headgasketidiot t1_irb28na wrote
Reply to comment by Twombls in Why Bernie rocks! He's not wrong. by DCLexiLou
No, I think you're thinking of the more reactionary Malthusian population control stuff that's like eugenics's cursed cousin. Degrowth is a collection of frameworks and ideas that critique the economy's (destructive and unsustainable) need for infinite growth in order to function. It's less genocidal and more influenced by anti-capitalism, anti-colonialism, feminism, anarchism, etc.
Twombls t1_irb2fbm wrote
Oh yes I was thinking of population degrowth.
headgasketidiot t1_irb4wxf wrote
My own opinion: I think degrowth scholarship is really important. We need to question these fundamental assumptions about our world. For example, we take it for granted that GDP is the most important measure of an economy, but is it really?
Just talking about potentially big paradigm shifts is so important because otherwise our imaginations become stunted by the times we live in. You can see in this very thread how even people who recognize that we're destroying the only habitable planet just can't imagine a world that different from how it is right now. People using words like "realistic" and "feasible" without really examining the assumptions that go into that. We spent $300 million per day for 20 years in Afghanistan alone, but moving off fossil fuels somehow isn't realistic.
It reminds me of all those philosophers during the enlightenment who pushed for liberalism, rule of law, and a constitution, but at the same time mocked those who thought they could actually get rid of the monarchy or abolish slavery for being unrealistic.
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