Why “an end to growth”? 3 explanations: 1. Physics 2. History 3. Economics
“We have been far too uncritical in our celebration of everything global and cosmopolitan, and in our corresponding denigration of everything national and local... � (Herman Daly, Beyond Growth, p.143)
“What happens if a satiated society becomes once again stabilized, unmobile?... though there is no reason to suppose that all possible technical innovations will one day be exhausted, there is reason to suppose that beyond a certain point further technical innovations may cease to have any significant further impact on social structure and society generally, on the analogy of a man who, beyond a certain point of wealth, can no longer in any way alter his life-style in response to further enrichment… much of our argument did hinge on the implications of continuing commitment to global economic growth, and hence to innovation and occupational change; it also pre-supposed the persistence of a society based on the promise of affluence and on generalized Danegeld. These assumptions, though valid now, cannot be expected to remain so indefinitely... Our culturally homogeneous, mobile and, in its middle strata, fairly unstructured society may well not last forever, even if we disregard the possibility of cataclysms; and when this kind of society no longer prevails, then what we have presented as the social bases of nationalism will be profoundly modified...” “the age of wealth-saturation for mankind at large still seems fairly distant, and so the issue does not affect us too urgently at present… that is not something which will be visible in our lifetimes.” (Ernest Gellner, Nations and Nationalism, 1983:113)
scripture
King
God legitimacy
Lords
The State
Government
?
stability
Ascriptive Stations
nobility Priests
Agrarian Distribution Economy
(clerisy)
Myth / history
Industrial Growth Economy
Democracy equality anarchy
Social Mobility
The People Mass education
Culture
Language
scripture
King
God
(or president)
superstition
Lords
The State
Government
Priests
Ascriptive Stations Agrarian Distribution Economy
nobility
legitimacy
Myth / history
Democracy
Industrial Growth Economy
equality
The Nation Social Mobility
stability
Mass education Culture Language
God
King
The State
Myth / history Ruling class
Ascriptive Stations
Government High culture Arbitrary racial hierarchy
Education
Language
Futuristic Steady-State Economy Industrial Growth Economy
Mass Culture
Social Mobility
Serving class equality
Mass education Democracy