54 Comments

Degrowth has to happen but I can't figure out how it can happen in a managed way. I've read some of Jason's work and many sites that try to explain some of this but have still to find some description of how a degrowth economy will work. Is there room for new companies? Can people dream of a profitable career? Do banks loan with interest? I just can't visualise it but would love to have this explained. Also, the degrowth movement seeks to get economies down to a sustainable level, without really defining what this is, or at least explaining how their vague explanation of operating within the limits of nature could support a modern civilisation (I don't expect it to).

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Mike, I've just a podcast iv with the woman who looked at the planetary limits study from 1972 and found it to be...spot on (as in, we will hit the limit of growth around about now...and collapse will follow). Stay tuned for this ep...we cover off this topic a bit.

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Is this Gaya Herrington? If so she is amazing!!

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Bingo

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Yay!!💚💚

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That's great. I hope it's a free one as I can't afford to subscribe to every blog I'd like to. From the number of likes my comment got, I guess many people can't figure this out, either.

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Ohh I'm keen to listen too. Whenever I hear about degrowth I feel a full body resounding yes but struggle to understand how UBI would truly work and how would we achieve redistribution at all, because my assumption is that that'd need to be facilitated? Anyhoo, love the idea of diving deeper into the how in the poddy please!

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SAME. I'm actually writing a three-part series on the growth/degrowth argument right now because the arguments just don't make sense and I really want to figure out what we want the economy to do exactly!

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Ooh – I can't wait for this, Sarah! Have you listened to this series – it's excellent:

https://tippingpoint-podcast.com

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I'm currently writing a three part series on the growth/degrowth arguments (including a final part that imagines what the ideal economy could look like if we reorgnanized it a bit). It is truly a fascinating time to be thinking through these exact questions.

For instance: the degrowth argument assumes that the whole economy needs to shrink for the benefit of us/the environment. But only half of the economy is dependent on environmental resources. Could we decrease the amount of the economy that is dependent on the environment even as we increase the part that is not??

People could still dream of a profitable career—because paying to subscribe to a newsletter has very little effect on the environment—we just change what we are investing in/paying for as an economy!

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I'd be interested in reading that because it's hard to think of any activity which doesn't have an environmental impact, even a blog.

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This idea of going back to crafting, and homesteading, is explored in the book Radical Homemakers by Shannon Hayes. There are some great people practising this including Hannah Moloney from Gardening Australia. She has a whole section of her website dedicated to this idea & lives her life as an example of promoting it to others. Another book with a similar theme is The Art of Frugal Hedonism. I wonder if you have come across these, or you might be interested in a deep dive just as I was. Thanks for your thought provoking piece as always.

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Thanks Emily, yep I know Hannah and adore her. I actually have the other book at home in Australia.

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Hi! There’s thriving homesteading communities all over Australia, and many people doing it in urban or suburban environments. These groups are pretty much the only thing Facebook is still useful for, heartening spaces where people share knowledge and produce and tools for free.

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I am currently studying and transitioning my career and also trying to decide the future for my family, and yesterday I had the thought - “I’m thinking a LOT about how I want the future to be, but what about right now?? How do I want right NOW to be??” And I realised that all this planning, busyness, etc is robbing me of my life and making be skip the NOW. I wonder if many of us who work in sustainability have this same struggle - we live so much in the future, trying to bring about the type of future we can all live in and with. But if we’re not careful, we’ll loose the present. It’s busyness masquerading as passion. We care so much about the future we’re creating that we miss out on our present a little bit.

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Love this email.

My questions:

How can we cope mentally and emotionally when we understand the dire need for bold climate action and yet feel like the rate of change is too slow at the political / systemic / corporation level?

What is the best way to get other people to care about the climate crisis (for example: people who just care about day-to-day / short term problems in life, buying whatever they want and can't be bothered will all this 'carry-on' of the climate movement)?

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noted, RR.

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World appears to be ruled by fossil fuel loving, money focused sociopaths which are going to use hydrocarbons till last drop (UK, Australia, Russia, Saudi Arabia etc etc) - we already see disasters here and there and whole countries in standstill because of heat risks (Iran, just now) - best case, optimistic, scenario of net zero 2050 means situation will get worse for next 3+ decades.

Can our civilization survive this without major changes?

Also - climate is just one of a few Planetary Boundaries/Limits to Growth - not much happening to stop degradation of others (biodiversity, nitrogen/phosphorus cycle, plastic & chemical pollution, fresh water cycle...)

How to retain hope?

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Yes, focus is on climate...tho I think most people do tend to think of the plastic, biodiversity etc issues as coming in under that umbrella.

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I love this idea that our hobbies used to be jobs and it's definitely an interesting trend... I wonder how long it will take to make it financially sustainable, or how we could even do that. Not sure why I can't see it, but, taking myself as an example here I can share that I do pottery in my free time (which narrows pretty much every week, it seems!). I'd love to nurture this craft. I love making and am an artist at heart, I know that much. To make that a sustainable job, however, would require that I charge a lot for the pots are make, which, if I'm honest, aren't all that good right now haha. Like, they're good and functional and lasting and beautiful, but not elevated craftsmanship quality lol. I digress. I just wonder if it's sustainable. Artists have long struggled to make ends meet, have they not? I dunno. Just feels a bit like wishful thinking but would love to be wrong.

