9: What We’re Doing Isn’t Working – It’s Time for a New Approach

If things were going well, there’d be no reason to question our current system that puts so much faith in economic growth. But things aren’t going well. Common sense and system dynamics models tell us we cannot grow economic throughput forever. It’s making our world more and more unlivable.An array of evidence suggests continued pursuit of growth will leave our kids a Mad Max future, at best, and very possibly a dead planet. Finance professional Matt Orsagh explains why we need to change our economic paradigm, put human outcomes above economic, and embrace degrowth. He also explains the concept. Matt writes the Substack column, Degrowth is the Answer.Americans, on average, are engaged in 5-planet living. We need to scale back in order to avoid leaving our children a dead planet — instead giving them a bright future. Contracting our economy back to a sustainable level is a major part of Dave Gardner’s agenda as a presidential candidate.MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:Degrowth is the Answer on Substackhttps://degrowthistheanswer.substack.com/ The Economics of Biodiversityhttps://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/dasguptareview Degrowth Resources – recommended by Matt Orsaghhttps://degrowthistheanswer.substack.com/p/degrowth-resources Planetary Boundarieshttps://www.stockholmresilience.org/research/planetary-boundaries.html Doughnut Economics – Kate Raworthhttps://doughnuteconomics.org/ The Speech We Need to Hear from Our Leaders https://degrowthistheanswer.substack.com/p/the-speech-we-need-to-hear-from-our Thanks to Michael Kerbow for permission to use his painting, The Oil Age.https://www.michaelkerbow.com/Follow this podcast for a ringside seat to Dave Gardner’s adventures running for U.S. President. If elected, Dave will declare an ecological overshoot emergency and launch a national project to get the nation out of overshoot. Podcast guests don't necessarily endorse Dave for president. We’ve got a planet to save, and the U.S. should do its part. Learn more, subscribe to campaign updates, volunteer, or donate to the campaign at https://davetheplanet2024.com