39:58 “Won’t that lead to unemployment? Clearly if it does this is politically untenable. Nobody would agree to such a future. It would immiserate people. Fortunately, ecological economists have for several decades proposed a very simple solution. As the economy requires less labor we can shorten the working week and share necessary work more evenly, taking the gains in the form of free time to spend with our loved ones and our communities, and engaging in the important work of learning, caring, maintenance, and regeneration. And the good news is that we know that shorter working hours deliver big improvements in well-being, in health, and in gender equality, while at the same time dramatically reducing emissions. It’s really a win, win, win policy. It also happens to be resoundingly popular virtually everywhere it’s polled, even in conservative states in the U.S. Shortening the working week is crucial." ~Jason Hickel
Living n the US I feel very discouraged. Consumption is rampant. At this point it is crazy to allow production and use of private yachts and planes and huge homes. To my knowledge there is no effort by any country to limit gross personal excess. Most liberal middle class people are oblivious, or don't care, otherwise why travel with abandon, personally and professionally, and live in bigger and bigger homes. Corporations will feed the excess as Jason Hickel outlines, and governments will drag their feet. The average person will never be clued in to degrowth. Hopeless....
true, any mention of degrowth will be highly marginalized by a public and elite so indoctrinated by neoliberalism, consumption, welfare retrenchment, etc. the change will not happen peacefully
...we may yet organize *or default to) a coalition of wisdom to create a holistic, healthy narrative/language? Everything rests on the rejection of fear and violence to allow appreciative wonderment and care. Generating hormones of harmony!
I don't know. We should try general strikes and consumer strikes. Maybe if enough of us in the global north stop buying anything we don't absolutely need, we can bring the economic system under control.
The way to bring capitalism down is three-fold. 1: personal disobedience (refuse to comply with workplace exploitation), 2: personal behavior adjustment (switch to frugal lifestyle) and 3: join social and political activism, resistance. We have to do all 3 strategies, all of us, or else it won't work. I make videos about this. Subscribe to my channel for details.
Growth and desires to be different are part of human nature. If there is no desire to grow that will be the end of humanity too. How do we decide who are that selfless group of "leaders" to decide degrowth ? Are their lives going to be equal with the rest and how do we verify that ? Are the enlightened degrowth leaders eat the same food and live in the same type of houses the average people live ? People typically don't desire the same things everyone else has. I agree being wasteful and overindulgence are not good but we don't need some degrowth nanny police to enforce or lecture us on that. I believe we shouldn't afraid of growth as the universe is limitless. We should be very afraid of people who think they know better and try to control our growth.
39:58 “Won’t that lead to unemployment? Clearly if it does this is politically untenable. Nobody would agree to such a future. It would immiserate people.
Fortunately, ecological economists have for several decades proposed a very simple solution. As the economy requires less labor we can shorten the working week and share necessary work more evenly, taking the gains in the form of free time to spend with our loved ones and our communities, and engaging in the important work of learning, caring, maintenance, and regeneration.
And the good news is that we know that shorter working hours deliver big improvements in well-being, in health, and in gender equality, while at the same time dramatically reducing emissions. It’s really a win, win, win policy.
It also happens to be resoundingly popular virtually everywhere it’s polled, even in conservative states in the U.S. Shortening the working week is crucial."
~Jason Hickel
Couldn’t agree more. Thanks for the time stamping/quoting-it truly is a service.
Living n the US I feel very discouraged. Consumption is rampant. At this point it is crazy to allow production and use of private yachts and planes and huge homes. To my knowledge there is no effort by any country to limit gross personal excess. Most liberal middle class people are oblivious, or don't care, otherwise why travel with abandon, personally and professionally, and live in bigger and bigger homes. Corporations will feed the excess as Jason Hickel outlines, and governments will drag their feet. The average person will never be clued in to degrowth. Hopeless....
true, any mention of degrowth will be highly marginalized by a public and elite so indoctrinated by neoliberalism, consumption, welfare retrenchment, etc. the change will not happen peacefully
...we may yet organize *or default to) a coalition of wisdom to create a holistic, healthy narrative/language? Everything rests on the rejection of fear and violence to allow appreciative wonderment and care. Generating hormones of harmony!
Excellent talk by Jason... But how do we bring capitalism down?
I don't know. We should try general strikes and consumer strikes. Maybe if enough of us in the global north stop buying anything we don't absolutely need, we can bring the economic system under control.
@@scottharding4336 classical non-violent civil resistance. Blocking infrastructure and roads until we see meaningful legislative change.
The way to bring capitalism down is three-fold. 1: personal disobedience (refuse to comply with workplace exploitation), 2: personal behavior adjustment (switch to frugal lifestyle) and 3: join social and political activism, resistance. We have to do all 3 strategies, all of us, or else it won't work. I make videos about this. Subscribe to my channel for details.
do you guys have any other inspiration to suggest like jason ? i would be really happy;)
What about middle east to west?
1:26:08 Slavoj Zizek exclaims similarly, _“I would sell my mother into slavery to see V for Vendetta part 2.”_
Growth and desires to be different are part of human nature. If there is no desire to grow that will be the end of humanity too. How do we decide who are that selfless group of "leaders" to decide degrowth ? Are their lives going to be equal with the rest and how do we verify that ? Are the enlightened degrowth leaders eat the same food and live in the same type of houses the average people live ? People typically don't desire the same things everyone else has.
I agree being wasteful and overindulgence are not good but we don't need some degrowth nanny police to enforce or lecture us on that.
I believe we shouldn't afraid of growth as the universe is limitless. We should be very afraid of people who think they know better and try to control our growth.
Did you watch the video? Do you think poverty should exist?