Re:Pioneering economist says our obsession with growth must end
by tbskm on Monday July 18, 2022 @07:54PM
(#32145693)
Is America not already there? Living in the southeast I literally see people in Home Depot buying garden tools wearing Proud Boys shirts. Every week brings a new mass shooting, several states equate the abortion of a 10-year-old rape victim with homicide, and the Texas GOP is now officially trying to abolish the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Yet America is one of the most rabidly pro-growth nations in the world.
Elon Musk is a billionaire, who cares about his opinion on anything but making money? There are academic fields full of people who investigate the myriad problems of American (and, more generally, capitalist) societies. To ignore them all simply because you think entrepreneurs are “punk rock” is entirely unscientific. Of course Elon wants growth, his entire life is dedicated to it and he serves to gain the most if it occurs, regardless of its consequences for everyone else.
Re:Pioneering economist says our obsession with growth must end
by dang on Monday July 18, 2022 @07:04PM
(#32145259)
> Wrong, wrong, wrong.
Can you please edit swipes like that out of your HN comments? They degrade discussion, break the site guidelines, and aren't needed. Your comment would be fine without that bit.
Once growth ends, the pie isn't growing. Pie not growing means the focus becomes dividing the pie. Dividing the pie means endless infighting, politics, and anger in a society. This may work in certain societies, but it will never work in America.
Second, a growth-oriented society will naturally outgrow and overtake a non-growth oriented society, by definition. Societies choosing low growth will fall to the side.
Third, you need an outlet for people in society who are entrepreneurial. Steve Jobs starting Apple is the exact same mindset as a punk kid spraying grafitti on a billboard. It's just a different implementation ambition and rule breaking. If you impose a non-growth mindset on society, what will all the glorified "crazy ones" [1] do? Nothing good.
The answer, of course, is space exploration. Elon Musk has talked about this in detail many times: https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1544720926020968453
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-z4NS2zdrZc