Peak Oil is You
Donate Bitcoins ;-) or Paypal :-)
Page added on May 14, 2022
Limits to Growth: Where We Stand Today
Sometime in the 1960’s a group of prominent businessmen in Europe decided it was time to face up to the contra di ction that l ies at the heart of mode rn capitalism: it is a system based on infinite growth in a world with finite limits to growth: in input (resources, including food), throughput (population), output (pollution), and a likely collapse if any one of these limits is exceeded. In 1968 t hey created an organization called the Club of Rom e , the task of which w as to examine what the prime leader of the group, veteran Italian businessman Aurelio Peccei, described quaintly in his 1970 book, The Predicament of Mankind: Quest for Structured Response to Growing Worldwide Complexities and Uncertainties.
Fifty years ago this spring the Club published a book called The Limits to Growth, based on a study using complex computer models by a team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology led by Donnella Meadows and her husband Dennis, with a couple of MIT graduate students. It used advanced computers to chart out different scenarios, including one in which nothing is done and we continue heedless growth. Its conclusion was stark and simple:
If the present growth trends in world population, industrialization, pollution, food production, and resource depletion continue unchanged, the limits to growth on this planet will be reached sometime in the next one hundred years. The most probable result will be a rather sudden and uncontrollable decline in both population and industrial capacity,” causing “overshoot and collapse” with a tipping point around 2020-30.
The book was a worldwide best-seller, but its conclusions were widely challenged and, in centers of political and economic power, mostly ignored. Growth is, after all, the lifeblood and raison d’etre of capitalism and the idea that there should be limits to it was so repugnant as to be essentially incomprehensible. A lot of people are making a lot of money, and a very few a very lot, so what would be the point in imagining that there would ever be an end to it?
And so the whole point of the Club of Rome’s efforts was shunted aside. It had wanted people to star rethinking the assumptions of capitalism, questioning where untrammeled growth was taking us, and reflect upon the new kind of world that computer technology with its immense (and basically uncontrolled) power was leading us to. And so capitalism became global capitalism, and then added computer capitalism and internet capitalism, and it continued to grow exponentially with no thoughts whatsoever to limits. It seemed as if there were something inherent in the computerized culture that demanded the growth-lovers would win out over the limits-warners.
A second study in 2000 confirmed that the original analysis found that nothing in the original thirty years earlier could be invalidated. “To the contrary,” said international banker Matthew Simmons, “the chilling warnings of how powerful exponential growth can be are right on track.” Only four years later the Meadows themselves came out with “The 30-Year Update,” holding that the original may have overemphasized resource depletion (fearing a coming “peak oil”) but underplayed pollution and the impact of greenhouse gasses, and nothing had been done on our path to overshoot. The growthists still ignored it and added cellphone capitalism and central bank appeasement into the mix in such a way that democratic control or restraint proved impossible.
A fourth study came in 2014 at the end of the Great Recession from University of Melbourne scholar Graham Turner who came to the conclusion that resource depletion, overpopulation, economic decline, industrial slowdown, and environmental collapse were following almost exactly the lines of the 1972 forecast—and leading straight to “overshoot and collapse” in 2020-30.
The most recent reassessment was in 2021 in the Journal of Industrial Ecology by Yale scholar Gaya Harrington, who found that the original Limits to Growth scenarios, including the dangerous business-as-usual one, “aligned closely with observed global data,” and “this suggests that it’s almost, but not yet, too late for society to change its course.” As for business-as-usual, “Pursuing continuous growth is not possible.” She failed to add “without overshoot and collapse.”
And just a month ago Dennis Meadows, asked how he felt about his original work, said calmly that all analyses “have generally concluded that “the world is moving along what we termed the standard scenario” of growth. He was not sanguine about society doing anything about changing that and averting global tragedy. The human species, he said, puts a “high survival value in focusing on the short term nearby and not worrying about the long-term far away.” A few weeks after that the latest comprehensive UN climate change panel confirmed that, concluding that severe overheating of the world caused by greenhouse gasses has already caused “widespread, pervasive impacts to ecosystems, people, settlements, and infrastructure.”
