Economic growth - the elephant in the room?

Before he became fixated on the class struggle, Marx showed an ecological consciousness remarkable for his time. He spoke of the need for ‘the genuine resolution of the antagonism between man and nature’, which is as good a definition of eco-philosophy as any. If the young Karl Marx were writing today, in the era of globalisation, it is likely that he would recognise the new opium as economic growth. For growth has become the Alpha and Omega of political discourse, the place where ‘right’ and ‘left’ converge, the goal for which activists of both camps become cheerleaders.

Economic growth has effectively become an official religion. Its theology is uncomplicated, calling to mind the ‘cargo cults’ that enjoyed brief popularity on South Sea islands during the mid-twentieth century. These cults did not offer salvation in the form of ‘pie in the sky’, but as consumer luxuries on earth delivered by miraculous ships. The ideology of growth is based on similar superstitions. It is revealing to hear economists who pride themselves on their secular rationalism speak of a ‘hidden hand’ directing our lives, as if economic policies and structures were not...

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