A lot of this overall discussion and its acceptance will hinge on words and perception. My fear with the word sufficiency is the same as with the word degrowth: that they are easily twisted into different meanings and accompanying conspiracy theories. This happened with "defund the police" and is happening with degrowth. Building upon th…
A lot of this overall discussion and its acceptance will hinge on words and perception. My fear with the word sufficiency is the same as with the word degrowth: that they are easily twisted into different meanings and accompanying conspiracy theories. This happened with "defund the police" and is happening with degrowth. Building upon the "de" part of the word, people are contorting the latter into a recipe for economic disaster, among other things.
It's not a leap to see people complaining that, by advocating sufficiency, we are trying to control their lives. And sufficiency, though it makes conceptual sense to us, will not be seen as an appealing goal.
Your phrase "less but better" is a step in the right direction. Similarly, I've sometimes talked in terms of "better is better than more." And for degrowth, I prefer something like real growth - avoiding using a negative and unrelatable term. Yes, it's just PR and semantics, but it can make or break a proposal, especially in this world of disinformation that can twist the '15 minute city' into a conspiracy theory.
A lot of this overall discussion and its acceptance will hinge on words and perception. My fear with the word sufficiency is the same as with the word degrowth: that they are easily twisted into different meanings and accompanying conspiracy theories. This happened with "defund the police" and is happening with degrowth. Building upon the "de" part of the word, people are contorting the latter into a recipe for economic disaster, among other things.
It's not a leap to see people complaining that, by advocating sufficiency, we are trying to control their lives. And sufficiency, though it makes conceptual sense to us, will not be seen as an appealing goal.
Your phrase "less but better" is a step in the right direction. Similarly, I've sometimes talked in terms of "better is better than more." And for degrowth, I prefer something like real growth - avoiding using a negative and unrelatable term. Yes, it's just PR and semantics, but it can make or break a proposal, especially in this world of disinformation that can twist the '15 minute city' into a conspiracy theory.