Post Growth
Life after Capitalism
Tim Jackson
Having read it
★★★★★
Absolutely brilliant; well-observed, well-researched and balanced extremely elegantly with philosophical views that pleasingly made my own thoughts about the subject(s) relevant, sensible and logical.
Given the state of our world and its capitalist system(s) at play we do need genuine change and it is surprisingly simple and will be massively beneficial to all on planet Earth.
A passage from the book to end my review...
[...] the more materialistic we are, the greater our tendency to avoid undesirables; and this in turn undermines the strength of mind needed to develop our ability to experience flow. By shunning pain, avoiding distress, denying suffering, it seems, we are destroying our own capacity to achieve one of the most fulfilling states of human existence. By being prepared to face the darkness, on the other hand, we free our minds to experience our highest potential.
A good passage
We are trapped in an iron cage of consumerism. But the cage is of our own making. We are locked in the myth of growth. But the key was forged in our own minds. There are physical, material limits to our existence. But there is a creativity in our souls that can free us to live meaningfully and thrive together. These were the principal insights that have emerged for me, through endless conversation with my intellectual guides. For different readers, something different may emerge. If it does, I will consider my assignment a success.
A second good passage
Sometimes, belatedly noting our own need for physical activity, we will drive to the gym, sign up to exercise classes, train for marathons, just to retrieve that sense of physical wellbeing that comes from an active physical life. And we will do all this while barely noticing that we live in a society where physical labour is denigrated as unpleasant, unnecessary and unrewarding. Our default program is to delegate as much of this work as we can to people who are demoted to the lowest ranks in society. We are even supposed to think of this freedom from labour as a benefit. Arendt and Morris both identified it as a profound loss.
A third good passage
The privatization of profit and the socialization of costs have been the hallmarks of capitalistic investment from the beginning. Without some shift in this dysfunctional logic, investment’s commitment to the future is irredeemably broken.
[...]
The proper role for investment is to deliver a sense of durability against the impermanence of the natural world. In the hands of capitalism, that role has been perverted. In seeking to enrich the few, it has served to undermine security for everyone.