gummint

[mellowtigger]

What if the human-created world has already changed? What if government can no longer exist as a force meant to spur efficient growth in the production of wealth? What if, from now on, the only reasonable government is one that is meant to inhibit growth at every level of human endeavor?

"The Problem of Denial" by sociologist William R. Catton,

Comments

[bluebear2]

According to some people, government already limits growth. I disagree myself. I think that since the 1980s, the traditional role of government to temper the excesses of business has been put aside and many bad things have resulted because of that. It's now time to put it back.

[mellowtigger]

This emerging movement strikes me as very Buddhist. The cause of suffering is want/desire. Tame the desire, or suffer the consequences. It's such an obvious law of the universe that "nobody" can see it.

Perhaps that's what religion tried to do, before the heaven/hell afterlife metaphors got taken literally and people started killing each other over stupid doctrinal issues. (Which, by the way, is a very effective way of reducing population count. I consider genocide a "natural" phenomenon, a psychological motivator given to us by Mother Nature that improves the chances of success for an overcrowded species. I did warn that She is a deadly harsh mistress.)