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I tend to agree it's wishful. I found it interesting that folk back in the 1800s were thinking that it was ideal to reach via capitalism. There's a side to me, when considered in context of the Greek fisherman parable, that goes, why not? It's about how much we're willing to sacrifice, right? But right now we seem to be sacrificing a hell of a lot more...

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If we all had a universal basic income or the cost of living was lower there wouldn't be such an economic imperative to earn such a large income, which is often not possible with handmade items. I had a taste of this when my children were young (Family Tax Benefit was the income, my sewing and dyeing was the non-essential cream) and it was wonderful. I'd love to live in a world like that.

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It seems possible. For example, what would happen if you opened an Etsy shop?

I can't get myself to purchase anything for my home from a big box store anymore. It all just feels soulless. The last thing I want is for all of my stuff to be poorly made, not at all crafted, and just like everything everyone else has. And with how much Etsy has been growing, I think that's a growing trend!

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Hi Sarah,

Good to see some of the fog is starting clear. A perfect storm of creativity will lay it's loving arms around you and soon you will be writing your best work. Bon chance X

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Thanks mate

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This makes me want to live life more beautifully, with more heart and mana (sprit/essence)

To craft, what a joy! To sleep 9 hours !?! like you I would be operatic, even medicated and with a solid before bed routine it is 6 to 7 hours for me. And to Love better, to be the change and not be in charge, just beautiful. Something to aspire to xx

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What keeps me up at night and what drives me to despair is the fact that not enough of us actually give a shit about this conundrum...,the future of our planet. So my question would be how can we change a thing without a fight, without getting fired up and having conversations with those around us. Getting others to get their head out of the sand and contribute to the cause. If we can’t get our fellow ordinary humans on board and we can’t get the big policy makers to listen then surely we are doomed.

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Over the past 2 years I've led 'Imagine 2484', engaging over 500 residents, children and young people in workshops to articulate what safer, healthy and regenerative futures might be like for the 2484 postcode area (Murwillumbah and villages). I want to share how heartened I feel to see that the vast majority of participants share similar aspirations for our future. There is a willingness and desire to simplify our lives, regenerate our Earth, strengthen social connection, and be part of impactful social and environmental change. From the simplicity of growing our own food and re-using what we have, through to big-picture aspirations of living in a climate-neutral world where housing is provided as a basic human right.

We must engage communities everywhere in articulating what better futures look and feel like - the answers are on the tip of our tongues, hearts and mind. We know it, but in order to unleash the power that images of better futures can have, we must have the conversations that bring their beauty to the forefront of our hearts & minds. Imagining better futures is the precursor to believing in them, and then taking action to create them. Let's work from visions of better futures, not from the fear of climate catastrophe.

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Sarah, this post makes me so excited! Degrowth, universal basic income, handicraft revolution! I love this so much! I'm excited to listen to the podcast episodes with the great thinkers (I include you in this group!)

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https://medium.com/@WarriorsForTheHumanSpirit/freeing-ourselves-from-the-addiction-to-hope-4b6c88920229

Have you read this yet Sarah? It’s a tough read, but a necessary one re: preparing for any nuanced discussion around “hope” etc...

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Thanks for the link. Will take a breath and read shortly.

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This is a great piece – thanks for sharing. I also love the way Bayo Akomolafe talks about hope and the power of embracing uncertainty (over hopium) in these times:

https://houseofbeautifulbusiness.com/read/the-power-in-losing-hope

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Yes for sure... Bayo’s ideas definitely share a similar sentiment re: surrendering to ‘what is’ (including climate-change chaos) etc. But there’s some sort of paradox that needs to acknowledged here too re: not just giving in to feelings of defeatism?? It’s such a fine line eh?...letting go but not giving up...

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Enjoy The Alps and write well. Hooray, that the words have started ... may they flow relatively painlessly, Sar xx

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Every time I listen to Wild I have a deep urge to recommend the audiobook “Radical Wholeness” by Phillip Shepherd. It provides insight into how to engage with those that are the enemies (think the fossil fuel cos, the tech bros, The Right etc). It gives answers to your (and Kai’s) questions in this Substack. There’s a very good later chapter on getting to a world where we live fully while regenerating our natural environment. It’s not the sort of audiobook you can listen to on double speed while doing the washing up. It’s calming and meditative - ideal for a trek or lie down in the Alps! I met your dear friend Tim at a workshop in Sydney with Philip.

Thank you for everything you’ve done and continue to do. If ever you wonder what a Wild listener looks like, picture someone steadying themselves on the kitchen top or washing line wall while they take in, rewind and replay what’s just been said!

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Thank you, Sarah. ❤️

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I saw this story Annie.

In the absence of a moral compass, we now need a law to make sure politicians consider the future when they make decisions 😩

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