Growth appears to be the only economic tool that is understood by politicians, whether it is the milli-balls or the con-dems, they all want growth.
But what the growth lobbyists do not take into account is that we live in a finite globe, with finite resources and the possibility that we are approaching the end of history.
Our energy supplies are diminishing rapidly. But the pro growth lobbyists point to fracking as a way of releasing gas from the earths crust in order to convince us, as they have already convinced themselves that we can go on burning our future.
Last night I went to a book group which was looking at the Book: Prosperity Without Growth by Professor Tim Jackson.
It is a challenging thesis which was first aired in a report, also by Professor Jackson and produced by the Sustainable Development Commission, a body which was swept away in the bonfire of the Quango's in the early days of the coalition.
The idea of prosperity without growth is a spiritual idea.
Individuals settling for less as a way of increasing personal well being.
Sharing out work and rewards for work in an attempt to get work and life into some kind of balance.
Investing in technologies that will make for a greener world.
In my own journey from a workaholic to retiree, I can look back and recognise how much better it would have been to spend time with my family as they grew up, how the stuff we acquired has been given away or sold off as we have downsized and how much richer and more fulfilling my life is now.
I am uneasy that my state pension is so generous.
I am uneasy that not all pensioners are as well off as I am, with too many people dependant on pension credit.
I am uneasy that my post retirement income means that I have more than some folk have to raise a family.
And I try to address that in various ways.
I am angry that some 350,000 people are now relying on foodbanks to feed their families.
I am angry that the Government rehearses a narrative which bears no relationship to the lives that people are actually living.
I am angry that the world cannot discover more peaceful ways to settle its differences.
Watching Question Time last night I was surprised at how the Leader of the Green Party seemed to be so angry and how the Leader of UKIP seemed so relaxed and at ease with himself.
Righteous indignation confronted by irenic wrongheadedness.
Global warming is wrong we heard.
Europe is wrong also, of course.
Apparently all the crime in London (or at least most of it) can be laid at the door of immigrants from Europe.
The panel was at odds with itself, angry words were exchanged and voices raised.
Now The Fabian Society has entered the debate by asking whether pensioners should be challenged to bear a greater share of the deficit, embrace austerity and surrender their heating allowances and start paying their National Insurance Contributions.
Some folk are affronted by this. How dare they?
But in reality the public discourse needs to be engaged with by all parts and all parties. It is time for us to hold a calm and measured debate about what kind of society we want to be in the finite world we inhabit. Finite resources are being pillaged with abandon.
We are in Crisis.
But the Chinese word for crisis means both threat and opportunity.
We need to face the threats honestly and grasp the opportunities we have to shape a kinder, gentler more humane society in which human beings can flourish and in which we can share the resources more equitably for our common well-being and the future security of our planet home.
But what the growth lobbyists do not take into account is that we live in a finite globe, with finite resources and the possibility that we are approaching the end of history.
Our energy supplies are diminishing rapidly. But the pro growth lobbyists point to fracking as a way of releasing gas from the earths crust in order to convince us, as they have already convinced themselves that we can go on burning our future.
Last night I went to a book group which was looking at the Book: Prosperity Without Growth by Professor Tim Jackson.
It is a challenging thesis which was first aired in a report, also by Professor Jackson and produced by the Sustainable Development Commission, a body which was swept away in the bonfire of the Quango's in the early days of the coalition.
The idea of prosperity without growth is a spiritual idea.
Individuals settling for less as a way of increasing personal well being.
Sharing out work and rewards for work in an attempt to get work and life into some kind of balance.
Investing in technologies that will make for a greener world.
In my own journey from a workaholic to retiree, I can look back and recognise how much better it would have been to spend time with my family as they grew up, how the stuff we acquired has been given away or sold off as we have downsized and how much richer and more fulfilling my life is now.
I am uneasy that my state pension is so generous.
I am uneasy that not all pensioners are as well off as I am, with too many people dependant on pension credit.
I am uneasy that my post retirement income means that I have more than some folk have to raise a family.
And I try to address that in various ways.
I am angry that some 350,000 people are now relying on foodbanks to feed their families.
I am angry that the Government rehearses a narrative which bears no relationship to the lives that people are actually living.
I am angry that the world cannot discover more peaceful ways to settle its differences.
Watching Question Time last night I was surprised at how the Leader of the Green Party seemed to be so angry and how the Leader of UKIP seemed so relaxed and at ease with himself.
Righteous indignation confronted by irenic wrongheadedness.
Global warming is wrong we heard.
Europe is wrong also, of course.
Apparently all the crime in London (or at least most of it) can be laid at the door of immigrants from Europe.
The panel was at odds with itself, angry words were exchanged and voices raised.
Now The Fabian Society has entered the debate by asking whether pensioners should be challenged to bear a greater share of the deficit, embrace austerity and surrender their heating allowances and start paying their National Insurance Contributions.
Some folk are affronted by this. How dare they?
But in reality the public discourse needs to be engaged with by all parts and all parties. It is time for us to hold a calm and measured debate about what kind of society we want to be in the finite world we inhabit. Finite resources are being pillaged with abandon.
We are in Crisis.
But the Chinese word for crisis means both threat and opportunity.
We need to face the threats honestly and grasp the opportunities we have to shape a kinder, gentler more humane society in which human beings can flourish and in which we can share the resources more equitably for our common well-being and the future security of our planet home.
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