Economic Growth is a meme – a learned idea that we can change and mature

[Gregorian]

The trouble is, economic growth is a belief system and set of practices that aims to achieve—every day—ever more goods and services, forever. This requires evermore raw materials and energy from the economy of Nature, not a limitless source.

While growth may have served many of us well, we’ve been bumping into ecological limits for some time now and unless we discover a continual supply of resource rich planets that we can use, we’re in trouble. While greening economic growth may, over the short term, seem to improve some aspects of our damage to the planet, it won’t be enough. Green growth like many other environmental initiatives in our struggle towards reining in the human endeavour, still falls under the umbrella of growth.

Sam Harris, neuroscientist and author of the Moral Landscape,i notes that memes are different than genes in that memes are communicated. Memes do not travel with the gametes of their human hosts. “The survival of memes therefore is not dependent on their conferring some actual benefit on individuals and groups.” And here I emphasize Harris’ words, “It is quite possible for people to traffic in ideas and other cultural products that diminish their well-being for centuries on end.”

If economic growth is the trafficked idea, the cultural products that are pushed as part of the growth meme include things such as a debt based monetary system, a globalized economy where the necessities for life may travel across the world instead of being produced locally, policies to prop up fossil fuel production and all the jargon of a “green” economy. The resulting offshoots of the “good life,” such as climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss—to the extent that the loss is being termed the sixth mass extinction—actually diminish our well-being, to put it mildly.

Recognizing that economic growth is a cultural meme means recognizing it is a product of our creation that can be changed in favour of a new system. There is every reason to create a new meme – a system that recognizes limits, can better manage our less productive tendencies such as greed, territoriality and aspects of denial, while at the same time capitalizing on our strengths such as empathy and cooperation.

With respect to economic growth, applying a myriad of green initiatives is working within the system. Recognizing that growing something forever collides with basic physical and biological principles is thinking about the system.



http://mahb.stanford.edu/blog/economic-growth-meme/

[Binkie The Clown]

1. "still growing" means "not yet reached adulthood"

It follows that our economy is in its adolescence, and like all adolescents, acting foolish and irresponsibly. It's time for the economy to become adult and responsible.

[The2ndWheel]

2. We don't do well with limits

Especially self imposed ones. Or maybe not self imposed, but imposed by other people. History shows that. The world as it is today shows that. We have huge issues with who it is exactly that gets to play God. Who is anyone to tell anyone else what they can't do? Just not an easy sell.

[Gregorian]

3. That's a really interesting comment.

What you've said can be true. I hadn't given much thought to it, and I thank you for mentioning that. It is kind of obvious.

But if something becomes more important to people, they'll change the system. Also, energy and resources play a role in dictating what will or will not happen. That might be the biggest factor, not what we want. I think there are real asymptotes that can be crossed, but only by force. Once having obtained that position, a certain amount of energy is needed in order to maintain that state, or be changed back by natural force.

Yes, if enough people don't voluntarily make changes, we kind of have two choices. Oh no, this is sounding like some kind of corny joke.

[The2ndWheel]

4. Absolutely

Energy is the major factor involved. It takes what we already do, and just amplifies it. To the point where, we now have the expectation that not only can things get better, but that they must. That every human being on the planet not only can, but must have the same access to everything that any other human being has. That is a gargantuan undertaking, and one which requires massive amount of energy.