Check out Umair Haque and "The Smart Growth Manifesto." He makes great points about the importance of rethinking growth, how we define it, and how we value it. The piece envisions an economy driven by outcomes, connections, people, and creativity.
"Capitalism 2.0 cannot be powered by growth 1.0: that's why the race for smart growth is inevitable. The economic pressure -- the potential for value creation, in a world being ripped apart by value destruction -- is simply too great."
We've been thinking a lot about what Haque calls "Capitalism 2.0," and a number of issues arise:
1. Does Capitalism 2.0 even include capitalism?
2. What does growth mean? Growth of what? Capabilities? Services? Satisfaction?
We are not sure yet, but we are pretty sure that material, energy, and water consumption needs to decrease. Not necessarily because of resource shortage, supply is not the issue, but because the biosphere cannot sustain the waste and pollution produced by our material consumption. Conversely, we are pretty sure that increasing access to services, social goods, and personal satisfaction is desirable.
3. What growth's role in the new economy? How do we promote the above goals without increasing material and energy use?
We are working on how to re-design consumerism and consumption to inspire broader social and environmental change.
Thoughts? Pontifications?
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