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Part 1: After Growth

Part 1: After Growth. Analogy: Two birds, one stone The birds are named More and Better Up until now, you could hit More and Better with a single "stone": economic growth In many countries, Better has flown off to another branch

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Part 1: After Growth

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  1. Part 1: After Growth • Analogy: Two birds, one stone • The birds are named More and Better • Up until now, you could hit More and Better with a single "stone": economic growth • In many countries, Better has flown off to another branch • Those of us in developed countries are no longer improving our lives with increased consumption • We must come up with a new "stone" with which to hit Better: economic development

  2. Part 1: After Growth The median wage of US citizens is essentially the same as it was thirty years ago. Similar trends have been observed globally. This begs the question: Is the system working?

  3. Part 1: After Growth • Important paper: "Are We Consuming Too Much?" (Kenneth et al. 2004) • Conclusion was YES • Does consumption even make us happy? • Money buys happiness up to around $10,000 (Diener et al. 2004) • After that, correlation disappears • So, what do we do instead?

  4. Part 2: The Year of Eating Locally • Agrobusiness has taken over • High-input system • Health and safety hazards for both humans and animals • Run on fossil fuels • Major consolidation has taken place • Nabisco owns so many subsidiaries that it collects almost 10 cents on every dollar that Americans spend on food • This consolidation has taken place in the name of efficiency • Are high-input monoculture farms sustainable?

  5. Part 2: The Year of Eating Locally Small agricultural operations produce more food per acre, measured in tons, calories, and dollars. Use land, fossil fuels, pesticides, and water more efficiently. Called "Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Added benefit of reuniting communities, which really does make us happier. However, it is much more labor-intensive

  6. Part 2: The Year of Eating Locally • Recommendations include • More farmers' markets • Shift small percentage of federal farm subsidies away from corporate firms • Perhaps even shifting some subsidies towards small-scale farms • Pursuing technological advances that make organic farming easier and more profitable • Regain our relationship with food by learning how to eat and prepare seasonal foods • Our food will likely be more expensive, but the benefit gained from that is a sustainable lifestyle and better tasting food

  7. Part 3: All for One, or One for All • One result of economic expansion has been the expansion of the individual identity • Example: Suburbs • This has lead to an aversion to the idea of community, as well as the programs that support it • Parks • Welfare and other transfer payments • Public education • Voter turnout has decreased • Fewer people feel responsible for national community • Great for neoclassical economists, because it fits the model of selfishness better

  8. Part 3: All for One, or One for All Ideological shift towards individualism has given us a framework in which gross inequalities are justified • Wealth and Income • Access to education • Tax burden Unemployment is blamed on the individual, and is not seen as a function of the free-market system Occupy movement has developed in response

  9. Part 3: All for One, or One for All • What's the solution then? • McKibben suggests a switch to local economies • Benefits include • Less demand for resources • Less ecological disruption • Much more stable than large economies • Provide better balance between the individual and community • Greater engagement in political and social hemispheres • People have, on average, ten times as many conversations at a farmers market than they do at a supermarket (Halweil, 2004)

  10. Part 4: The Wealth of Communities • We have lost our sense of community • Each of the previous sections all point in the same direction: A return to the localized society and economy • How can we accomplish this?

  11. Part 4: The Wealth of Communities • Energy • Reduce demand by utilizing efficient technology • Re-design grids to be localized, and to run off of sustainable resources • Only 22% of energy put into the power grid actually reaches its destination as energy that can be utilized • Housing • Allocate less land per person • In the suburbs, there are around two people per acre of land • Suite-style living arrangements with shared kitchens and bathrooms • Same principle of sharing within a community can be applied to any commodity

  12. Part 4: The Wealth of Communities • Currency • A community currency incentivizes purchase of everyday items from community • This currency exists in concert with national currency that can be used for items that can't be purchased locally • Internet • Maintain access to it, so that ideas can be exchanged and circulated between different communities • Education • Localized education often means a better quality education • Less likely that students will get lost in the crowd • Educators care more because students are future of community

  13. Part 5: The Durable Future

  14. Part 5: The Durable Future • It isn't realistic to believe that we can consume at current levels in the future, given population increase • If the same percentage of the Chinese population drove cars as Americans do, they would use all of the global daily oil output, plus fifteen million barrels per day • It also isn't realistic to think that developing nations will develop very far in current economic system • China is big enough to produce most of the durable goods that the world buys right now

  15. Part 5: The Durable Future • The neoclassical model doesn't work for those on the bottom end of the economic food chain • Governments that base decisions on neoclassical theory tend to not last long in developing countries • It's therefore clear that many want to move away from the neoclassical model, that is so willing to sacrifice the wellbeing of individuals in the name of GNP • US exports culture, so our culture must change in order for other cultures to change

  16. Part 5: The Durable Future "It's extremely hard to imagine a world substantially different from the one we know. But our current economies are changing the physical world in horrifying ways. It's our greatest challenge-the only real question of our time- to see whether we can transform those economies enough to prevent some damage and to help us cope with what we can't prevent. To see if we can manage to mobilize the wealth of our communities to make the transition tolerable, even sweet, instead of tragic." -Bill McKibben

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