Characteristics of Degrowth

Yves-Marie Abraham:
  1. This [degrowth] is not an economic depression, nor a recession, but a decline in the importance of the economy itself in our lives and our societies.
  2. This is not the decline of GDP, but the end of GDP and all other quantitative measures used as indicators of well being.
  3. This is not a decline in population size, but a questioning of humanity's self-destructive lifestyle.
  4. This is not a step backwards, but an invitation to step aside, out of the race in pursuit of excessiveness.
  5. This is not nostalgia for some golden age, but an unprecedented project to invent creative ways of living together.
  6. This is not degrowth imposed by the depletion of the biosphere's resources, but a voluntary degrowth, to live better here and now, preserving the conditions necessary for the long-term survival of humanity.
  7. This is not an end in itself, but a necessary step in the search for models depicting free societies, liberated from the dogma of growth.
  8. This is not a project of voluntary deprivation and impoverishment, but an attempt to find a “better life,” based on simplicity, restraint, and sharing.
  9. This is not “sustainable development,” but a rejection of capitalism, no matter if it is “green” or “socially just,” and no matter if it has State-run or private enterprises.
  10. This is not ecofascism, but a call for a democratic revolution to end our productivist-consumerist model of society.
  11. This is not voluntary simplicity, but a revolutionary political project that implies the adoption of the principles of voluntary simplicity on the individual level.
  12. This is not an "anti-modern" movement, but a "neo-modern" movement, based on respect for the values of freedom and equality."

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