Philosophy Now Forum

Hi everyone,

I’ve just read Bill McKibben’s “Deep Economy” in which he argues that economic growth is no longer “better”. It creates inequality, leads to individualism and doesn’t make us happier at all.
He shows (mostly by telling anecdotes and pulling statistics) that we should move away from the vast globalized economy towards local economies.
According to McKibben local economies might produce less stuff, but will yield to better relationships and will be far more durable.
Durability is another recurring theme in his book, he argues that we no longer will have the (planetary) energy to keep the current system going, which will mean that we have to move to a more ecological economy.

I found it a pretty interesting book, it truly does point out the exact pickle we’re now in but I do have some thoughts and questions about McKibben proposed alternative which I would like to throw at you;

What are your thoughts on local communities?
Are they too deal in theory?
Is mankind “good” enough to be part of such a community, aren’t we too greedy?
How to get away of our sense of what constitutes as progress?
If we are to move to a new form of economy how would that even be possible given that our current economy has such a huge momentum?
Can it be done within a period of 20 years, 50, 100?
Should there be a massive redistribution of wealth?

I'd say yes, we do need to move to a more localized community as an alternative to the turmoil of globalization. It's only if we were to do so that we can be more efficient with resources and develop a compassion for Nature and the things around us, including between each human being, as opposed to imperialism or globalization of the economy, which both were/are created by the wealthy elites to make money and rule at the expense of the people who are being climbed on by these guys.

Local economies will be a necessity without oil. Oil is what drives the global economy. I won't suggest when peak oil has been or will be, but the global economy will fail after the fact.