- Joined
- Dec 30, 2010
- Messages
- 12,730
- Points
- 113
Tim Jackson states the challenge starkly: "Questioning growth is deemed to be the act of lunatics, idealists and revolutionaries. But question it we must." And that is the core mission of this perfectly timed book. Had he published it before the financial crisis, he would probably have been dismissed as another green idealist, at best. But in the wake of the crisis, more people are questioning the primacy of growth at all costs.
in the wake of the crisis, more people are questioning the primacy of growth at all costs. President Sarkozy, the Nobel-prizewinning economist Joseph Stiglitz and elements of the Financial Times's commentariat are among those now arguing that prosperity is possible without GNP growth, and indeed that prosperity will soon become impossible because of GNP growth. A new movement seems to be emerging, and this superbly written book should be the first stop for anyone wanting a manifesto.
The last chapter of the book looks at opportunities for achieving "a lasting prosperity". They are many and varied, and most of them – unsurprisingly – start from the grassroots. High on the list is the need for us all to consume less "stuff" and to seek a type of prosperity outside the conventional trappings of affluence: within relationships, family, community and the meaning of our lives and vocations in a functional society that places value on the future.
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jan/23/properity-without-growth-tim-jackson
in the wake of the crisis, more people are questioning the primacy of growth at all costs. President Sarkozy, the Nobel-prizewinning economist Joseph Stiglitz and elements of the Financial Times's commentariat are among those now arguing that prosperity is possible without GNP growth, and indeed that prosperity will soon become impossible because of GNP growth. A new movement seems to be emerging, and this superbly written book should be the first stop for anyone wanting a manifesto.
The last chapter of the book looks at opportunities for achieving "a lasting prosperity". They are many and varied, and most of them – unsurprisingly – start from the grassroots. High on the list is the need for us all to consume less "stuff" and to seek a type of prosperity outside the conventional trappings of affluence: within relationships, family, community and the meaning of our lives and vocations in a functional society that places value on the future.
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jan/23/properity-without-growth-tim-jackson
