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Comment by rizumu | Hacker News Reader

It is worth repeating the main idea here: "Key to the concept of degrowth is that reducing consumption does not require individual martyring and a decrease in well-being. Rather, 'degrowthists' aim to maximize happiness and well-being through non-consumptive means—sharing work, consuming less, while devoting more time to art, music, family, culture and community."

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HNers might find reading about Epicureanism and Stocism to be an enlightening addition to reading about Degrowth.

It's very rarely relevant to evaluate a movement's goals on it's own, especially when they are so lofty as here. What means are they proposing?

In France, it seems they are happily backing the near-total destruction of their economy. I struggle to see how this will allow them to "devot[e] more time to art, music, family, culture and community".

That sounds like something people might say about socialism too.

We need only look at the Soviet Union to see how that turned out.

That really doesn't sound like the Soviet Union at all - which was obsessed with growth through centrally controlled 5 year plans.

One of the many reasons the Soviets failed is that they channeled a huge proportion of their national wealth into their military (fearing as they did an attach from NATO) and away from improving the living standards of their citizens.

look harder: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stakhanovite_movement

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