Bread and Circuses

A group of 18 European Parliament Members have issued a statement officially calling for #Degrowth.

Here is part of what they wrote...
______________________________

We believe that the current economic model, based on endless growth, has reached its limits.

Firstly, continuous economic growth, especially based on the consumption of fossil fuels, is leading to catastrophic global warming.

Secondly, the infinite pursuit of growth relies on the depletion of natural resources, the destruction of biodiversity, and the accumulation of waste and pollution. This also poses risks to our health, our economies, and our societies writ large.

Thirdly, the current economic model is contributing to social inequality and exclusion. The emphasis on economic growth has not translated into equal distribution of wealth or opportunities. Instead, it has resulted in a concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few leaving many behind.

Fourthly, the current economic model is inherently unstable and prone to crises, as seen, for example, during the 2008 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. The pursuit of growth at all costs has created a global economic system that is fragile and vulnerable to shocks.

We need an economic system that prioritises human well-being and ecological sustainability over GDP growth, one that recognises that infinite growth on a finite planet is impossible.

We also believe we need to find new ways of organising our economies without relying on the continuous exploitation of resources and the constant increase in production and consumption.

We call for more pluralism in economic thinking within EU institutions and for its alignment with the scientific evidence of climate, ecological, and social sciences.

We call for economic models and other decision-support tools to be more diverse, more comprehensive, and more readable for citizens.

We call for decision-making processes to be aligned with our common policy objectives rather than on the basis of the variation of GDP figures.
______________________________

FULL STATEMENT -- https://www.euronews.com/2023/05/10/moving-beyond-growth-is-not-only-desirable-it-is-essential

Names of those who signed on as co-authors: Philippe Lamberts (BE), Bas Eickhout (NL), Ville Niinisto (FI), Manuela Ripa (DE), Marie Toussaint (FR), Ernest Urtasun (ES), Kim Van Sparrentak (NL) — Greens/EFA; Manon Aubry (FR), Petros Kokkalis (EL), Marisa Matias (PT), Helmut Scholz (DE) — The Left (GUE/NGL); Pascal Durand (FR), Aurore Lalucq (FR), Pierre Larrouturou (FR) — Socialists & Democrats (S&D); Sirpa Pietikainen (FI), Maria Walsh (IE) — European People’s Party (EPP); Katalin CSEH (HU) — Renew Europe (RE); and Dino GIARRUSSO (IT) — Non-attached (NI).

#Europe #EU #Politics #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #Biodiversity #Pollution #Inequality

Moving beyond growth is not only desirable — it is essential

VIEW | The pursuit of growth at all costs has created a global economic system that is fragile and vulnerable to shocks, and this needs to change, a group of European Parliament Members (MEPs) write.

euronews
May 11, 2023 at 6:00pmWeb
Show threadCsepp 🌢May 11, 2023
@breadandcircuses Pleasantly surprised to see a Hungarian politician in the list of names. UwU
Show thread🇳𝗮ꜟ𝖼𝘩May 11, 2023
@breadandcircuses Seems sensible.
Show threadTacitus 🇮🇪May 11, 2023

@breadandcircuses surprised to see an Irish MEP, and from Fine Gael no less. surprised, but proud.

It seems our MEPs seem to be of a more principled bent than our national TDs.

Show threadKirkMay 12, 2023
@breadandcircuses I forget all the time that it doesn't have to be this way. It is so easy to forget too.
Show threadSearingTruthJun 7, 2023

@JustBrogrammer @breadandcircuses

"We are all delivered into a magnificent world of great promise that has never been accomplished.

Because we refuse to accept that we are one race.

The human race.

That, together, could conquer suffering and death itself.

But apart only increases it."
SearingTruth

Show threadOlympia IndivisibleMay 12, 2023
@breadandcircuses Great material for what to ask for in your County Comprehensive Plan.
Show threadFoxVKMay 12, 2023
@breadandcircuses sounds like communism...
I should find how this is meant to work.
Show threadJW prince of CPHMay 12, 2023

@breadandcircuses They left one out: Infinite growth is literally impossible on a finite Earth.

