Growth and our way of life

[The2ndWheel]

Is there any aspect to our entire way of life that could sustain a decrease in growth, without having the whole thing collapse?

Military-

If our presence around the world were to shrink, what would happen?

Health care-

If everyone doesn't get whatever care they need, what happens?

Population-

If the numbers don't continue to increase, how would we continue to have an economy, tax base, health care, etc?

Consumption-

If the demands decrease, how do we have an economy, tax base, jobs, etc?

Taxes-

If they go down with an ever growing population which wants, needs, and demands more, what happens?

Infrastructure-

Without constant maintenance, along with required improvements as a result of increased population, consumption, communication, travel, etc, what happens?

Education-

The minimum in education requirements consistently rises. Without a rising population, to fund education with tax money, and an increase in consumption to create the need for more jobs, what happens?

Jobs-

Without a rising population, which consumes on an increasing scale, where do the jobs come from to increase the tax base to pay for an increase in health care and education?

Agriculture-

If we don't grow more food per acre, there will be a decrease in population, a decrease in consumption, which will lead to a decrease in jobs, a decrease in tax revenue, which will mean a decrease in education and health care, etc, etc. So are corporations like Monsanto(who also grow) a good thing? Only they can invest the massive amounts of time, energy, and money for food in our specialized world.

Just to be clear, I'm no fan of Monsanto(or the rest).

Can we all have everything? Can we sustain a more choice based population(women focusing on careers, general health improvements, etc, etc), and still have everything else that meets our demands? Is there a way to decrease the level of control corporations have when we depend on them for our existence?

If any of that made any sense(in my head at least, I know what I'm trying to ask), give it a go.

[OneBlueSky]

1. Center for the Study of the Steady State Economy (CASSE)

http://steadystate.org/

Why does CASSE exist?

Slowly but surely, economic growth has become a primary threat to our national security, the environment, and future generations. For some visitors, this might seem heretical, but visit our Resources page and expect a paradigm shift. Economic growth was a blessing for much of American history, but now it is causing more problems - dire problems - than it solves. Yet economic growth remains the highest priority in the domestic policy arena! Our students and citizens are continually told that there is no limit to economic growth, in defiance of ecological principles and basic physics.

Why is Economic Growth a Threat?

Economic growth is an increase in the production and consumption of goods and services. It entails increasing population, per capita consumption, or both. Economic growth leaves a larger ecological fooprint, causing civil strife and bringing nations into conflict.

Can technological progress alleviate the threat of economic growth?
Technological progress requires research and development,a major expenditure that entails economic growth at current levels of technology. In theory, technological progress could reduce the ecological footprint, but not when it is simply used for more economic growth.

Laws of physics, principles of ecology, and our own common sense tell us that nothing grows forever. Economic sustainability, national security, and international stability require the establishment of a steady state economy with stabilized population and per capita consumption. In a steady state economy, society focuses on goals more noble than economic growth.

What does CASSE do?

For starters, CASSE advocates a carefully crafted, scientifically sound position on economic growth. Please support the position by e-signing at the Action page. (No contact information is solicited, therefore no spamming results.) Professional societies, non-governmental organizations, and other organized groups are invited to endorse the CASSE position.

note . . . this is a site I ran across recently, but I haven't had a chance to check it out yet . . . interesting idea . . .

[pitohui]

2. your health care question

you ask what happens if everyone doesn't get the health care we need, we already know, the poor have a life expectancy of around age 50 to 55 -- it's actually around age 45 on some very poor native american reservations such as pine ridge -- and nobody really cares because this is a nation of the rich, for the rich, by the rich

it's the same answer to all your questions really

the powerful won't be affected so no one cares what happens to us

there are already so few jobs that many people are thrown on the trash heap at age 40 -- even tho it may have taken them until almost age 30 to get the education to qualify for the job in the first place -- we have short careers that don't allow us time to get the resources to provide for ourselves when we can't work

and guess what, nobody cares, well, maybe john edwards cares, but most people don't, they all think it won't happen to them (they are under 40), they are one of the lucky rich and think everybody else should have tried harder, or else if they are in this situation they have no voice in the media and usually get shouted down on the internet as well


we haven't had real "growth" in years, we've been going backwards, hell, in 1969 we went to the moon, we couldn't do that today