One of the key drivers of the globalised
modern economy has been cheap and convenient energy, particularly oil, with
governments and industry seeing low cost supplies as critical to economic
growth.
Despite the energy crisis of the 1970s, there is optimism that, driven
by technological developments, market forces and human ingenuity there will be
no shortage of supplies: further finds will come on stream, supplemented by
alternative energy to lead us into a 22nd century of continuous growth.
This is
supported by the media and through popular culture that reinforces these false
narratives, sometimes in the implicit messages of literature and films.
Especially significant are the blockbuster Hollywood movies that are watched by
millions worldwide and visualise this ideal world we are supposed to aspire to,
one of masculine individuality and advanced technology, as promoted in one of
the most popular films of 2015, Star Wars: The Force Awakens. My research suggests that incorrect assumptions about growth and development are fed by
these myths and we will not see endless progress but more likely economic contraction. or de-growth. and we need to prepare for this and indeed embrace it.
But popularising alternative approaches to economic thought will
require challenging the orthodoxy using similar means to the messages imbedded in films and novels. Rather than developing
rational arguments explaining resource depletion or the consequences of
unsustainable growth, ideas associated with de-growth need to be communicated
through equally compelling narratives.
One thought is to revisit an earlier
period in European history and re-evaluate its features without the bias of
current neoliberal ideology: that maybe now is the time to re-assess the
so-called Dark Ages of the early medieval period. A pre-industrial time of low energy consumption and strong communities. Where fossil fuels were barely touched and manufacturing was done in small workshops not factories. When people were still in tune with the seasons and natural world.
Though maybe the name lacks appeal: something like the Enlightened Dark Age might help. Or perhaps we should forget the negative associations and enjoy the notion of being in the dark: a cosy world of fewer possessions with a slower pace. A future where we look at the stars in clear, pollution-free skies, rather than travelling to them.