Keys to Understanding Bill Mckibben\'s

¶ … keys to understanding Bill McKibben's Deep Economy

Environmentalism and sustainability: these two words are often linked to plans for economic expansion in the current rhetoric about the new, 'green' post-recessionary economy. It is assumed that 'green jobs' will be the wave of the future and ameliorate the economic problems caused by the downturn in the traditional manufacturing sectors of the U.S. However, in the book Deep Economy, Bill McKibben suggests that we must rethink the idea that greater prosperity in terms of material goods is by definition 'better' and a growing GDP is a sign of health. The health of the planet also matters: if the world continues to expand at the current rate, human society will be unsustainable. McKibben encourages readers to think small. Anti-globalism is also at the heart of Deep Economy -- the author stresses the need for community-based businesses, agriculture, even media rather than for growing markets to improve the standard of living in the developing and developed world. Principle 1: the new economy must not just be greener in the commercial sense; it must also be community-based.

McKibben challenges the commonly-accepted wisdom that small solutions are enough to change the economy, like eating less meet, shopping locally, or even taking public transportation. McKibben advocates a radical return to downsized homes, buying less, and the elimination of consumerism as a positive value in the lexicon of economists. Even if frugality means slower growth, it also means fewer products filling up landfills. Beyond a certain finite satisfaction of one's basic needs, people are not really 'happier' as a result of excess. Anyone who has ever strolled through Costco or Wal-Mart, or even a storage facility where people pay for house-size accommodations for their material goods will appreciate the author's wisdom. Saving money at discount stores to buy more goods causes more damage to the environment by stimulating production, and if the developing world adopts our models of behavior, we will find there is simply not enough energy to sustain us all on the planet. Principle 2: think small in terms of lifestyles, big in terms of systemic changes.