‘Economic growth’ is a term we hear frequently in political language, generally referring to an increase in a country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This is a measurement of how much the nation has produced that year, and is often used as a broad term to represent the economy as a whole. The logic of this is basic economics; if the country is producing more, there is job creation, higher consumption of goods and services, and therefore livelihoods are improving. This would be page one of the Capitalist ideology, and is the reason behind many of the technological advances that we enjoy today.
The Problem
In 2014 however, this definition is flawed. Increasing economic consumption has enslaved us all, an addiction that is bringing us ever closer to environmental destruction. Natural capital is finite, with examples such as diminishing fisheries and forests being far outstripped by human consumption. Greenhouse emissions, scarcity of fossil fuels and the destruction of agricultural land are proving beyond reasonable doubt that natural assets cannot sustain the current levels of economic activity. Insatiable demand for material goods has lead us to the precipice of destruction and we have followed, willingly.
The false dichotomy of economic growth and acceptable livelihoods is destroying the only habitable planet that we have and we cannot sit idly by. The issue here is the expense of green energy and the perceived cost of curbing expansion are concerning for people that believe there is no alternative to the ‘trickle-down economics’myth that has been forced upon us.
A Greener alternative
Every human being alive has a vested interest in self sufficiency, so why is it so politically underrepresented? The champions of the cause within the UK, The Green Party, advocate policies such as redirecting fracking subsidies to investment in sustainable energies and greater investment in job creation at a local level. Despite this, they accumulated just 1% of the vote in the 2010 election, and a poll in Jan 2014 demonstrated that 41% of voters feel that the economy is their primary concern, whilst just 7% felt that the environment/pollution took precedence. What people fail to recognise is that self sufficiency and prosperity are by no means mutually exclusive. What we have learned to associate with growth is deficient of external factors that attribute to the ‘common good’ of mankind.
Concerns over the environment can no longer be thought of in abstract terms. Information regarding environmental degradation is widely reported, but often dismissed. It continues on a daily basis, but is not resisted because people are distracted by consumer driven aspiration. We must be recognise what is truly important for the longevity of mankind because by the time these issues are in the face of the masses, it will be far too late.
sprerogative 