We at Research & Degrowth are repeatedly being told that our framing won't work. That we are preaching to the choir by the way we frame our proposals, and that we will never convince the broader public. So, here are our policy proposals re-framed in the language of the U.S. elections.
Abolish all income tax on incomes lower than $50,000 dollars per year. Finance this tax break by establishing a sovereign carbon fund financed by charges to the oil, coal and natural gas industry and by a carbon fee on trade imports.
Make Friday a day off that we can dedicate to our families, friends and communities. Do not reduce salaries: same pay for four days of work. President Roosevelt did it during the Great Depression. This alone can create 10 million new jobs.
No bank should lend more than its deposits. Banks cannot be allowed to create money out of thin air, while all the rest of us have to work hard just to get by.
Each and everyone should have the freedom to choose how to live their lives free from illness, hunger or fear. Establish a permanent freedom income of $800 per month, for every American. Pay for the income like Alaska did with a sovereign carbon fund. If this is not enough, finance it with a sovereign capital fund, funded by a progressive fee on excessive capital.
Hard-working Americans should have the right to inhabit housing assets that are left unused for more than one year for the purpose of speculation.
We all use models in daily life to explain our environment. An example: I assume that a tree will grow provided it has sufficient water, nutrients and sun. I am using a simple model here, without understanding the nitty-gritty – what exactly happens in the roots, stem, leaves and cells. Thinking in models is not only useful to understand our world, but also to solve problems. Let’s assume the ...
Von Christiane Kliemann Dass es mit dem Wirtschaftswachstum auf einem begrenzten Planeten nicht ewig so weitergehen kann, ist inzwischen vielen Menschen klar. Was jedoch alles damit zusammenhängt – sowohl mit dem Wachstum selbst als auch mit der Abkehr von demselben – ist oft nicht auf den ersten Blick ersichtlich. Unter dem Motto „weniger wird mehr“ gibt der „Postwachstumsatlas“ von Le Monde ...
Wachstum ist keine Option, denn eine absolute Entkoppelung von Wachstum und Ressourcenverbrauch hat sich historisch als unmöglich erwiesen – diese Position eint all jene, die zur Degrowth-Konferenz beitragen. Wachstumskritik ist auch in den Medien immer präsenter. Selbst die liberale Wochenzeitung DIE ZEIT (Nr. 10/ 2013) beendete ihren Leitartikel zum Thema mit den Worten „Die [...]