Consumption Growth 101. Where To?

CONSUMPTION GROWTH 101

Beyond Consumption Growth 101 Where does this lead us?

The answer for the here and now is that without a common understanding of the nature of consumption growth, where it comes from and the impossibility of perpetual material growth in a closed system, going forward is really a moot point; hence Consumption Growth 101.

Having said that though, the strategy from there is straightforward in outline.

The starting point, the foundation, of any global strategy must be first of all to align with the environment's policy. The environment has an overriding policy that is simple and immutable:

All tangible growth has limits.

No amount of human ingenuity will circumvent that policy. What or where the limits are may be open to debate. The fact that ultimate limits exist is not.

There is a short answer of how to build the foundation of a strategy for avoiding the certainty of an uncontrolled and probably catastrophically unstable future. It is in two steps.

Step 1: Achieve zero population growth.

Step 2: Achieve zero consumption growth by managing a steady state economy.

The longer answer is that a) both of these steps have to be achieved in a sensible fashion; and b) while achieving both of these would be heading in the right direction, (which is not what is happening at the moment), it might not be sufficient for an indefinitely stable future. We might still be going out the door backwards. In all likelihood there would need to be a third step.

Step 3: Manage consumption patterns and population down to a level which it is certain the earth can sustain essentially indefinitely.

So, that's it in a nutshell. There is no suggestion that the above steps will actually solve global environmental problems, rather that they are the critical ingredients without which any strategy is doomed to failure in the long run.

In closing: There is nothing new in this line of thinking; it has been around for a long time. What is presented on this site is only the basics, introductory 101-level concepts -- a good place to start.