Christie C. “All living organisms grow. But in nature there is a self-limiting logic to growth: organisms grow to a point of maturity, and then maintain a state of healthy equilibrium. When growth fails to stop – when cells keep replicating just for the sake of it – it’s because of a coding error, like what happens with cancer. This kind of growth quickly becomes deadly.” — Jason Hickel
Less Is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World
Unfortunately, a lot of news segments get circulated through my online algorithms. Much of it reminds me everyday about how the ecological collapse is here, how coral bleaching is occurring at record rates, how insects are dying exponentially…. The ongoing bombardment of existential crises is enough to plunge one into hopelessness. The news is paralyzing, alarming, and real. Oftentimes, my hope is hanging on by the skin of my teeth.
Then, I read Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World by economic anthropologist Jason Hickel as a way to understand how capitalism is the reason for our decimated climate.
Less Is More is a powerful book that argues that the pursuit of endless economic growth is the driving force of our ecological collapse and worsening global inequality. He challenges the general consensus that GDP growth is inherently good and necessary, despite its obvious path to overconsumption, environmental destruction, and resource depletion.
Post Capitalism
The book discusses the concept of degrowth—an intentional reduction of unnecessary economic activity that is balanced with our planet’s resource limitations. Hickel argues that degrowth is not about depriving ourselves, but rather shifting our focus to sustainability:
- Reducing wasteful production (like fast fashion or planned obsolescence)
- Shortening the workweek
- Distributing income and wealth more fairly
- Investing in public services and renewable energy
- Valuing well-being and ecological health over profit and consumption.
Less Is More shows us a more hopeful vision for a post-growth world; one where humanity lives in harmony with nature and meets everyone’s needs without destroying planet Earth.
We May Not Have A Choice…
The way things are going, we’re probably not going to have a choice. And, I’m okay with that. This was an enlightening read, and a gentle introduction to a potentially different future.
