(TEDx is a program of local, self-organised events based on the TED (Technology Entertainment and Design) set of conferences, established to disseminate “ideas worth spreading”.
Apparently, serious as climate change is, when you look at the ’safe operating space’ for humanity in terms of planetary boundaries (depicted in green above), biodiversity loss and nutrification are set to be even bigger challenges.
We learn this, almost as an aside, at the beginning of the London School of Economics Sustainability in Practice lecture, given by Professor Tom Jackson in February this year.
About a month ago I wrote:
This series of posts has been largely silent so far about the work of environmental progressive theorists. There does seem to have been some important work we can turn to here — and the comments threads on recent posts have suggested some examples — but my sense is that progressive ecological political economy has not yet seen its equivalent of Keynes’ General Theory (or Marx’s Capital or Smith’s Wealth of Nations, depending on your preference).
I haven’t read it yet and I suspect it’s probably going too far to call Jackson’s book Prosperity without Growth: Economics for a Finite Planet
In his lecture Jackson summarises the main arguments of Prosperity without Growth. This includes an critique of “eco-modernisation”, the idea that we “could evade these finite limits through the ingenuity of the human mind”.
But also, and most impressively in my view, he takes seriously the challenges inherent in making an economy work without growth. This is what Jackson calls “the second horn of the dilemma of growth”, which is that while growth is unsustainable, de-growth (decroissance) is unstable. He explains the logic of this as follows:
It exists in this very simple equation. Actually, it’s not even an equation, it’s an identity: GDP = Labour x LP. GDP, the villain of the piece, the output, the economic output of the economy, is equal to the number of people employed in the workforce times the productivity of that workforce. So Labour times Labour Productivity, the amount they produce in each hour, in each week, in each day.
And the fundamental dynamic of the capitalist economy is to pursue constant increases in labour productivity. So labour productivity’s going up and up and up. So any suggestion that the output, the economic output, could be stabilised or even decreased tells you what? That there is a continuing downward pressure on employment, so that people will become unemployed. As people become unemployed, they are unable to contribute to the economy, they can’t be out there buying stuff. That they can’t be out there buying stuff reduces the demand for people to produce it, reduces the demand for workers to work in the factories that produce it.
And so you get into, instead of the ‘virtuous circle of growth’, you get into a ‘vicious cycle’. And it’s the fear, it’s the visceral fear that sits at the heart of every politician in the face of any slowing down of the economy.
Given this, Jackson’s approach to is to find an alternative ‘engine of growth’, such as green technology markets and/or service-based activities, which doesn’t increase the resource impact of the economy.
The LSE has provided a podcast of the lecture (click to hear audio), as well as a copy of his presentation slides (click to download) (actually the slides don’t exactly seem to match the audio, but you’ll get the idea).
Prosperity with Growth is now on sale in New Zealand. I’ve seen a copy at Unity Books and I gather it’s also available at Whitcoulls and probably a bunch of other places as well. Definitely on my “must buy” list!
There’s also some thoughtful coverage of Jackson’s work in these blog posts:
aussiegall // CC 2.0
So here is my view of what must be done to by those who come after Gordon, those of my generation, as we move now to assert our influence in the progressive movement. This is not, however, a policy discussion. This is a recapitulation of what I see as the four essential projects of the progressive movement. Plenty of policy must be built on these pillars, but today I’m deliberately trying to play above the normal policy discussion.
Gen-X politicians and activists must state clearly what we know to be true: we come to politics with a different set of experiences, informed by the work of those before us, but not bound by or to them. Just as our parents were able to move beyond the tunnel vision of their parents, so too are we. Certainly our own time will come to an end and I’ll find my daughter making the same claims of me, but that is for the future. What I see now, is that our time has come. We are still fearless. We have not discovered our limits. Now, we must commit ourselves and our generation to the advancement of human progress and social justice. We must stand up and clearly tell others what we stand for, because I truly think many have forgotten what it is to be, or vote for, a Progressive, a Liberal, or a Social Democrat.
Too many Boomer politicians are ready to turn a blind eye to poverty and ignore the hollowness of commitments on human rights, for the sake of not upsetting a sense of middle class comfort. Not necessarily because they don’t believe our causes are just, in principle, but because they have taught themselves that to speak up and declare these truths is to scare others off, alienate the media and live in the wilderness of opposition.
I see four interrelated moral and social crises which span the globe, and reach down into the lives of ordinary people. These are human crises, and they were created, or are allowed to persist, by our inaction. Their resolution can be the only measure of an honest a commitment to justice and progress. Gen-X must make renewed progress, urgently, although their ultimate resolution will span our careers, and take the commitment of our generation, for at least a generation.
We must aggressively pursue solutions to global poverty and economic injustice. We must set the people free, and keep them free, by acting on our commitments to human rights. We need to acknowledge our past expedient inaction or prevarication, and push for an end to state aggression and pursue peace and security through non-violent reconciliation of disagreements between peoples. Finally, but with the utmost urgency we must confront and rebalance our global activities to avert the worst of the climate crisis bequeathed to us. For crisis it is, and we cannot act as past generations and pass this to our sons and daughters. We are out of time, and this must be fixed by us.
If we hold our rights as humans to be self-evident then so too is our need to stand firm on their unequivocal application. We cannot tolerate slavery and human trafficking, its existence is a stain on us all. All people deserve equality under the law, and the rule of that law must prevail. Exceptions created for the sake of illusory ‘safety’ cannot be excused. All of us have the rights to freedom of thought, conscience, religion, association, assembly and participation in democratic governance. It sounds simple to say these things, but all too often we fall short in living up to these principles.
Wealth accumulation causes many positive outcomes, but the inequitable distribution of wealth in societies also causes much social harm. Progressives must remain committed to healing this, to regulating markets and deriving social good from individual activity. It is not acceptable for the wealthy and their vehicles to privatise profits and socialise losses, as they seek to do time and again. We must remain committed to the underlying principle that the distribution of resources has consequences.
Setting relative poverty to one side, there can be no excuse for our failure to end absolute poverty across the globe. We know the solutions, it is time to stop sitting on our hands. The provision of adequate food is a problem of distribution, not an absolute lack of food. Drinking water quality can be guaranteed at relatively low cost, as can sanitation. Publicly available healthcare for severe illness and reproduction, adequate shelter, and primary and secondary education provide more systemic and societal challenges but they are by no means insurmountable with concerted action.
Trade is the greatest form of aid, and the West must turn away, once and for all, from beggar-thy-neighbour protectionism. We all deserve the fruits of our labour, regardless of where we live.
There are deeper challenges that connect absolute poverty to relative poverty – mostly around access to services, but in the end commitments to work to close these gaps are matters of simple humanity. As a start, only by ending absolute poverty can we expect other societies to follow us on the wider progressive path.
Finally, we cannot embark on these commitments without safety and security, in both traditional and environmental senses. We cannot strive for a just society if we destroy ourselves or the planet in our efforts.
Too many of the older generation have misunderstood Bismark’s maxim that “Politics is the art of the possible”. While this artfully encapsulates real politik and the essence of pragmatism, too many have come to believe that only that which is possible is worthy. It will take fresh perspectives from a fresh generation to remind ourselves that Progressives must always strive on the basis that politics is the art of making the impossible possible.
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James lives in Christchurch where he works in local government. James worked for the Clark-led Labour Party in government as a ministerial advisor to Cabinet ministers Margaret Wilson, Mark Burton, Pete Hodgson, and in the Prime Minister’s Office.
Alongside his day job, he continues to work and think on progressive politics.