Essay: The COVID-19 Pandemic: An Opportunity to Advance Degrowth

THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC : AN OPPORTUNITY TO ADVANCE DEGROWTH
A significant proportion of the world’s population is currently under some form of quarantine, imposed to curtail the spread of COVID-19, an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus. A side-effect of this lockdown has been major disruptions in production and consumption of commodities. Factories that used to spew clouds of black fumes are now deserted, the entire global supply-chains practically don’t exist anymore, the working class has seen days and days of leisure at their disposal for the very first time. Is this just a temporary pause or can this pandemic prompt a permanent change? Covid-19 has taken numerous lives and caused distress to many people, but is there a silver lining to this pandemic? Can we finally throw off the shackles of over-production that Marx predicted way back in the 19th century? In this paper I will argue that governments should use this opportunity, presented during this extraordinary point in history, to advance Degrowth and initiate a permanent social change that can incubate a sustainable global economy.
DEGROWTH
Let us begin by understanding Degrowth. It is a political, economic and social movement as well as a set of theories, based on ecological economics and anti-consumerist and anti-capitalist ideas. Perhaps it can be said that fundamentally this movement is influenced by socialism and the communist philosophy of Karl Marx, but its primary focus is not class conflict and class consciousness, rather a social phenomenon that includes the whole of humanity. To live is to consume, and human beings are specially wired to consume novelty. But the truth of the matter is that we cannot continue to consume indefinitely. Consumption must be sustainable so that human society may continue to evolve meaningfully without degrading the “naturalness” of nature, the Ideal Type of Nature. We must strive to stir an aesthetic essence in progress and the consumerism that comes with it. Means of production and the distribution of resources must continue to evolve but not at the expense of the one planet that can sustain life.
Since the two world wars, capitalism has dominated the ways in which humans exchange goods and services. In recent times, some have argued that ethical capitalism is the only way forward, “The problem is not with capitalism; the problem is with those capitalists who focus on the present without caring for the future.”, says Stanley M. Bergman, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Henry Schein, Inc., a Fortune 500 company. They argue that we must focus on Green growth – the hypothesis that the economy can continue growing without further damaging the environment. The problem with that argument is that the amount of clean energy that is currently produced throughout the globe is far from sufficient. There is a huge gap between renewable energy supply and electricity demand on grids, which is commonly bridged by fossil-fuelled electricity generation. Pledges of 100% clean energy consumption by governments and big businesses are, in most cases, just good PR with no real conviction seen in reality. Before the pandemic it was becoming increasingly difficult to limit greenhouse gas emissions to levels that would prevent global temperatures from increasing. But due to this pandemic there are clear disruptions in social norms and consumption patterns.
MORE TIME TO KILL
Let us analyse some of these patterns in order to understand how we can take advantage of these disruption. Throughout this lockdown, we’re consuming unprecedented levels of virtual content to keep us entertained. A survey conducted by Hammerkopf Consumer Survey in India found that in the first week of lockdown, Indians spent more than four hours every day on social media. This is a 87 per cent increase from a week before lockdown. While otherwise we would spend time hopping restaurants or going to movie theatres, we are now tied up to our sofas. The lockdown could also permanently disrupt working patterns as companies forced to embrace remote working by the pandemic find that their employees do not want to return to the office once the closures are lifted. As a result, consumption of petroleum has declined to unprecedented levels. It has completely destroyed the automobile sector and the oil industry, one of the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases. Politician and author Shashi Tharoor wrote that the “blissful sight of blue skies and the joy of breathing clean air provides just the contrast to illustrate what we are doing to ourselves the rest of the time”. The policymakers of big businesses and governments must see this surge in time spent on social media platforms as an opportunity to propagate, for once, an agenda that enables people to stop and ask questions along the lines of degrowth and sustainability. They must direct all their resources towards encouraging people to move maintain this pollution-free state of our cities and move further towards a cleaner way of life. The silicon valley billionaires, who are witnessing unprecedented engagement on their social media apps, can use this opportunity to promote conscious consumption. We also need the common people to change their way of life, their business model, the products and services they provide and consume.
PRAGMATISM OVER PASSION
First and foremost, we need to slow down and revisit the themes of growth and consumption. Instrumental social action, as Weber described, must prevail and meaningfulness should become the essence of economics. Conceptualize other ways of progress, even within the existing dominant framework of progress, keeping in mind that romantic notions of radical degrowth can be just as harmful. Crises often trigger life changing reforms, and this pandemic is a unique opportunity for governments to initiate a systemic campaign. The inevitable stimulus to help kick-start the economy must go towards promoting conscious consumption and incentivise sustainable business models. Disruptions caused by the pandemic must be used to destabilise markets that are calibrated to maximise consumption. This is the best and possibly the last opportunity to push through this social movement, let us not waste it.