Alison Creekside
Prof. Julia Steinberger reports
that for 3 full days the EU parliament hosted thousands of scientists, activists and policy-makers charting a future beyond growth, but says every single journalist there she spoke to said, "my editor refuses to print any story critical of economic growth."
She is asking people to spread the word about this.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1659429887751405569.html
#beyondgrowth #beyondgrowth2023
Thread by @JKSteinberger on Thread Reader App

@JKSteinberger: As floods & fires rise, oceans boil & ice melts, and "safe" temperatures are breached, something momentous just happened in the heart of the EU. No one has heard about it: journalists were present, b...…

May 20, 2023 at 6:04amWeb
Show threadPaul Graham RavenMay 20, 2023

@AlisonCreekside Someone wrote it up at Metafilter, but framed it very much as "look it these kids, it's like they never heard of the hippies": https://www.metafilter.com/199320/Post-growth-Woodstock

Which is not to say there isn't some sort of editorial edict against this stuff in actual journalism, but rather to point out that the ideological assumption of growth is so deep and so cross-spectrum that it's almost impossible for it to be discussed anywhere in any terms other than dismissal or contempt.

Post-growth Woodstock

The Beyond Growth 2023 conference held at the European Parliament was organized by around 20 MEPs from 5 parties.

Show threadKenneth John BardsleyMay 20, 2023
@AlisonCreekside
'Growth' as we know it. is THE enemy !
Show threadBoudMay 20, 2023

@AlisonCreekside

For a meta-review of 3 decades of research on the decoupling hypothesis, see https://helda.helsinki.fi/bitstream/handle/10138/345840/Vaden_etal_2020_ESP_author.pdf

#BeyondGrowth sounds like a rational, ethical response to the evidence.

Pinging a few random journalists:

Why are editors so frightened of criticising economic growth? Are they worried about ad-funded journalism collapsing completely like a house of cards? Should the lack of evidence be hidden?

@jperlow @fulelo @winnipegfreepress @StellaArnaldo @pbump @nickkristof @hedtk

Show threadAlison CreeksideMay 20, 2023

@boud @jperlow @fulelo @winnipegfreepress @StellaArnaldo @pbump @nickkristof @hedtk

"Why are editors so frightened of criticising economic growth?"
Because they are volunteer yacht-money safety advocates. 👀​

I'll see your 179 articles on decoupling 🤣​ and raise you 13 minutes of @jasonhickel describing an economic #postgrowth mission statement for #beyondgrowth2023, starting at 47:29 :
https://youtu.be/dhoIS79tp0s?t=2849

Show threadKriszta SatoriMay 20, 2023

@boud @AlisonCreekside @jperlow @winnipegfreepress @StellaArnaldo @pbump @nickkristof @hedtk a cursory look brought up the following:

https://euobserver.com/growth-week/157045

https://www.euronews.com/2023/05/19/seeking-solutions-beyond-growth-in-2023

https://www.fastcompany.com/90898926/pov-why-the-future-of-business-must-be-anti-growth

https://www.resilience.org/stories/2023-05-18/post-growth-europe-400-experts-call-for-wellbeing-economy/

On the #BBCWorldService we relatively regularly discuss postgrowth economy too

A credible future beyond growth has to be feminist

Half of the world's work is unpaid, and women carry out most of it. According to estimates, activities like cooking, cleaning, collecting food or caring for children and the elderly may be valued at up to 60 percent of GDP.

EUobserver
Show threadBoudMay 20, 2023

@fulelo @AlisonCreekside

So presumably Steinberger didn't talk to journalists from those four websites/media. Did the BBC World Service publish an article about this meeting at the EU parliament?