All of their points can be categorized as left-leaning, and people who identify differently will be able to construct arguments against them (even if they'll be bad & wrong) - but that left-out one, we might call it Point Zero, that's just fact. There's no way around it. Continuous growth = infinite growth, but we have finite room to exist in. Even the universe itself can't sustain infinite growth.

Show threadAral BalkanMay 12, 2023
@breadandcircuses This is exactly what we need. Gives me hope to see it :) 💕
Show threadDr. ir. Brian R. PauwMay 12, 2023
@breadandcircuses so… not all people are stupid? #notallpeople
Show threadJill BreivikMay 12, 2023
@breadandcircuses Excellent statement. Now let's see what happens. It is so easy to make statements, so easy to ignore them. Action people!
Show threadCinaMay 12, 2023
@breadandcircuses Spoton-when will the rest of the world come to the same conclusions??
Show thread🇺🇦🇪🇺 cweickhmannMay 12, 2023

@breadandcircuses Okay, first I thought: "Weird choice of showing or not showing party affiliation." 🤔 Then I realised that it got lost in formatting.

There are
7 Greens/EFA
4 The LEFT/GUE/NGL
3 Socialists/S&D
2 Conservatives/EPP
1 Liberals/RE
1 Independent/NI

Which is even more surprising, because it shows that even on the con and lib side of the parliament there are (albeit only a few) supporters.

I think it would've helped a lot to show political party affiliation more clearly.

If anything about their member states is concerning, it's the fact that again it's only "western", "old" member states and very much dominated by France with the exception of the esteemed Katalin Cseh from HU.

5 FR
2 DE, FI, NL
1 BE, ES, GR, HU, IE, IT, PT

I hope, more MEPs will join that list.

Show threadAlbert CardonaMay 12, 2023

@breadandcircuses

"We need an economic system that prioritises human well-being and ecological sustainability over GDP growth, one that recognises that infinite growth on a finite planet is impossible."

Once upon a time this would have been called realpolitik. Ignoring reality is a recipe for disaster.

Show threadgreenleafMay 12, 2023
@breadandcircuses Honestly, I'm tired to have to pretend that real good numbers of growth 📈 in the #economy are a thing to celebrate as good news by all of us peasants. And tired to hide my relief, my joy, when growth hits 0 or below. People think I'm joking when I say these things. It's really frustrating. #capitalism have us so dense at this point... 😔
Show threadMike Taylor 🦕May 12, 2023
@breadandcircuses I strongly agree with all of this. But "Degrowth" is terrible, terrible branding. It's the first thing people will see, and they will immediately think "But growth is good" and write it off.
Show threadLisPiMay 13, 2023

@mike @breadandcircuses Although it does beg why people assume growth is good.

After all, cancer is nothing but growth.

Show threadMike Taylor 🦕May 13, 2023

@lispi314 @breadandcircuses I have heard this "cancer is a growth" line before, and while it's not wrong it's a bit facile.

Cancer is the growth of tissue with no purpose. When capitalism is working right, it's very much growing things that do have purpose: scientific advances, health care, infrastructure, education, etc.

The problem is not growth per se. It's uncontrolled of goalless growth.

Show threadLisPiMay 13, 2023

@mike @breadandcircuses Not really, capitalism promotes growth for the purpose of capital and/or power accumulation. It is either circular & pointless or actively harmful, depending on which it is.

The value of things has absolutely nothing to do with it, otherwise #ChokePointCapitalism (https://time.com/6219423/chokepoint-capitalism-doctorow-giblin/), #Monopoly and other things associated with late-stage capitalism wouldn't be a thing.

Why We Should All Be Worried About 'Chokepoint Capitalism'

'Chokepoint Capitalism', by Cory Doctorow and Rebecca Giblin, argues corporations succeed by crushing competition and locking-in customers

Time
Show threadMike Taylor 🦕May 13, 2023

@lispi314 @breadandcircuses The verdict of history on non-capitalist societies has not been kind.

The question really is how we make capitalism work for everyone, not just for the 1%. The recapture of economies by the top 1% is relatively recent: see e.g. graphs of the gap between CEO pay and regular worker pay from 1970 till now.

