Most of the developed countries are racking their brains out on how to resolve damaging climate change without lowering economic growth.  The big boys in town want of course our economies to keep growing with an ever increasing supply of energy for ever increasing goodies by an ever increasing number of people. The engine of materialism has to be kept oiled even if it is killing us.

Economic frugality is the bane of western capitalism with economies that rely on growth rather than shrinkage, always pretending as if none of us live in a finite world.  We hear murmurings of renewable energy, responsible emission targets for the future, but precious little on lowering our energy use, lowering our consumption, lowering the world’s obsession with economic growth. Yet, this seems to be far more logical.

Generally, if you are crook you take it easy. Not, it seems, with an economy though. You ramp it up, give it a couple of fiscal shots and hope it will all pan out. In the meantime the world is getting hotter, but so what; much of it is all a bit temporary anyway.

How capable are western countries in living frugally, or, more importantly, how will the population take to reducing energy consumption, reducing water, reduce our large houses, car size, income, standards of living, reduce spending?  Some will argue that to save the world ecology we need to reign in economic growth and perhaps, if not voluntary, the ‘economic shrinkage’ will force itself on us, almost as part of a natural selection and survival of the fittest.

While there are many claiming that they have missed out on the fortunes of ever increasing material wellbeing, there are also many that have more than benefitted from wealth. In blatant terminal material societies such as ours and most other OECD’s, there are indeed many having missed out and live miserable lives while others are floating on a warm sea of obscene wealth.

We can’t hide behind the fact that we, per capita, are the world’s largest polluters. The gall to point at countries such as India and China as being the worst is a mean trick conjured up by fat moguls, belching from riches and internal dollar bloat.

 The times ahead will be most interesting if not very hard for many people. The idea of forever increasing growth and ever increasing profits and wealth might be of the past.  Sustainability and environmental concerns will have to override economies that have become obsolete on ‘growth ideology’ while remaining blind to the world’s survival… A far more equitable sharing of the pie to others must come about. Time is running out and no way will the capitalistic methods of the survival of the richest and most cunning solve a world close to a climatic death throe. The cult of individual effort and winner take all, ought to get much more scrutiny.

In the meantime the world is getting hotter.