Degrowth

Christy Wills: Just tell me one more time what your solution is to this crisis.
Brantley Foster: We don't cut, we expand.
Sheila the waitress: I agree. Expansion is a positive reaction to the universe. While retraction, or cutting back, or pulling off...those are all negative forces.
--The Secret of My Success

Degrowth? I had never heard the term until a couple days ago. Degrowth is grounded in belief that economic growth and prosperity are central causes of environmental and social decline. Fixing the situation requires 'degrowth,' or curtailing industrial activity and consumer behavior--particularly w.r.t. to industries that employ fossil fuels.

Reasoning minds might have to read that a few times just to make sure they've accurately grasped the central propositions. As absurd as it is, the degrowth idea is organized enough to have its own website, and enough of a following to be discussed among the cosmopolitan intellectual set.

While the label may be new, degrowth is really just a brand of watermelon socialism. In order to save the planet from capitalism, central planning must be substituted for voluntary production and trade.

What is new is that COVID-19 lockdowns have provided a glimpse of what degrowth policy might look like in practice. Such a 'test-run' offers degrowth proponents an opportunity to observe just how far they might be able to push their policies on the public.

Of course, the poverty and all of its associated problems brought on by 'degrowth' will also vividly demonstrate to millions just wrong headed the idea is.