A Steady State Economy Over Endless Economic Growth

About this episode

The episode critiques the myth of endless economic growth and explores the implications of a steady state economy.

Endless economic growth is one of the great pieces of modern mythology. It stands shoulder to shoulder with the divine right of scumbag egomaniacal kings. It is a story we tell ourselves, and like all powerful stories, it shapes the architecture of our civilization. But let us slow down and look at it carefully. The idea of endless economic growth rests on a very peculiar assumption: that a finite planet can sustain infinite extraction, infinite production, infinite consumption. It is, at its core, a metaphysical claim disguised as an economic one. It says that matter and energy can be reorganized without limit, that the Earth is a kind of bottomless pantry and simultaneously an infinite sewer. These insight sub-episodes are mirrored on our primary YouTube channel which can be found at https://www.youtube.com/@NilesHeckman/videos

People in this episode

Host: Niles Heckman

Topics covered

• economic growth
• steady state economy
• sustainability
• philosophy
• society

Keywords

• endless economic growth
• steady state economy
• sustainability
• finite planet
• metaphysical claim

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