{"id":362,"date":"2020-08-02T03:21:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-02T03:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enlightenment-demo.onedesigns.com\/blog\/?p=362"},"modified":"2020-10-08T09:24:01","modified_gmt":"2020-10-08T09:24:01","slug":"people-before-profit-the-degrowth-movement-values-people-not-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enlightenment-demo.onedesigns.com\/blog\/2020\/08\/02\/people-before-profit-the-degrowth-movement-values-people-not-money\/","title":{"rendered":"People before profit: The Degrowth Movement values people, not money"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Globalised capitalist economies continue to rely on numbers and economic growth, although they reveal little about inequality and sustainable well-being. How people live is not only a question of chance, but strongly influenced by the people in power. The Degrowth movement deeply questions the ways of living, producing and consuming shaped by the powerful, and asks for a democratic approach. It stands for a realizable reorganisation of values, lifestyles and the economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recognising that endless economic growth is destructive to human well-being, it calls for the shrinking of some economic segments, specifically those that damage the ecosystem. The meaning of Degrowth is to build economies around segments such as education and care. Both are, among others, examples of undervalued contributors to society, which has been highlighted throughout the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

While the pandemic has pointed to the flaws of growth-oriented economies, it is at the same time presenting an opportunity to rethink economic activity. Degrowth stands for more cooperation and less competition, and aims at a democratic, inclusive and socially and environmentally just system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contents<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
  1. Why GDP fails as a measure of wellbeing<\/a><\/li>
  2. The impossible idea of infinite growth<\/a><\/li>
  3. The meaning of Degrowth: a concrete utopia<\/a><\/li>
  4. Corona and its exposure of systemic flaws<\/a><\/li>
  5. The Degrowth movement as a response to Corona<\/a><\/li>
  6. Where to go from here?<\/a><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    \"\"<\/a>
    People before money: The meaning of the Degrowth movement is to strive for the good life for all<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    How we eat, dress, work, spend our leisure, relate to one another and interact with the natural environment; what we value and strive for, and how safe our livelihoods are within a given society is a matter of luck and history. It\u2019s additionally shaped by dominance: by the people in power and their ideas. It\u2019s the stories that we\u2019re being told, and that we keep retelling ourselves as well as the resulting tools, units and measures that seemingly allow us to make sense of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Within most globalised capitalist economies, the predominant means of sense-making are metrics. Most prominently: the GDP. The GDP (gross domestic product<\/a>), some continue to believe, elegantly and practically captures human development and wellbeing, the state of an economy and hence the state of employment. In a work-centred society, that tends to be seen as equivalent to people\u2019s happiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It\u2019s without doubt an inviting idea that such a magic number like the GDP, capturing a bundle of complex phenomena, might exist.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

    Why GDP fails as a measure of wellbeing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    So far, so good. It\u2019s just that this single number known as the GDP is not only reductive, prone to misinterpretation, saying relatively little about non-material wellbeing, such as mental health, and generally overestimated in its power to capture human flourishing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The GDP fails to capture any economic activities that haven\u2019t been monetised or operate outside of market structures, such as care work.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

    It thrives on accidents, divorces, and \u2013 worst of all \u2013 war: everything reason enough to perpetuate production and accumulate capital. In addition, GDP as the chosen measure has helped propagate the idea of infinite economic growth. An idea that has served, first and foremost, the richest 10%, the political elites, the owners of multinational corporations and the fossil industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Over the years, researchers have pointed to GDP\u2019s ethical problems, its inability to capture wealth inequality, and its perfect ignorance towards the natural environment within which economies operate, i.e. the planetary boundaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    To find out more about the topic, Scoop.me provides a video explaining the meaning of Degrowth:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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