Did any of the "newspapers of record" like The Guardian, The Telegraph, NYT, Washington Post, Le Monde, Libération, Le Figaro, Der Spiegel, El País cover the meeting ? [1]

@jperlow @winnipegfreepress @StellaArnaldo @pbump @nickkristof @hedtk

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspaper_of_record

Newspaper of record - Wikipedia

Show threadKriszta SatoriMay 21, 2023
@boud @AlisonCreekside @jperlow @winnipegfreepress @StellaArnaldo @pbump @nickkristof @hedtk the BBC World Service is a radio station, available worldwide, accessed by dozrns of millions of people regularly around the globe. I wouldn't write it off in comparison with the named newspapers.
Show threadJason PerlowMay 21, 2023
@boud @AlisonCreekside @fulelo @winnipegfreepress @StellaArnaldo @pbump @nickkristof @hedtk in the context of the LF we have an initiative for sustainability we just launched and we were present as observers at COP27. Open source is fundamentally an economic growth engine but it is also possible for it to be a sustainability driver, such as through our LF Energy projects.
Show threadDr. Jürgen KnödlsederMay 20, 2023
@AlisonCreekside @jks
Show threadBill DayMay 20, 2023
@AlisonCreekside are: one of the responses she quotes: never trust a journalist who spells “wacky” with an h.
Show threadTimo GrünMay 21, 2023
@AlisonCreekside
In biological systems unrestricted growth is often diagnosed as cancer.
Show threadSimon BrookeMay 21, 2023

@AlisonCreekside News is funded by advertising, advertising is funded by capitalism, capitalism depends on growth.

The whole business model of journalism (as of most other industries) is unsustainable and is destrying our hope of a future.

Show threadMaarten PelgrimMay 21, 2023
@AlisonCreekside maybe this is true for English newspapers. I know of several good Dutch ones who will happily publish articles critical of economic growth
Show threadAlison CreeksideMay 21, 2023

@maartenpelgrim And that's absolutely great and good for them but I think @boud 's point still stands here. Where were The Guardian, The Telegraph, NYT, Washington Post, Le Monde, Libération, Le Figaro, Der Spiegel, El País, etc etc.? You know - legacy news sites that everyone reads on a regular basis

I plugged "Beyond Growth 2023 Conference" into Google & Google News and got only Resilience & euronews back. #beyondgrowth2023

Show threadMaarten PelgrimMay 21, 2023

@AlisonCreekside @boud ok, I guess the Netherlands is not the center of the world, but I still think there's some nuance to be made. Take for example this article by Kate Raworth in the Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2017/apr/06/kate-raworth-doughnut-economics-new-economics

For sure it's from a while ago, but it is clearly critical of economic growth.

Old economics is based on false ‘laws of physics’ – new economics can save us

It is time to ditch the belief that economies obey rigid mechanical rules, which has widened inequality and polluted our planet. Economics is evolving

The Guardian
Show threadBoudMay 21, 2023

@maartenpelgrim @AlisonCreekside

The standard model of media in market economies (Herman-Chomsky) [2] *is* nuanced - the filters are statistical.

Steinberger's observation is anecdotal, but is consistent with the apparent lack of 'newspaper of record' coverage of *this* meeting @EU parliament (@fulelo did BBC World Service cover it?).

Instead of inches of column text, a systematic analysis could use word counts (and the updated filter 5; ad funding=filter 2) [2].

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_model

Propaganda model - Wikipedia

Show threadAlison CreeksideMay 21, 2023
@maartenpelgrim @boud
It's a great article and it's also 6 years old.
What @jks Prof. Julia Steinberger was speaking out about was that not only has legacy media declined to write about a 3-day conference at the EU parliament on #beyondgrowth, but that journos she spoke to at that conference said writing about it was discouraged.
And I still don't see any mention of the #beyondgrowth2023 conference in legacy news out there.
Show threadMaarten PelgrimMay 22, 2023

@AlisonCreekside @boud @jks I agree. And on top of that it also seems that this article is more or less the exception that proves the rule.

So I'm also a bit curious @jks : did you find out why it was discouraged?

#beyondgrowth2023

Show threadanlomedadMay 21, 2023
@AlisonCreekside
Shocking.
Show threadJim Daly – Likely ScamMay 21, 2023
@AlisonCreekside @amckinstry The Irish Times worked it into a very good piece. https://www.irishtimes.com/world/europe/2023/05/18/europe-letter-we-cant-claim-tax-of-multinationals-while-disowning-their-emissions/
Ireland can’t claim tax of multinationals while disowning their emissions

Europe Letter: EU debates how to reform GDP and economic measures amid dire climate warnings

The Irish Times
Show threadAlison CreeksideMay 21, 2023

@psneeze @amckinstry
Really good article, thank you!
The GDP is so embedded in our accepted systems of economic measurement that it serves to filter out what doesn't fit, what it can't measure - human wellbeing and ecological survival.
#beyondgrowth #beyondgrowth2023

