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Promoting economic growth as a solution to poverty is a lie. Studies show the poorest 60% of the world’s people receive only 5% of the additional income generated by rising GDP.
Everything Must Go
By George Monbiot, Everyone wants everything – how is that going to work? The promise of economic growth is that the poor can live like the rich and the rich can live like the oligarchs.
But already we are bursting through the physical limits of the planet that sustains us. Climate breakdown, soil loss, the collapse of habitats and species, the sea of plastic, insectageddon: all are driven by rising consumption.
The promise of private luxury for everyone cannot be met: neither the physical nor the ecological space exists.
But growth must go on: this is everywhere the political imperative.
And we must adjust our tastes accordingly. In the name of autonomy and choice, marketing uses the latest findings in neuroscience to break down our defences.
Research by Oxfam suggests that the world’s richest 1% (if your household has an income of £70,000 or more (78,000…
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The Most Revolutionary Act 
At this point, I don’t think anything will work. I do believe that we have already reached the point of no return, but then I am a born pessimist. Someone prove me wrong.
We ignore the calls to stop driving fossil fuel powered cars(get that horse and buggy out). We ignore the calls to stop buying shit we don’t need. We ignore the calls to stop cutting down ‘Christmas’ trees that are soon on the curb for bulk trash pickup. We ignore the calls to heed the warnings of what will happen if this planet continues to heat up and it is. We refuse to do anything about it because we are much too selfish and self-serving to heed any of this and then we have the nerve to wonder why our homes are washed away every single time a hurricane hits or even just a deluge of rain that lasts for days. When we destroyed trees and put down concrete instead, what did we expect. When water has nowhere to go, it is going to rise until we see pictures of covered vehicles, floating houses, washed out highways, submerged street signs and lights out everybody!
Those people over in Puerto Rico aren’t having a blast, they are having a horrible time of it because we are used to all of our creature comforts that are the direct result of climate change; burning the midnight ‘electricity’, cars fueled by fossil fuel, an attitude of want, want, want as opposed to only ‘buying’ what you need. No one should be surprised at what is happening, worldwide. Katrina events will continue and soon will be even worse than that.
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The way I look at it, the house is on fire and the likes of you and me are running around like crazy trying to wake everyone up to get them to leave. I think it remains an open question if we will save any of them before the house burns down. Still something compels me to keep trying. I love this planet and I love life.
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I feel exactly the way you do, Dr. Bramhall. And I keep plugging away at it as well.
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IF, the system collapses then a remnant may stand a chance; if, this continues then we stand no chance of a natural future; between a rock and a hard place we are; our redemption lies after this illusion we call “life”; in peace
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Derreck Jensen has been saying this for nearly two decades, UZA, that the only thing that will save us is to bring down civilization. He wrong a book Endgame about 15 years ago about how we can help it along a little. And they made a documentary End:Civ based on the book: https://stuartjeannebramhall.com/2014/05/20/resist-or-die/
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