Sustainability History Project

Jack Hart wrote a thought-provoking piece in today’s Oregonian outlining what he identifies as our culture’s misguided commitment to the “fallacy of growth.”[1] Hart finds that, in the short term, “growth supports families, relieves social pressures . . . pays for amenities . . . [and] offers opportunities for entrepreneurs . . .” However, he asserts that growth has long-term negative consequences that outweigh the short-term benefits: “growth is also an addiction. And, like most addictions, it threatens to destroy us.”

Hart doesn’t see “sustainable growth” as a viable option, either:

Hardly anyone, it appears, stops to think that ‘sustainable growth’ is an oxymoron. Combine constant economic growth with a constantly growing human population, place them on a finite world with finite resources, and you have a recipe for unsustainability.

Providing alternatives to the “fallacy of growth” are “a small but growing contingent of “steady-state” economists and activists is arguing that humanity needs to find a better way.” These include:

** E. F. Schumacher‘s Small Is Beautiful (1973) which “made the case for reasonable consumption combined with fulfilling work and community life.”
** Kenneth Boulding‘s “Economics of the Coming Spaceship Earth” (1966) that “argued for truly sustainable consumption.”
** Herman Daly‘s idea of “steady-state economics.”
** New Economics Foundation (UK) “Happy Planet Index.”
** New Economics Institute (MA).
** Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy (VA).
** De-Growth Vancouver (BC).

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[1] Jack Hart, “The fallacy of growth in a finite world,”Oregonian, Aug. 1, 2010.
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