Societies need to introduce much more radical emissions reductions targets than those agreed in Paris if they are to successfully slow the pace of change. Covid-19 makes this possible. By forcing aviation and other transportation businesses to downsize emissions have started to fall. By paying people to stay at home governments have shown that they can support them during a transition. Societies should grasp this unique chance for radical social and economic reform.
Economic growth is not a prerequisite for human development. While economic growth appeared useful following the Second World War, its continued pursuit will result in further environmental destruction and ever-widening inequality. It risks making climate change unstoppable, with dire consequences for humanity and most other species. It is not possible to make a gradual shift to a more sustainable system, as the basic requirements for an enduring economic system are fundamentally different from those that currently exist. To avoid an environmental catastrophe, societies need to deconstruct their economies and radically rethink their purpose.
"We live in an Age of Endarkenment. Our economic, social and political systems have failed us. Modern economics has not done what it promised. It has widened the gap between rich and poor. It has not allocated the world's resources fairly. It has brought the West to the brink of financial ruin. It has valued short-term gain more than long-term progress. It has made us focus on the individual, not society. The social consequences are easy to see. Much of the world is laden with debt. Our planet is being scraped clean of the resources needed by future generations. Science and technology are exploited for profit, not social advancement. The cult of celebrity, rise in global greed and belief that information is knowledge are limiting our imaginations. We are ill-equipped to respond to these challenges. We have been dumbed-down. Our politicians have become self-serving. They play on our fears, monitor us without justification and promote conflicts for their own interests. China's rise will make these problems worse. Without a rethink, we face many unwelcome changes. Poverty will grow. Standards of health will decline. Resource shortages will change our way of life. Tensions between peoples will grow. During the Age of Enlightenment our societies flourished, propelled by the wonder of new discoveries, radical ideas for economic and social development and a sense that we all had a responsibility to improve our world. We need to step back from the Age of Endarkenment. We need to examine our values. We need to work out what humankind really wants. If it is not just about just money and Twitter and Oprah, what is it? In this thought-provoking, lively and entertaining book, Graeme Maxton looks at what brought us to this state and what we can do about it"--Publisher's website
Maxton ist als Ost-Asien-Kenner bekannt und berichtet für Presse und Sendeanstalten - auch für chinesische. Englische Ausgabe: "The End of Progress. How modern Economics has failed us". Damit verdeutlicht Maxton die verantwortungslose Abkehr von den Prinzipien der klassischen Nationalökonomie im Westen und deren globale Folgen, gezeigt an der Krise der USA, Schuldenbergen und Situation einiger Schwellenländer. Ein brisantes Kapitel erklärt die strategischen Investitionen Chinas im Ausland, einen neuen Nationalismus und stellt chinesische und westliche Denkweisen gegenüber. Wichtiges Thema ist die Ausbeutung der Ressourcen. Maxton veranschaulicht besonders die Bedeutung des Öls, beschreibt eine kaum vorstellbare Zukunft mit Ressourcenmangel, was Teuerung und Verknappung in allen Lebensbereichen bedeutet mit der Gefahr der Radikalisierung. Er fordert den Rückbau der westlichen Volkswirtschaften, strenges Sparen bis hin zu universaler Geburtenkontrolle. Eine besonders aufrüttelnde Stimme in der Krisenliteratur gegen die naive Gutgläubigkeit westlicher Konsumenten. Für jeden zugänglich. (2) (Elke Günther)
Society has so far failed to create a sustainable economic system because all conventional attempts to change the current paradigm lead to a short-term decline in the rate economic growth, resulting in higher inequality and unemployment, outcomes which are politically unacceptable. This article shows how to overcome this hurdle, by adopting 13 unconventional policies which reduce unemployment and inequality while cutting greenhouse-gas emissions, regardless of what happens to economic growth, and so allow for a gradual transition to a sustainable system in short-termist societies.
The biggest challenges facing human wellbeing today are widening income inequality, continuing global poverty, and environmental degradation. Luckily, these problems are simple to solve — in theory. In practice, however, they are much harder to solve, because we are required to come up with solutions that are acceptable to a political majority in the rich world. Most of the commonly proposed "solutions" are simply not acceptable to most people. Many of these proposed solutions — like stopping the use of fossil fuels — require a sacrifice today in order to obtain an uncertain advantage in the far future. Therefore they are politically infeasible in the modern world, which is marked by relatively short term thinking. In Reinventing Prosperity, Graeme Maxton and Jorgen Randers provide a new approach altogether through thirteen recommendations which are both politically acceptable and which can be implemented in the current period of slow economic growth around the world. Reinventing Prosperity solves the forty year old growth/no-growth standoff, by providing a solution to income inequality, continuing global poverty and climate change, a solution that will provide for economic growth but with a declining ecological footprint. Reinventing Prosperity shows us how to live better on our finite planet — and in ways we can agree on
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Zwei Grad Erderwärmung würden uns 10 Millionen Jahre, 4 Grad ganze 40 Millionen Jahre in der Klimageschichte zurückwerfen. Dies hätte gravierende Veränderungen zur Folge, die die Existenz der Menschheit und vieler anderer Lebewesen in Frage stellt. Das gesamte Eis auf dem Planeten würde schmelzen. Grosse Teile der Erde wären nicht mehr bewohnbar, Wasser nicht mehr ausreichend vorhanden. Das zu verhindern, ist eine der größten Herausforderungen der Menschheit. Ich glaube aber nicht, dass die Menschen verstehen, wie gross und dringend diese Herausforderung wirklich ist. "Wir stehen am Wendepunkt des 21. Jahrhunderts. Hier entscheidet sich unsere Zukunft. Kein Hollywood-Held wird uns retten. Wir müssen handeln. JETZT! " (Verlagstext)
Nach dem vieldiskutierten Bericht an den Club of Rome von 1972 wurde die Debatte um die Zukunftsaussichten unseres Planeten in mehreren Updates fortgesetzt. An beiden Berichten war der norwegische Zukunftsforscher J. Randers beteiligt während G. Maxton sich in "Die Wachstumslüge" ebenfalls mit den Grundlagen unseres Wirtschaftssystems kritisch auseinandergesetzt hat. Die alles beherrschende Ideologie des Wirtschaftswachstums ist dieser Analyse zufolge für die zunehmende Konzentration des Reichtums, für Armut und Arbeitslosigkeit sowie - besonders gravierend - Klimawandel und Umweltzerstörung verantwortlich. Die neoliberale, marktradikale Ökonomie hat in eine Sackgasse geführt, gegen die von den Autoren neue Perspektiven eingefordert werden, die sie in "13 leicht realisierbaren Massnahmen gegen Arbeitslosigkeit, Ungleichheit und Erderwärmung" vorstellen. Die Debatte - die Vorschläge beziehen sich auf die Industrieländer - muss geführt werden. Gut lesbar. (2)
