### Reader’s Letter to The Guardian, 27th August 2024 ###
* Key Players: Matthew Taylor, Jason Hickel, Mariana Hanbury-Lemos, Progressive Econcomy Forum, Open Democracy, Adam Khan, Isabelle Anguelovski *
Dear Editor,
I strongly agree with the sentiments in Matthew Taylor’s article on “Degrowth” (The Guardian, 27th August 2024, link below) but would add a couple of further points …
First I would say we need to “de-globalise” too: Not as a form of isolationism but rather to trade where it makes sense but to halt “slavery by proxy” with us, for example, ceasing to have wage-slaves in Bangladesh make our clothes and instead do that ourselves. While, at the same time, promoting people in Bangladesh to thrive in their own right … without depending on crumbs cast down from “The Corporate/Western Table”.
Indeed, if the global north returned to us serving our own societies and communities (e.g. through local manufacturing, farming and construction/maintenance/repair) we could create a frame of mind where craft and small-scale commerce is once again respected. A far more sane basis than chasing after the next gimmick or cheap deal.
Second I would say that there isn’t time to discuss this too much so we urgently need a “fast-track to degrowth”. Fortunately this does actually exist in the form of “tyre dust” (scuffed from the tread of vehicle-tyres) which is the scourge we repeatedly refuse to acknowledge.
Here in Germany alone over one hundred thousand tonnes of invisible, toxic, microplastic tyre-dust are generated each year. And tyre-dust makes up a whopping 28% of ocean microplastic (second only to fluff washed out of synthetic clothing at 35%). So this means that, at the end of the day, road-transport, for anything beyond short, slow local journeys (maybe using tyres made of natural rubber) is not at all tenable … unless we want to slowly drown in microplastic.
So, if you progressively remove the ridiculously over-extended trucking-routes that we so depend on for our “growth” and start to return to predominantly (but not exclusively) local production and local commerce, then you are well on track to having de-growth.
I hope you see what I mean?
Yours,
Alan Mitcham
Link to original article: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/27/what-is-degrowth-can-it-save-planet
Link to article on ocean microplastics: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/25/tyre-dust-the-stealth-pollutant-becoming-a-huge-threat-to-ocean-life
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