Here's an alt archived link for those who can't access yours above:
https://archive.is/PFTOB

Show threadWolfgang CramerMay 21, 2023
@AlisonCreekside Would be so cool if we could boost this case on mastodon... @jks
Show threadAlison CreeksideMay 21, 2023
@wolfgangcramer @jks
I'm sure you could write it up much more eloquently than I have here on my own tiny instance and you could boost it farther. Go for it, Wolfgang!
Show threadWolfgang CramerMay 22, 2023
@AlisonCreekside @jks actually, in this particular case, my hint was meant for Julia. I am trying to convince all the good people to actually abandon that hate speech platform and instead participate in the broadening of the community here...
Show threadAlison CreeksideMay 22, 2023
@wolfgangcramer @jks
I hear you but mastodon is a difficult space for activists. On the last 2 servers @jks was on here, she followed hundreds of peeps and responded to comments, yet some of her posts received no boosts or likes at all. Her last attempt to engage here afaik was in January,
Show threadWolfgang CramerMay 22, 2023
@AlisonCreekside @jks I know, I know - but we really have no other ethically acceptable option, and I am convinced that, if we made an effort similar to that we made 10 years ago on the hate speech site, then we can create something that also activists will find useful.
Show threadCharles de Lacombe ⏚May 22, 2023

@AlisonCreekside Could you elaborate on why it’s a difficult space for activists? That’s not really my experience, but maybe I’m misunderstanding.

@wolfgangcramer @jks

Show threadWolfgang CramerMay 22, 2023

@charles @jks @AlisonCreekside I believe many activists find that they do not reach a large enough audience in the #fediverse . IMHO, the number of followers on the hate speech site is overrated as an indicator of "interest", but I also think we need to generally be more active on mastodon if we want to reach our proper audience.

Simply retweeting stuff from the birdsite, including forever linking back there, and without engaging with the network through mastodon will be insufficient.

Show threadirizoris@hcommons.socialMay 22, 2023

@AlisonCreekside I do detect a certain sarcasm about "degrowth" in the first paragraphs of this Economist article (the rest is paywalled).
https://www.economist.com/europe/2023/05/18/meet-the-lefty-europeans-who-want-to-deliberately-shrink-the-economy

Then I watch a bit of this Euronews coverage, while lying in bed in the U.S. on one of my very few days off, only to shake my head (within the limits of my pillows).
https://www.euronews.com/2023/05/19/seeking-solutions-beyond-growth-in-2023

Why do Europeans (note: I'm an expat European) immediately speak of "more free time" and "holidays" in connection to "degrowth"? Holidays? Fly to Thailand and degrow on beaches sipping cocktails?

Shouldn't degrowth rather be a *diversification* of activities: time to plant a little garden, weed it by hand rather than with herbicides, rake the leaves instead of leaf blowers.

As someone once young and unable to find employment in Germany in 1980, I still interpret "holidays" as forced idleness, the ability to kill time drinking beers while entirely written off by your society.

You can and should "degrow" *and* be active.

Meet the lefty Europeans who want to deliberately shrink the economy

De-growers of the world, unite!

The Economist
Show threadAlison CreeksideMay 22, 2023
@irizoris The Economist has been characterizing any wavering from full-on growth and passive climate change denial as "resemblance to some of the more stringent policies of the early Soviet era" since this cartoon was published 21 years ago.
Show threadPēteris KrišjānisMay 22, 2023
@AlisonCreekside it is quite precise observation that "economical growth" is (and let's be honest, always have been) a cult, a belief. Why? Because that is only way to justify exitance of capitalist society where resources are collated and hoarded in hands of private institutions. Despite proof that mediated approach to growth can be very beneficial to everyone, including corporations themselves, they find it very hard to act against their instincts.
Show threadPhilip GrandinettiMay 22, 2023
@AlisonCreekside https://apple.news/ArQar-qPARAm-3aJH1bsl5A
Beyond Growth: Is it truly possible to move on from growth as our key economic indicator? — Euronews

For more than a hundred years, economic growth has been a key benchmark for successful societies. But is it the right one? Euronews' final debate on the subject at the Beyond Growth 2023 conference takes a deeper look.