Evidente, Ralph Carlo T.

CHE 185-1

One aspect I see in the article is the anti-capitalist view of the author. He mentioned that we
already reached the necessary growth in the world economy, but the number of people living in poverty
has increased by more than a billion. He also reiterated that global crisis is due to almost entirely to
overconsumption in rich countries, and the fact that our demand and consumption cannot anymore be
sustained by Earth’s resources. He visualizes a world where efficient living is not anymore measured by
low income levels and consumption (e.g. GDP of the country), but it can be expressed in terms of life
expectancy level and happiness. Happiness as he mentioned does not depend on what we but and what
we own. A real form of progress is when one goes to quality instead of quantity. Developed countries
much slow down their economic growth, because poverty will not stop unless we overconsume; and at
the end of this possibility, resources will now vanish, mass famine will occur, and poverty will still continue.

There are some aspects that I really agree on. Our lives do not solely depend on our economic
status. It is just the matter of being contented and living life to the fullest. When we have money, we tend
to overconsume a lot of resources, which in effect will give environmental and economic impacts. The
pursuit of endless industrial growth is chewing through our planet and threatening our existence. That is
based on the program of SDG -ever increasing levels of production and consumption. If we recall the Goal
8, it calls for 7% annual GDP growth in the least developed countries and higher levels of economic
productivity. According to the article, world production and consumption levels are overshooting our
planet’s capacity about 50% each year. SDGs is not the solution- reduce food waste, make resource use
more efficient and encourage companies to adopt sustainable practices. The real solution is reducing over-
consumption for those countries who overconsume which are the “wealthy countries”.

Second aspect I agree is the contrary between growth and poverty. While global GDP has grown
by 271% since 1990, the number of people living on poverty has increased more than 370M. And why do
the SDGs rely on growth as a solution to poverty eradication? Because the prospect of growth allows our
leaders to sidestep the challenge of having to distribute existing resources more fairly. What we really
need is to abandon GDP in favor or a measure of human progress, in which one does rely on endlessly
increasing extraction, production, and consumption.

Third aspect, is we do not simply eradicate poverty by increasing growth, but by reducing the
enormous inequality that marks our global society, where the richest 1% own half of world’s total private
wealth. Inequality has become the most pressing issue of our time, and yet the SDGs remain silent on it.
According to SDGs, by 2030, they will “progressively achieve and sustain economic growth of the bottom
40% of the population at a rate higher than the national average”. In short, we can allow inequality to
grow until 2029 before gradually beginning to reduce it. That is ridiculous.

For this, 3 aspects are already considered: environmental, social, and economical. Environmental
impacts will reduce, great gap between rich and poor will vanish, and we can reduce poverty. Economical
success in not seen on one’s wealth, GDP, and assets. It’s how the poverty is reduced. Every single person’s
lifestyle is considered in relation to the required area of the earth’s surface and its biocapacity. The modern
requirements of mobility and consumption are added to the archaic requirements of human existence,
dwelling and food (remember Heidegger’s analysis of the concept “buan”). All four sectors of the footprint are
about equal in size in the industrialized world. The central conclusions of the report are: “If the current increase
in the world population, industrialization, pollution, food production and exploitation of natural
resources continues unchanged, the absolute limits of growth on earth will be reached within the next hundred
years”.
Evidente, Ralph Carlo T.
CHE 185-1