Emil Jacobs - Collectifission on Nostr: This false romantic idea is broadly shared within the degrowth scene prevalent among ...

This false romantic idea is broadly shared within the degrowth scene prevalent among the (far) left. It's highly problematic as it actually means that we put a ban on the Global South to develop its material wealth. "A washing machine? Sorry, that's too polluting".

This is never going to be a winning strategy for the left. Not electorally, not in the daily struggle for improvements. The left historically has been a force for uplifting material conditions and aiming for abundance. This is the aim we need to pick up once more.

And I know the retort: "you can't have infinite growth on a finite planet". Let me tell you that this frame has always been wrong. It conflates two different things: 1. capital accumulation, which has mostly been 'virtual' the last few decades. Think hedgefunds and stock markets. 2. material growth measured in more concrete, more steel, more fertilizer... This has mostly happened in the Global South these last 40 years or so, primarily in China which has used more cement in the past 25 years than the US has in the 20th century.

The left has been asking the wrong question by focusing on "living with less", an intellectual tradition that came from the American intelligentia who felt they were living too luxuriously. A case well argued by Matt Huber in his book "Climate change as class war".

The question has always been how we grow our material wealth sustainably. The sooner we realise this, the sooner the left becomes a relevant force once more.