Show threadLisPiMay 13, 2023
@mike @breadandcircuses There's a very clear correlation between the weakening of antitrust & consumer protections and what has happened since.
Show threadMike Taylor 🦕May 13, 2023
@lispi314 @breadandcircuses Yes indeed. One of the most successful things the toxic capitalists have done is mislead people into thinking that the phrase "free market" means "free from regulation" — whereas it really means "regulated in such a way as to enable free competition".
Show threadChris BlakeMay 14, 2023
@mike @lispi314 @breadandcircuses I mean, if you really want to carry the analogy through, it's not like, say, your brain could just keep growing forever as long as all the new neurons served some purpose. As much as we might imagine and want a scenario in which we just keep accumulating more and more nice things indefinitely, for better or worse growth in a physical world necessarily has limits and ultimately has to reach some dynamic equilibrium that's compatible with those limits.
Show threadMike Taylor 🦕May 14, 2023
@chrisblake @lispi314 @breadandcircuses I strongly agree that the physical world places limits on physical growth. But that is very far from the only available from of continuing economic growth. We can and must reach an equilibrium with the natural world — but that doesn't mean economic growth has to stagnate.
Show threadChris BlakeMay 15, 2023
@mike I see. You seem to be taking the "absolute decoupling" position, that we can continue economic growth indefinitely without any further growth in our material footprint. Again, since you brought up historical track records, I'll point out that absolute decoupling simply doesn't have one. So far it's been very heavy on hopeful speculation and very lean on results. I don't think it's prudent to be placing huge bets on that in the face of multiple accelerating existential threats.
Show threadChris BlakeMay 15, 2023
@mike Though I guess it's largely a question of priorities. If you're saying, "We absolutley must get our material consumption down to a sustainable level, and if in the process we happen to find some ways of also continuing to grow GDP in some immaterial sense, that would be nice," I would find that much less objectionable.
Show threadChris BlakeMay 15, 2023
@mike But mostly when I see people making decoupling-based arguments it seems to be coming from a position more along the lines of, "We absolutely must ensure the economy keeps growing at all costs, and hopefully at some point somebody will find some way to do it within ecological limits." That's what I find really troubling.
Show threadMike Taylor 🦕May 15, 2023
@chrisblake Fear not: this is not my position at all. (I mean, by all means fear — but not for that reason.)
Show threadMike Taylor 🦕May 15, 2023
@chrisblake That's mostly it. I mean, GDP is a terrible measure of anything, anyway. But for people with pensions (i.e. nearly everyone), some kind of economic growth is not really just a luxury.
Show threadMike Taylor 🦕May 15, 2023
@chrisblake No, I don't go nearly as far as that. All I'm saying is that most economic growth and lifestyle improvement over the last 50 years has come about by means not directly related to exploiting the environment — most obviously, the rise of computing. I'm not saying that needs no resources. But think we can have 90% of the growth for 10% of the cost. IOW, we don't need to burn rainforests to have smartphones.
Show threadChris BlakeMay 14, 2023
Historically, no nation-state (capitalist, "Communist", feudal, or whatever) has ever had a remotely sustainable economy. They've been wrecking topsoil, exhausting mineral reserves, and converting forests into sterile wastelands for as long as they've existed. But, as long as they've existed only amounts to about the most recent 0.2% of human history...
Show threadChris BlakeMay 14, 2023
It's really hard for most of us to imagine today, but if we're going by historical track records, any sustainable society is very likely to resemble that of, say, most pre-Columbian North Americans much more closely than any of the ones you're thinking of. Obviously that's not going to happen all at once tomorrow, or even in our lifetimes, but that's the general trajectory we need to be aiming for (again, if we're going by historical examples).
Show threadHugo 雨果May 14, 2023
@mike @breadandcircuses I think “solarpunk” is rooted in the same ideas but with far better branding.
Show threadSvanteMay 12, 2023

@breadandcircuses Partly yes, but mostly no.

Yes, we must end burning of fossil fuels. No, this does not mean that we must reduce energy consumption.

Yes, we must pivot to sustainable resources. No, this does not mean that we must use less resources.

Yes, we must counter the concentration of wealth in the hands of few, through taxes and guaranteed basic income. No, this does not mean that we must reduce wealth.

