Presumably the authors of this study will agree to demonstrate “degrowth” by cutting their own salaries, their departments and their university budgets. They can go first, right?
“We can still satisfy peoples’ needs, maintain employment and reduce inequality with degrowth, which is what distinguishes this pathway from recession,” Mr Keyßer says.
“However, a just, democratic and orderly degrowth transition would involve reducing the gap between the haves and have-nots, with more equitable distribution from affluent nations to nations where human needs are still unmet — something that is yet to be fully explored.”
A ‘degrowth’ society could include:
A shorter working week, resulting in reduced unemployment alongside increasing productivity and stable economic output.
Universal basic services independent of income, for necessities i.e. food, health care, transport.
Limits on maximum income and wealth, enabling a universal basic income to be increased and reducing inequality, rather than increasing inequality as is the current global trend.
Source: Climate Change Modeling of “Degrowth” Scenarios – Reduction in GDP, Energy and Material Use
This sounds a lot like Communism, where technocrats decide for you what you will receive: “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs”.
Certainly, the authors of the study will go first: “degrowing” their own departments, universities and their own income.
