Economic Growth - The New Opiate of the People?

George Monbiot suggests that we need a recession to introduce some sanity into our way of life. He speaks heresy of course, something he freely acknowledges, beginning here:

If you are of a sensitive disposition, I advise you to turn the page now. I am about to break the last of the universal taboos. I hope that the recession now being forecast by some economists materialises. I recognise that recession causes hardship. Like everyone I am aware that it would cause some people to lose their jobs and homes. I do not dismiss these impacts or the harm they inflict, though I would argue that they are the avoidable results of an economy designed to maximise growth rather than welfare. What I would like you to recognise is something much less discussed: that, beyond a certain point, hardship is also caused by economic growth.

and ending here:

But because political discourse is controlled by people who put the accumulation of money above all other ends, this policy appears to be impossible. Unpleasant as it will be, it is hard to see what except an accidental recession could prevent economic growth from blowing us through Canaan and into the desert on the other side.

Along the way we discover that you too can buy gold and diamond saucepans from Harrod's in order to show off your wealth, surely the most incredible display of conspicuous consumption I have ever heard of.

His context is global climate change, but I would argue that the issue is also appropriate for Peak Oil. Look closely and one of the underlying pillars of survival after peak (though not shouted from the rooftops) is a revisioning of what it means to have a healthy economy. A growing economy, as currently understood, is not seen as a viable alternative. How rich is rich enough? How much enough is enough?

These are valid questions in a society that values style over substance, the flashy clothes over a flashy mind. I am looking again at downsizing what I have, and making do with less. It won't be easy, but it beats participating in a race to have more. Unfortunately, for some folks there is never enough more and they won't stop pursuing it no matter the cost -- not always financial.

The question for Rogers Park, and Chicago - what sort of economic environment do we wish to live in post peak, and how do we get there from here?