MORE ON THE INAPPROPRIATENESS OF UNCHECKED CONTINUOUS GROWTH
Economic fundamentalism is like any other fundamentalism in that for the fundamentalist there are no options, it must be this (their) way. Fear is the fundamental source of energy that maintains the status quo for fundamentalist, as it does for us all. This fear is kept alive by education systems which are often supported by advertising that links our identity to this fear, this pathology, often appearing as excessive defensive behaviour. Giving up these inappropriate and excessive defensive behaviour patterns is a crucial challenge, and extremely difficult for anyone who wants to change, but is especially difficult, perhaps even impossible for fundamentalist, economic or any other fundamentalist.
However, the other fundamental source of energy is aspiration, the energy source behind positive visions that the eco-centric worldview offers. Imagine a more dignified approach where the association of wellbeing was centred on caring for each other and for our planet as guardians for future generations and as custodians of the present by changing how we evaluate the way we express emotions and look for emotional patterns that seem unhealthy.
It may be useful to think of economic fundamentalism and the belief in continuous unchecked growth, as with any fundamentalist doctrine, as an anxiety disorder, an underlying fear associated with change, an underlying ‘illness ‘or ‘malady’, the belief that there is no other way of living our lives other than it being all about economic growth and needless consumption. If we thought of it in this way, perhaps we could ‘treat’ it as a condition that can be remedied, starting with education. Changing perceptions about the self, especially as the self relates to others, a new inner search for meaning and connectedness, the forces of togetherness and separateness.
The forces of togetherness and separateness are biologically rooted. Without them we would not have evolved as we survive by being together as a group in organisations or in communities. Forces apply to keeping an organisation or a community a cohesive unit such as values, rules, and notions of how we do things in life. This becomes the imprint of the culture of organisations and communities.
From intrapersonal and group relational work we gain insight into what motivates individuals, and the origins of behaviours and their impact on the team. Inclusion or exclusion from the group or team is a powerful driver of behaviour, just as the process of shame is an effective form of social control. Ideology can also be a critical shaping force of group behaviour. We need to understand these interactions and how they play out in our everyday actions to truly grasp there impact on our behaviour in transcending the inappropriateness of continuous unchecked growth.
This ‘treatment’ would seek to create a new type of leadership that was humble and could serve, that was courageous and could protect, that was insightful and could learn and teach, and that was innovative and could use our wealth appropriately for the benefit of us all. Futures studies and thinking is one effective way of searching for this.
Randers (2008:853) [i] questioned ‘Is it possible that the slow societal response to the emerging climate crisis may result in ‘‘global collapse’’—that is, a situation where global society first exceeds the sustainable rate of greenhouse gas emissions, and then experiences a sudden, unwanted, and unstoppable decline in the average welfare of hundreds of millions of its citizens?’
If so, the survival question is “How do we change our current growth worldview to a more appropriate sustainability worldview?”
[i] Randers, Jørgen, (2008) Global collapse—Fact or fiction? Futures 40 (2008) 853–864, Elsevier