Thursday, 7.27pm
Sheffield, U.K.
If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading. – Lao Tzu
I am, by nature, quite frugal. I am also, by training, not very materialistic. This is a good and a bad thing.
I remember reading a comment written a few hundred years ago by a colonist in India that talked of the danger of buying into the ascetic mindset that is part of that country’s history. It leads to a passive acceptance of the present, the writer railed, and it is through consumption and the purchase of goods that the economy is lifted and growth happens.
This, I fear, happens to be true.
The wealthiest countries are the ones that have the most trade, where money changes hands and people create products and services in exchange for money. People who don’t need or don’t want many products and services are like grit in the machine, slowing down the engine of commerce and wealth creation.
At the same time the amount of resources we process to meet the needs of those who do want those products and services keeps growing. As people become wealthier, they consumer more resources.
One solution I see out there is called degrowth. I don’t know the details, but I know I like the idea. If I were a betting person, however, I would not bet on it becoming reality.
Why is that?
Because. People.
What happens when a population stops developing? Stops changing?
It stagnates. Isolated tribes may have complex social structures, beautiful ceremonies, stories passed down through generations, and have lived in peace on the land for centuries.
It still doesn’t stop powerful modern tribes with modern weapons taking over their land and driving them out.
I find it hard to imagine a peaceful Earth where all the people live together in peace and security.
I find it much easier to imagine a constant state of tension, where power is a constant threat, and being prepared with balancing power is the only way to ensure one’s security.
And to be prepared you need resources. To gain resources you need money. And to get money you need to have individual productive capability harnessed in a group economy. A society of monks can function very well. Until a Henry VIII comes along.
Society needs people who care about stuff and want stuff to move the economic machine every day. Society also needs people who build the systems that make that stuff. Society also needs people who think about how to make that system better, and move to products that meet people’s needs while reducing the impact they have on the environment through better and more thoughtful design. Society even needs people who sit on the sidelines and simply enjoy living.
I don’t really know where this train of thought is going. I think we need to make more thoughtful choices about what we do and what we buy. It’s probably sensible to learn how to live with less. Jobs in the future may be hard to come by. And I know what I’m talking about here because my work often ends up creating jobs. 20 years ago, it might have been thirty new jobs. 10 years ago, it was four. Now, well… you don’t really need employees if you’re starting a business. Things are changing fast.
For us, I think asking what is the least we need to do our thing is a useful way to check the value we can add in this changing society.
Cheers,
Karthik Suresh
Handcrafted insight 