So all of the proposed reforms and remedies offered up in “green new deals” and renewable energy panaceas anywhere to date are completely useless because they are not aimed at capitalism’s fatal commitment to growth that the Club of Rome had wanted the world to reconsider. And there is no sign anywhere that the nations of the world are willing to confront this fact and head toward any policy or proposal that would acknowledge that, much less doing anything to reverse it.
The inevitable result: “overshoot and collapse,” and not far off, either.
21 Comments on "Limits to Growth: Where We Stand Today"
Theedrich on Sun, 15th May 2022 12:27 am
The U.S. anti-Russian proxy war is anti LtG. In the Deep-State view, America must — no matter what the cost — ignore any Limits to Growth and continue Business As Usual to infinity and beyond. Starting, that is, with the proxy conquest of Russia via Ukraine, then subjugating China. Klaus Schwab, with his Weltwirtschaftsforum, and Georg Sörös (born Gyorgy Schwartz — along with Schwab one of the Chosen), as well as media darling Billie Gates, plus associated cyber criminals and other international legalized-crime bosses, are all for the conquest of paradise by dog-wagging. There must be no halt to the tidal wave of 3rd-world fecal matter invading the U.S., no stopping the extremely lucrative narcotics invasion, no interruption of the precipitous dysgenic decline in global IQ (starting with increasing Yankee stupidity and brain laundering).
The masses have no idea of the impending collapse. Although they do notice the rise in inflation, the Democrat-sparked anti-civilization riots, the implosion of living standards. No problem: the regime’s Ministry of Truth will convince them that they must march for abortion, aside from its proxy war the most important of all issues ever to emerge on the planet. And the media will tell them that they should be happy with their daily dose of fentanyl-laced meth. The zillionaire-funded district attorneys in Democrat cities will make sure that the jails and prisons are empty and felons are out preying on the populace. The disintegration of life and livelihood will be, we are told, merely temporary, to be corrected when they next vote for even more Leftist Democrats and RINOs.
Nature does not care about the bacteria in the Petri dish. It simply allows the nutrients to be totally consumed and the consumers’ excreta to overwhelm the support system. After which come exhaustion and death.
The Club of Rome simply wrote history in advance. Of course, it did not suggest the likelihood of America’s starting a nuclear war. That may have been its only shortcoming.
In any case, it revealed the fact that America’s days are numbered.
suxs on Mon, 16th May 2022 4:00 pm
Theedrich says, “The zillionaire-funded district attorneys in Democrat cities will make sure that the jails and prisons are empty and felons are out preying on the populace.”
Meanwhile, in the real world, not only does the U.S. have the highest incarceration rate in the world; every single U.S. state incarcerates more people per capita than virtually any independent democracy on earth. To be sure, states like New York and Massachusetts appear progressive in their incarceration rates compared to states like Louisiana, but compared to the rest of the world, every U.S. state relies too heavily on prisons and jails to respond to crime. Theerich advocates for the failed policies of the past 50 years. Someone should clue him in that doing the same over and over while expecting different results is the very definition of insanity.
jon on Mon, 16th May 2022 6:35 pm
our final Squanderfest: the fight for what’s left with what’s left.
Hello on Tue, 17th May 2022 10:51 am
>>> very U.S. state relies too heavily on prisons and jails to respond to crime.
I agree. Would make much more sense to send all them negros back to africa instead of feeding them in a private zoo. That they cannot live among normal people we understand. What we don’t understand is that apparently otherwise normal people insist of treating negros like people. It makes no sense at all.
It time to change policies and not doing the same thing over and over again. Let’s finally drop the idea of humanizing negros. It’s painful for people and it’s painful for the negro who cannot live up to the standard.
Cloggie on Wed, 18th May 2022 4:56 pm
The Ukraine crisis has prompted Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and Belgium to morph the North Sea into the world’s largest green energy plant to the tune of 150 GW offshore wind by 2050.
