Politics Archives – Page 6 of 7 – Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy

Population and the Outbreak of Peace

February 26, 2020/3 Comments/in Biodiversity, Consumption, Corruption, Governance, Politics, Poverty, Religion, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald /by Brian Czech

By Max Kummerow

Adelyne More’s 1917 feminist pamphlet Fecundity and Civilization stated flatly that population stabilization “is the most effective way of ensuring the cessation of war.”[1] All species’ potential rates of reproduction enable exponential population growth. Population numbers are kept within environmental capacity by rising mortality as populations increase. Ecologists call this process “density-dependent mortality.” Many “group-selected” social species fight territorial wars as populations grow, such as chimpanzees,

Existential Dread: We Need to Talk About our Feelings

February 12, 2020/1 Comment/in Biodiversity, Climate Change, Consumption, Economic Policy, Environment, Politics, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability /by Brian Czech

By James Magnus-Johnston

Just as the smoke disperses from fire-ravaged parts of the world, the specter of ecological breakdown is creeping into humanity’s collective psyche. Whether that manifests as a bit of anxiety or full-on dread of mass extinction, we need to start talking about our feelings. If we don’t, we may avoid rather than confront the reforms needed for the planet to continue supporting life.

As a university instructor in Canada,

Keep Our Counties Great – Safe, Scenic, and Sustaining

July 18, 2019/3 Comments/in Brian Czech, Consumption, Economic Policy, Money and Investments, Politics, Population, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability /by Brian Czech

By Brian Czech

When you look out your window, do you like what you see? Would you like to keep it that way? Are you afraid the forces of growth will deface, degrade, or “develop” your favorite places? Then Keep Our Counties Great is the campaign for you! This county-level initiative has long been pondered at CASSE, and it’s time to act. This does not mean we’re forgetting about the nation as the focal point of fiscal and monetary policy. Nor are we dropping our obligations and interests in international diplomacy. Rather, Keep Our Counties Great will have synergistic effects, especially with our long-term legislative project.

“Be Very Alarmed!” Introducing the Global GDP Meter

June 27, 2019/5 Comments/in Brian Czech, Consumption, Corporate Reform, Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Endangered Species, Energy, Environment, Food and Agriculture, Governance, Inflation, Jobs and Employment, Politics, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability /by Brian Czech

by Brian Czech

Backed by an ominous sound clip and a rapidly churning GDP meter that comes out of nowhere, “Be alarmed… Be very alarmed!” are the opening phrases at CASSE’s new landing page. You’ll see what we mean shortly; please allow us an introduction to describe this new approach.

The landing page is actually a 30-second animation prefacing our “regular” website. It is designed to be three things:

Alarming
Crystal clear
Distinctive and memorable

Why Sound the Alarm?

The Green New Deal: What’s Really Green and What’s Really New

February 14, 2019/11 Comments/in Climate Change, Consumption, Corporate Reform, Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Environment, Food and Agriculture, Politics, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability /by Brian Czech

by Brian Czech

Ask Americans what the Green New Deal is all about, and you’ll get two basic answers. Most often you’ll hear, “It’s about moving to renewable energy in order to fight climate change.” You’ll also hear, from a camp further right, “It’s all about socialism!”

Either way, the really green, really new feature is overlooked. What the Green New Deal is really about is the transition to a steady state economy.

An Act of Congress for the Steady-State Timeline

September 5, 2018/6 Comments/in Brian Czech, Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Governance, Politics, Steady State Herald /by Brian Czech

By Brian Czech

Some years down the road—probably decades—we’ll pass the Full and Sustainable Employment Act, calling for a steady state economy in the USA. This is our vision at CASSE. When that day comes, scholars and commentators will construct a timeline demarcating the major steps along the way. On that timeline, August 28, 2018 will be duly noted. This was the day when the Measuring Real Income Growth Act, “MRIGA,” was introduced in the U.S. Senate by Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM).

Unfurling the Banner at the Steady State Herald

April 29, 2018/0 Comments/in Brian Czech, Economic Growth, Environment, Herman Daly, Politics, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald /by Brian Czech

~Steady State Herald Premiere~

By Brian Czech

It’s been quite a run with our CASSE blog, the Daly News. Regular readers will recall a consistent weekly column from March 2010 through late 2015. Then for a couple years it was hit-or-miss, for reasons already explained (in a Daly News entry, naturally.) Now we’re back to blogging regularly under a new banner: the Steady State Herald!

Democrats, Donald Trump, and the Dark Underbelly of Economic Growth

January 30, 2018/2 Comments/in Brian Czech, Economic Growth, Environment, Politics, The Daly News /by Brian Czech

by Brian Czech

Democrats are stunned by Donald Trump’s lack of culpability for racist rhetoric, Twitter tantrums, and international insults. They shouldn’t be. They’re the party of “It’s the Economy Stupid.” They should know that if a president inspires a bull market, creates a few jobs, and grows the GDP, he can “stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody” without losing voters.

Elected Dems can’t hold Trump accountable because they can’t break their own addiction to growth.

Nature Needs Half – And Twice the Steady Statesmanship

January 8, 2018/3 Comments/in Biodiversity, Brian Czech, Environment, Politics, Steady State Economy, The Daly News /by Brian Czech

by Brian Czech

WE NEED NATURE.

NATURE NEEDS HALF.

ERGO, WE NEED NATURE TO GET HALF.

Half of what? The planet. That’s the essence of E.O. Wilson’s latest – and greatest – project.

Why does nature need half the planet? To maintain a highly functional system of plants, animals, and their habitats. And we need such a functional ecosystem to support our own species.

War and Peace and the Steady State Economy

April 29, 2015/7 Comments/in Consumption, Economic Growth, Governance, Politics, Religion, Steady State Economy, The Daly News /by Brian Czech

Herman Daly discusses the natural alliances between peacemakers and steady staters, and between the growth economy and warfare.