Over a decade ago, a chorus of voices called for sensible policy priorities for a post-growth transition; it took a pandemic for a few of these priorities—like a universal basic income—to become a reality nearly overnight. Not that recent policy reforms have been conducted with a steady state economy in mind. Rather, politicians have been attempting to “stimulate” a moribund economy.
Let’s imagine for a moment,
If you’ve been on the internet recently you’ve been exposed to Tiger King, the wildly popular Netflix series that revolves around the conflict among a bizarre set of humans feuding over the proper way to hold big cats in captivity. Watching the show is a bit like watching a train derail in slow motion, but for our purposes what is important is that it illustrates the discrepancy between the way the world is and the way the world ought to be.
If want to feel hopeful about solving the world’s most profound environmental and social problems, you can look to the wisdom of “enough.”
In his foreword to the book, Enough Is Enough, Herman Daly contemplates the role of sufficiency in obtaining “the good life.”
Breaking the cycle of growth is the way to establish some much-needed breathing room in the economy.
The Daly News, named in honor of Herman Daly, launches on March first.