Additionally, sub sea interconnectors, energy islands and huge hydrogen production centers will be built, sufficient to power all 230 million households in the EU:
https://deepresource.wordpress.com/2022/05/18/north-sea-to-become-worlds-largest-green-power-plant/
“North Sea to Become World’s Largest Green Power Plant”
Dredd on Fri, 20th May 2022 4:51 am
“it is a system based on infinite growth in a world with finite limits to growth” – CounterPunch
Well said.
Infinite cannot emerge from finite (It’s In The GenBank – 6).
Erikaadoll on Wed, 25th May 2022 6:27 am
This blog is very informative Ted Lasso Jacket
کلینیک تهرانی on Mon, 6th Jun 2022 1:21 pm
Hello – Good morning – I am very happy and I enjoyed this article, it was really useful for me
I saved it to visit this page again tehc
Hello on Mon, 6th Jun 2022 2:53 pm
>>>> too heavily on prisons and jails to respond to crime. Theerich advocates for the failed policies of the past 50 years
That’s exactly my words. Well understood suxs. Let’s not try the same thing again and again. But let’s finally ship the negros back to africa instead of jail.
ماندگار on Wed, 22nd Jun 2022 12:23 pm
Hi – it really was the best
I came here last week and now I’ve come back and enjoyed your site again
Thankful | ماندگار
Home Elegance on Mon, 24th Jul 2023 1:52 am
Premium Homeware & Decor
اكسسوارات المنزل والديكور
Bringing Elegance into your homes with a mix of tableware, home décor & gifts.
Shop now
Etumax.pk on Tue, 26th Sep 2023 5:53 am
Royal Honey For Her In Pakistan
Rejuvenate Your Body and Reignite Your Passion with Etumax Royal Honey!!!
Stephen on Wed, 4th Oct 2023 5:36 am
This washing machine is a recent improvement, and I’m really pleased with how well it works. I feel more at ease knowing there are many wash cycles available, including a sanitizing option, particularly during the flu season. The machine seems well-made, and it has been a dependable addition to my house. Without a doubt, I’d suggest it to others.
Hanifa on Thu, 12th Oct 2023 2:11 pm
The level of professionalism and communication from this Custom webdesign agency was exceptional. They listened to our needs and delivered a website that perfectly reflects our brand.
RAEES on Mon, 30th Oct 2023 9:46 am
Locksmith Pasadena MD Servleader , located in Pasadena, Maryland, is your reliable local locksmith service. We excel in delivering swift and dependable lock and key solutions for your home, business, and vehicle. Our expert technicians are on call 24/7 to help with lockouts, key cutting, rekeying, and more, guaranteeing timely and professional security solutions.
home elegance on Mon, 18th Dec 2023 1:39 pm
ladder wooden
Decorate your kitchen and home with us!
home elegance on Sat, 13th Jan 2024 8:14 am
table runner
Decorate your kitchen and home with us!
zoya on Sat, 13th Jan 2024 12:32 pm
d
suppress errors PowerShell on Mon, 29th Jan 2024 1:17 pm
PowerShell provides a convenient way to suppress errors PowerShell using the -ErrorAction parameter. The value SilentlyContinue can be assigned to this parameter, instructing PowerShell to continue with the script even if an error occurs. Here’s a more detailed look at how to implement this error suppression technique.
khuzaima on Fri, 23rd Feb 2024 12:36 am
In the fast-paced United Arab Emirates (UAE), where innovation propels development, electronics motor suppliers in UAE s are essential in supplying the equipment and parts that drive a range of sectors. One of the prominent providers in this field is everestrkd, a reputable organization dedicated to providing electronic motors of the highest caliber to meet the various demands of companies around the United Arab Emirates.
party and Stationery on Sat, 23rd Mar 2024 5:56 am
Party and Stationery UAE is a premier destination for a wide range of party supplies and stationery products. We are dedicated to providing our customers with top-tier products and exceptional service. Our team of experts diligently curates and crafts the finest products in the industry.
Dazzle Dine Plates