diminish ecologically harmful industries: This includes sectors like fossil fuels, beef production, arms manufacturing, and commercial aviation.

For these initiatives to succeed, governments must establish concrete degrowth targets, instituting strict caps on resource and energy consumption.

Moreover, these ecologically sound measures must align with principles of social justice. Potential social justice initiatives that could accompany degrowth include:

1. Labor reforms: Implementing shorter workweeks alongside job guarantees and retraining programs, which studies suggest can enhance life satisfaction and health, promote gender equality, and foster community engagement.
2. Tackling inequality: This can be achieved through living wage policies, universal basic income, wage ratio caps between executives and employees, and wealth taxation for the affluent.
3. De-commodifying public goods and expanding communal resources: This ensures access to essential services without requiring additional income.

It’s crucial to understand that it’s not the income itself that matters for well-being but the purchasing power of that income. By enhancing access to public services and communal resources while instituting job guarantees and living wages, we can increase the welfare purchasing power of people's incomes. This leads us to question the necessity for further economic growth.

While we may produce less in terms of goods and wealth, our lives can become much more fulfilling. This may seem paradoxical, but degrowth is not about limitations; it’s about realizing abundance.

In contrast, capitalism creates artificial scarcity as a mechanism for capital accumulation. Hickel notes, “From enclosure to colonization, scarcity was engineered to compel individuals into low-wage labor and to drive competitive productivity, transforming them into mass consumers.” This sentiment is echoed by a Palestinian laborer in the 1975 film "Kafr Kassem," who laments, “They took our land and forced us to work on it for a wage.” This rationale also underpins planned obsolescence, advertising, inequality, and the commodification of public goods, pushing individuals to work more to afford private alternatives.

Degrowth aims to overturn this paradigm. Capitalism thrives on scarcity to fuel growth; by fostering conditions of abundance, degrowth negates the necessity for growth itself.

The Challenge Ahead

We don’t require more growth; we need equitable distribution. The poorest 60% of the global population contributes the majority of labor and resources yet receives merely 5% of total global income. In stark contrast, the wealthiest 1% capture approximately 19 trillion dollars annually, accounting for nearly a quarter of global GDP (World Inequality Database).

Consider this for a moment: Hickel employs World Bank data to illustrate that eradicating global poverty—raising everyone above the income poverty line of $7.40 daily and providing universal healthcare equivalent to that of Costa Rica—would cost an estimated $10 trillion. While this figure may seem daunting, it represents just half of the income the top 1% secures in a single year.

At present, the rules favor the affluent and powerful. As inequality has surged, economic power has transitioned into political leverage. Corporate lobbying, political advertising (as exemplified by Rupert Murdoch's misinformation campaigns), and power dynamics within global institutions like the World Bank, IMF, and WTO have rendered the system deeply corrupt. Consequently, implementing degrowth policies will face substantial hurdles.

Hickel writes: “The preference of the majority, who inherently wish to preserve the planet for future generations, is entirely overshadowed by a minority of elites who are content to exploit everything.”

The remedy for growth lies in justice. The only pathway to a post-capitalist society is through the expansion of democracy.

A Transformative Way of Being

However, growthism, capitalism, and imperialism are merely manifestations of a deeper issue—one that lies in the prevailing belief that humans and nature exist as separate entities. This dualistic worldview, rooted in the philosophies of Enlightenment thinkers like Descartes and propagated by institutions such as the Church, has fostered a perspective that regards the world as merely a collection of resources. In his book "The Nutmeg’s Curse," Amitav Ghosh describes this as a "world as resources" mindset, wherein living beings, nature, and humans are objectified for exploitation.

This ontology is the foundation of our ecological crisis. It is reflected in our language—the terms "natural resources," "raw materials," and "ecosystem services"—as well as in the practices of environmental managers and the confidence of technocrats. The environment is often perceived as something external that either needs saving from humanity or is so disconnected from us that it seems unworthy of preservation.