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Chapter 2: The Key Players

foundations. Degrowthers are concerned that the most
advanced countries are leaving less room for other
nations to prosper.

Degrowthers do not favor recessions even though
they support a shrinking economic pie. They believe
that we can manage and control the shrinkage and
therefore minimize the ill effects of anti-growth
policies. The degrowth movement advances a planned
system whereby wealthier nations will experience an
economic contraction, eventually reaching a steady
state that operates within the Earth’s limited resources.
Degrowthers believe that minor changes to the
present system will not suffice. They want to replace
the system with a new and different economic system
that will liberate the world from the burden of pursuing
material excess—stuff that we do not need to live a
gratifying life.
According to degrowthers, consumerism is a
debilitating addiction that degrades nature and prevents
humankind from realizing its potential for well-being
and true happiness. Degrowth policies support an
uncomplicated way of life with fewer goods and
services.
Agenda 21 (1992) offers a detailed plan for
“Sustainable Development” that countries should
implement. Building upon Agenda 21, world leaders
met in New York City in 2015 to present a new fifteen-
year plan entitled “Transforming Our World: the 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development.”The American
2050 Project combines the two by proposing to have
every American living in eleven “megaregions”
separated by wilderness connected by high-speed trains
as portrayed in the movie Hunger Games.

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