Thursday, September 11, 2014

Degrowth Conference in Leipzig

A friend of mine in Barcelona wrote to me:

'Following the thread of a few days ago, I confess that I was a big fan of degrowth, even long before there was talk of it. Because of my adventures, you can imagine how many years. Now with everything learned, I realize it's a mistake, we can not stop growing, maybe not in number of people or consumption, but in quality of life, technology and wealth, which is the result of the foregoing.
I have personally talked a lot about degrowth, both to economists and environmentalists, and I do not agree with them because of their dogmatism and obsession to go back in time.'

(translation of: 'Siguiendo el hilo de hace unos días, te confesaré que yo fui un gran seguidor del decrecimiento, incluso mucho antes que se hablara de él. Por mis andanzas puedes imaginar cuántos años. Ahora, con todo lo aprendido, me doy cuenta que es un error, que no podemos dejar de crecer, quizá no en cantidad de seres humanos o de consumo, pero sí en calidad de vida, en tecnología y en riqueza, que es el resultado de lo anterior. Personalmente he hablado bastante de decrecimiento, tanto con economistas como con ambientalistas, y no coincido con ellos por su dogmatismo y obsesión por volver atrás.')

And this was my reply:

'Muchos de los 2500 que concurrieron a la conferencia de Leipzig están de acuerdo contigo, creo, por lo que he escuchado en pláticas con algunos. Dogmáticos y obsesionados hay por todos lados, como sabes. La cuestión es, como bien dices, crecer en qué?'
(translation: 'Many of those who attended the 2500 conference in Leipzig agree with you, I think, from what I've heard in talks with some. Dogmatic and obsessed persons are everywhere, as you know. The question is, as you say, growing in what aspects?'

'The thread of a few days ago' my friend in Barcelona referred to had to do with a previous post on this blog which I copied on another blog I write, in Spanish. 

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