Well, economies around the world are starting to re-open at differing paces, so, it would be tough to stop this, but climate crisis (scam) cultists would like to put the kibosh on further economic activity
COVID-19 Broke the Economy. What If We Don’t Fix It?
At the end of March, Donald Trump tweeted, in all capital letters, “WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF.”
He was referring to the economic ramifications of shutting down the country in order to protect the public from the novel coronavirus, which has now killed over 100,000 Americans.
The economy is in trouble. In the first quarter of the year, gross domestic product, or GDP, contracted 5 percent, the “largest quarterly rate of decline since last recession,” reported the Wall Street Journal. One week in May, over 2.1 million unemployment claims were filed, bringing the total to over 40 million—or about one of every four workers in the United States.
Proposed recovery and stimulus packages aim to get the economy and employment back to where they were before the pandemic. But with everything closed or ramped down, what if instead of putting it all back, we kept certain industries closed? What if, instead of going back to work full-time, we decided to work less, buy less, make less, and not fight to raise GDP at any cost?
What if money to pay for food, clothing, utilities, housing, etc, just grows on trees? What if we shut down Vice to help save the Earth from getting a fever? I’m sure Shayla Love, who wrote this screed, would be good with that, right? Or at least going pure part time.
Certain researchers have argued that our hyperfocus on economic growth was problematic long before we knew the words SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19. The “degrowth” movement has advocated for reducing production of goods, working hours, and, inevitably, GDP—all with the end goal of reducing carbon emissions. With the economy at a standstill, we’re being challenged by some experts to envision a different kind of economy—one that could help solve the climate crisis, rather than make it worse.
Let’s put each of them on part time, see how they like it.
The reduction of consumption, emissions, and lowering of GDP that is happening now is a side effect of the pandemic, not a sustainable or desirable way to slash carbon output because of the loss of human life, strict lockdowns, and shuttering of schools and small businesses we value.
But in Future Earth, Maurie Cohen, a professor of sustainability studies at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, wrote that the pandemic, from a sustainability standpoint, offers a rare window of opportunity both for quality of life and the habitability of the planet. Rather than aiming to have the economy—and emissions—jump back up after the pandemic is over, it could be a moment to think about how to keep emissions down as we reopen and rebuild. That might involve leaving growth behind.
You know, it’s funny that Warmists always tell us that instituting ‘climate change’ polices will lead to lots of growth and money, but then they tell us that we need to seriously reduce growth in order to save the planet from a slight fever.
This is a long, long, long article, let’s skip to the end
“Suddenly this virus comes along and it’s clear there is an emergency brake and it can be pulled relatively easily,” Hickel said. “The government can, in fact, slow down parts of the economy for the sake of protecting public health and human wellbeing. In a way, the curtain has been pulled back and the Wizard of Oz exposed. We can imagine ways of pulling it that are ecologically meaningful and socially safe. Cognitive seals have really been broken.”
Did you enjoy your 3+ month test drive of a climate change policy world?
