Politics Archives – Page 2 of 7 – Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy

A “Final Warning” on Climate

March 30, 2023/6 Comments/in Climate Change, Corporate Reform, Corruption, Environment, Gary Gardner, Politics, Steady State Herald /by Gary Gardner

by Gary Gardner

Last week the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued what Greenpeace International called the “final warning” in the global effort to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7° Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels. After three decades of increasingly insistent wake-up calls, the Panel laid out the sobering reality: Meeting the temperature goal set by the global community in 2015 is impossible without an immediate response, “a quantum leap in climate action,” in the words of United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

COP15: The Good, the Bad, and the Smugly

January 19, 2023/5 Comments/in Animal Welfare, Biodiversity, Brian Czech, Climate Change, Economic Policy, Environment, Politics, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald /by Brian Czech

by Brian Czech

On a scale of one to ten, COP15—the UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal last month—was a solid five. That may not sound like a ringing endorsement, but it represents significant progress from prior COPs, which dabbled along in the one or two range for the better part of three decades. The progress was evident from the start, when UN Secretary General António Guterres kicked off the conference by noting,

Ending Planned Obsolescence: A Nonpartisan Movement for Steady Staters to Support

December 21, 2022/9 Comments/in Politics, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability, Technology /by Brian Czech

by Rosalie Bull

“Planned obsolescence” has become a household term for 21st century Americans. No wonder, considering that most household appliances today have been designed in accordance with the practice. Now more than ever, things just aren’t made like they used to be. In fact, they’re made to fail—often within a fraction of their potential lifespans—in order to spur more consumption.

What have we here

Three Senate Races for Steady Staters to Monitor

October 27, 2022/0 Comments/in Brian Czech, Economic Policy, Politics, Steady State Herald /by Brian Czech

by Brian Czech

Election Day is almost upon us. Along with the 435 House seats are thirty-five seats for grabs in the Senate. Our focus here is on the Senate races, given their high-profile candidates, substantial policy stakes, and excellent examples of growthmanship gone amuck (literally, in some agricultural cases).

Candidates fall along a spectrum—theoretically at least—from a degrowth to a pro-growth stance. It’s a “theoretical” spectrum because, at this point in the history of the USA,

Conservatives and the Steady State Economy: A Natural Fit

September 22, 2022/19 Comments/in Brian Czech, Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Politics, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald /by Brian Czech

by Brian Czech

If you call yourself a “conservative” these days, what does that tell us? Or, what is it supposed to tell us? Does it mean you’re a Republican, a Tory, or a member of the largest party in the democratic world, the Bharatiya Janata Party? Must you be a particular brand of partisan—maybe a MAGA Republican or a Modi भक्त—to wear the conservative hat?

What about your faith?

Emerging Signs of Grassroots Resistance to Growth

September 15, 2022/10 Comments/in Degrowth, Environment, Politics, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald /by Brian Czech

by Christy Shaw

There seem to be encouraging signs that more and more average Americans are speaking out and taking action to oppose uncontrolled growth. Concerned citizens are sounding the alarm that too much growth is doing far more harm than good in their towns, cities and communities.

While there does not yet appear to be a coordinated nationwide coalition of activism, there are definitely increasing signs of grassroots efforts to push back against the all-too common,

A Steady-State Approach to Immigration

September 8, 2022/22 Comments/in Brian Czech, Politics, Population, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald /by Brian Czech

by Brian Czech

Steady staters live with the reality that economic growth is unsustainable. It can continue for only so long before Nature will no longer support it. Therefore, we call for stabilization—the steady state economy—rather than growth. In particular, population and per capita consumption must be stabilized. Of the two, population is the most fundamental aspect of stabilizing the economy and its ecological footprint.

The population of a country is determined by births,

Prospects for 负增长 Toward a Steady State Economy in China

September 1, 2022/10 Comments/in Climate Change, Degrowth, Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Environment, Governance, Politics, Poverty, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability /by Brian Czech

by Yiran Cheng

China, as the world’s second-largest economy and a rising superpower, is an integral part of the discussion if a steady state economy is ever to be achieved at a global scale. China’s environmental impact grows by the day, yet serious consideration about intentionally slowing economic growth has seldom occurred, let alone the possibility of a sustained 负增长, the Mandarin translation of “degrowth”.

This is not to say China is oblivious to its environmental toll.

West Virginia v. EPA: A Setback for the Steady State Economy

July 14, 2022/8 Comments/in Climate Change, Corruption, Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Energy, Environment, Governance, Politics, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability /by Brian Czech

by Sydney Lyman

Throughout the month of June, many Americans frantically refreshed the Supreme Court’s website each morning, as immensely important cases appeared on the docket in rapid succession. It turned out to be a disorienting month. The freedom to get an abortion was stripped from 40 million people of reproductive age, gun control efforts were stymied, and the separation of church and state in public schools was weakened.

The NRA’s Kuznets Curve: Deadliest Mind Game on Earth?

June 9, 2022/5 Comments/in Brian Czech, Governance, Politics, Steady State Herald /by Brian Czech

by Brian Czech

Herald readers were reminded last week of a concept called the “Kuznets curve,” named after the late Simon Kuznets (1901-1985) for his analysis of the distribution of wealth. Kuznets (rhymes with “whose nets”) found, more or less, that the maldistribution of wealth had worsened in the decades preceding the 1920s, and lessened afterward. He famously linked both trends to economic growth, noting different effects of growth before and after the 20s.