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Tutor Navid. 's Column
Eco-friendly lifestyle and the Japanese word for degrowth
Среда, 28 Июнь 2023 r. 04:36
It is said that economic growth goes hand in hand with an increase in the use of natural resources and a rise in the production of greenhouse gases. This is a rule and so far no country has been able to prove otherwise. This is what a 2021 research says. You can read it here:
https://gaiageld.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/decoupling_debunked_evidence_and_argumen.pdf
Some even say starting to use green energies is not fast enough, and it may even have the opposite effect. In economics this opposite effect is called “Jevons Paradox”. The paradox is, when a technology that uses less resources or cheaper resources emerges, the use of the technology increases so much that it becomes more harmful.
A solution that has been suggested by some activists, is the idea of “degrowth”. “Degrowth” means making an economy smaller. This goes against every principle of capitalism. It means a reduction in GDP. It means less money for everyone. There are some activists who think this is the only way we can save the earth. And they use a lot of scientific research to prove this. One of the supporters of the idea is the philosopher Kohei Saito. His 2020 book “Capital in the anthropocene” helped spread the idea of “degrowth”.
What do you think? Do you think it is possible? Do you think we will see a day that a woman who says “I’m gonna make you all poor” becomes the prime minister?
Perhaps! The website degrowth.com says some of the principles of “degrowth” are:
-An economy and a society that sustains the natural basis of life.
-The creation of open, connected, and local economies.
-A different way of technological progress.
-Real democracy where people truly participate in politics.
These all sound very futuristic and attractive to me.
Some say the word “degrowth” may have unwanted negative effects. The Italian word “decrescita” which means “a river going back to its normal flow after a flood", could have been an alternative. But activists who started the movement, think the word “degrowth” is a good choice because it is critical. I wonder, what is the Japanese word Kohei Saito has used for “degrowth”?
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