Opinion: (Professor Tim Jackson, Author of Prosperity Without Growth – Economics for a Finite Planet): “Constant shocks to the world’s financial system over the past few years prompted the BBC World Service’s Business Daily programme to ask leading figures whether they thought Western capitalism had failed.

“This extraordinary ramping up of global economic activity is without historical precedent. It is totally at odds with the finite resource base and the fragile ecology on which we depend for survival.

“Most of the time, we avoid the stark reality of these numbers. Growth must go on, we insist. The reasons for this collective blindness are easy enough to find.

“Western capitalism is structurally reliant on growth for its stability. When growth falters – as it has done recently – politicians panic. Businesses struggle to survive. People lose their jobs and sometimes their homes.

“Questioning growth is deemed to be the act of lunatics, idealists and revolutionaries.

“Yet question it we must. The myth of growth has failed us. It has failed the two billion people who still live on less than $2 a day. It has failed the fragile ecological systems on which we depend for survival.”

My Comment: More and more sensible materials about the end of growth, billions of unemployed, and the reduction of production will encourage people to think about a new attitude towards life, general prosperity, and the other, non-material, fulfillment. After all, after simple calculations we see that the planet cannot provide for us.

This means that we should take a sober view of the future economy of reasonable consumption. Food, shelter, social security, and education and upbringing are to be provided for everyone in a reasonable quantity. The fulfillment of our egoism beyond the necessities should be transferred to other areas of contentment—cultural and spiritual, which require little material and energy. Let’s think and we will find a way.
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