"Growth Fetish", by Clive Hamilton (2003)

Another blow-in from the recent second-hand book sale. I had been curious to read something by this guy since noticing his latest book, "Requiem For A Species", in A&R. Clive Hamilton is an Australian economic/political left-wing think-tank sort of guy who seems to have some interesting opinions at odds with the mainstream.

As the title suggests, the central thesis of this book is that the concept of economic growth as the key measure of progress has outgrown its usefulness in western society and that we need a new, "post-growth" approach to life.

On a daily basis we are bombarded with economic figures such as GDP, and politicians pander unwaveringly to the mantra that economic growth is good. But when you look closely, the emperor of economic growth is scantily-clad: despite relentless increases in incomes and wealth, we are basically no happier now than in previous generations. The dreams of technology-enabled reductions in working hours and corresponding increase in leisure time have not materialized, and instead people are now working more than ever.

And most depressingly, what we're working for seems more pointless than ever. We buy ever bigger tv sets, but watch ever- more adverts and mind-numbing reality television; we buy bigger, fancier cars but crawl through ever-thicker traffic; we eat more processed food and drink more booze, and then drag our overweight bodies to Fitness First to work it off on a treadmill.

What's wrong with this picture??? Just maybe, it's the futility of a culture of consumption where we're constantly exhorted to acquire the next big thing, blind to the fact that the happiness it promises is a sad illusion. We're in a real life version of The Matrix, and CH wants us to take the red pill and wake up already...

And quite apart from the futility of this existence, we must face up to its awful wastefulness. The planet simply cannot sustain us on our current trajectory. There are 2 billion people in China and the Indian subcontinent looking hopefully towards the West and aspiring to our way of life; if they ever get there it's going to end in tears for all concerned.

His arguments ring true based on my own experience, and although a cynic could probably point to a number of weaknesses (for one thing, he does a much more thorough job of critiquing the current system than he does of proposing a realistic alternative), you can't help feeling there is a lot of truth in there that really needs to be heard.

As my own meagre contribution to spreading the good word, I recommend you check out the first three chapters, which are available on the author's website here. I found Chapter 3, "Identity", to be the most convincing in the book, so it's definitely worth a read. And just think: although Clive might not agree with me here, by not buying the book, you're already helping to wean yourself off the culture of consumption!