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.
Since the very beginning of modern growth-critique, starting with the publication of the report „Limits to Growth“ in 1972, the mainstream response to this critique has always been: “Well, we can grow the limits by making things ever more efficient”. Now, with the shiny user interface of the ongoing digital revolution, the holy grail of the efficiency revolution gets yet another new finish: By ...
Krise, Klimawandel, begrenzte Ressourcen, zunehmende soziale Spaltungen und steigende Arbeitslosigkeit zählen gegenwärtig zu den größten gesellschaftlichen Herausforderungen in Europa. Um diese zu bewältigen, ist ein sozial-ökologischer Umbau der Industrie- und Dienstleistungsgesellschaft erforderlich. Dieser Wandel wird oft verkürzt mit dem Modell der „Grünen Ökonomie“ beschrieben. Die grüne Wirtschaft soll den Gegensatz von Ökonomie und Ökologie aufheben [...]
Annette Jensen und Ute Scheub arbeiten als Publizistinnen schon seit vielen Jahren in den Bereichen Umwelt, Wirtschaft, Nachhaltigkeit und Frieden. Besonders gerne schreiben sie Geschichten des Gelingens über ökosoziale Pioniere. Im September 2014 erscheint im oekom-Verlag ihr gemeinsames Buch: „Glücksökonomie. Wer teilt, hat mehr vom Leben.“ Sie veröffentlichen außerdem regelmäßig Beispiele auf der Plattform www.futurzwei.org. [...]