Yes, we must prioritize human well-being. No, degrowth doesn't help with that.

Show threadSally ManderMay 12, 2023
@breadandcircuses at last someone is saying out loud. I am so sick of corporations continually creating false need, advertising the hell out of it, just to keep their own growth trajectory going.
Show threadgreenleafMay 12, 2023
@SallyMander @breadandcircuses You forgot to append the last part: "... at the expense of our future and our natural ecosystems."
Show threadsotiryMay 12, 2023
@breadandcircuses well, if Petros Kokkalis signed :-( ... no expectations
Show threadMaggieMay 12, 2023
@breadandcircuses Today, I was thinking Mastodon might not be working for me - but this is the 3rd amazing thing I’ve just encountered. It is so wonderful to hear clear truth and insight from leadership. It’s like discovering a fresh cold spring in the middle of a disaster zone (pick one).
Show threadSystem IV, Building KMay 12, 2023
@breadandcircuses You know what else bets on endless growth at the expense of the host? Cancer. That is the business model of capitalism.
Show threadDuncan BluesMay 12, 2023
@goodthinking @breadandcircuses
Just as a reminder: Trade and markets have existed for several thousand years (without ruining the planet).
Trade does not equal capitalism. Trade does not need capitalism.
Show threadKashif ShahMay 12, 2023

@goodthinking @breadandcircuses

“The only weapon of power, its only strategy against this defection, is to reinject the real and the referential everywhere, to persuade us of the reality of the social, of the gravity of the economy and the finalities of production.”
― Jean Baudrillard, Simulacra and Simulation

Show threadBynkiiMay 12, 2023

@goodthinking @breadandcircuses @Wraithe I read a few years back (and god I wish I’d bookmarked it) that cancer does have an upper growth limit. A tumor will eventually get so big it collapses and dies.

You just have be as big as a blue whale

But there does appear to be an upper limit.

Show threadSystem IV, Building KMay 12, 2023
@bynkii @breadandcircuses @Wraithe I believe we are testing that out on a planetary scale atm. Just as your body heats up a fever and releases antibodies, at scale.
Show threadtoxtethogradyMay 13, 2023
@goodthinking @breadandcircuses Bonus for its creative destruction aspects...
Show threadskuaMay 12, 2023

@breadandcircuses

I see some are concerned about the general population's response to the term "degrowth".

Visits to the oncologists have stripped "growth" of positive connotations for me.

More broadly I think the backlash coming from the politicisation of increases in the cost of flights and cars will swamp any effect of the name #degrowth.

Show threadMiKlo:~/citizen4.eu$💙💛May 12, 2023
@breadandcircuses It would be good to know who else among #MEP 's supports this point of view. Because I hope it is not just these 18 people. @echo_pbreyer , @marcel_kolaja
Show threadChris BlakeMay 13, 2023
@breadandcircuses
Be interesting to see if this gains any real traction. One of the more common criticisms I hear of #Degrowth is that it's way too politically radioactive to have any policy impact, and as evidence people often point out that no elected politician in an industrialized country has been willing to touch it with a 10-foot pole. Perhaps that's starting to change? 🤔
Show threadMaggieMay 14, 2023
@breadandcircuses Gibbs Free Energy and Thermodynamics is probably a good addition to this analysis. Degrowth is a bad term. A system tends towards entropy and energy keeps it organized - whether growing or not. We tend to think dead and quiescent are the same thing (they aren’t). Dead goes to equilibrium, quiescent is far from equilibrium. The EU statement is a start -talking about increasing flow in the system. Balanced growth? Equitable growth? Predatory capitalism? Perspective is everything.
Show threadShade1959 (He/him) AllyMay 16, 2023
@breadandcircuses 💯
Show threadmsgbi Markus SagebielMay 16, 2023
@breadandcircuses @charles_ex stoic @Ginger149
Show threadKoffie VerkeerdJun 5, 2023
@breadandcircuses Its refreshing to hear politicians articulate the problem so well. Would be even better if they voted for initiatives to make it happen.
Show threadSearingTruthJun 7, 2023

@breadandcircuses

"They believed every life must profit them.

When life was profit itself."
SearingTruth