‘Growthism’ is a term for society’s pervading belief that growth – primarily economic growth – is essential. This is problematic because our planetary resources are not growing, and yet growthist attitudes mean that we are still planning on plundering it forever. Until we recognise the inherent flaws in our society – the impossibility of never-ending […]
Category Archives: Development
When will the economy be big enough?
Can you imagine if people could grow forever? If, instead of becoming an adult, we just kept on getting taller and taller and bigger and bigger until we died? What would we need to sustain ourselves if we kept on growing throughout our 20s, 30s, 60s, 80s? We’d need more food; more clothes too. More […]
5 reasons to apply design thinking to the economy
As a design student, I learnt that design was all about solving problems. The problem might be frivolous (I want better packaging to sell more fish fingers) or serious (I want to convince more people to get tested for cancer), but there’s always a problem. And whilst creativity is key to finding great solutions, solving […]
We are all developing countries
Rising rates of depression and anxiety. Politicians telling lies and undermining the free press. Unprecedented levels of consumer waste and pollution. People freezing to death in winter. I’m not talking about some far-flung failed state. These points could describe the UK, US, China, and – frankly – probably any developed country in the world. If this is […]