Reaching Peak Stuff: Is Growth Overrated?
In a previous post, I questioned the real meaning behind careers in CSR and sustainability by asking if they were indeed jobs where people actively promote or “do good”, or whether they were not just jobs where people could pride themselves for “doing less bad.” Lately, especially after reading an interesting article on Fast Magazine’s co.exist blog about whether we might have reached “peak stuff” (analogy to the fear of reaching “peak oil” or point of declining supplies), I’ve been starting to question more some of the fundamental assumptions that today’s world economy is based on. One in particular stood out, and it applies particularly to developed countries.
I am talking about the assumption that our economy’s health depends on companies producing goods and that they keep doing that until the end of time. It’s called “growth” for economics laymen. Question is, what happens if all companies keep growing?
