[Barrin92]

I'm pretty far on the left and used to be active in communist politics (little bit less exceptional here in Europe than across the pond), but I've always been very irritated by these degrowth movements, although a lot of this stuff came out of 'my' political tent.

It's to me reminiscent of the 'deep ecology' folks, who don't pursue environmentalism with the goal of furthering human well-being, but have a quasi religious attitude to nature as if it is a thing in itself. If you want to have a life of leisure and cooperation, you need material progress and abstract away all the nasty and brutish things which is only achievable in an environment of abundance.

Degrowth will produce the exact opposite. Scarcity, tribalism, zero-sum competition and so on.

[BlueTemplar]

Degrowth has never been in the same "political tent" as "communism" (by which I assume you mean Marx/Engels-based socialism?)

The idea that human well-being is central, while nature is just a resource used to achieve abundance is completely opposite to the philosophy of the degrowth movement.

[nathanaldensr]

Then almost by definition the movement prioritizes an anthropomorphized planet over people. The movement, in effect, advocates for killing people.

[BlueTemplar]

That's like equating people critical of Israel with those in favor of reopening Auschwitz.

[Mirioron]

If it's not in the same political camp then why does the article say that we need to redistribute our resources before we can even start with degrowth? They're basically asking for the same thing communists are asking for.

[BlueTemplar]

Where ? I see "before", not "after". > This is how degrowthers envision the process: After a reduction in material and energy consumption, which will constrict the economy, there should also be a redistribution of existing wealth, and a transition from a materialistic society to one in which the values are based on simpler lifestyles and unpaid work and activities.

And equating redistribution with communism is silly - top income tax rates in the US were the highest - around 80%-90% during MacCarthyism !