Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Madsen Pirie
“There is an aesthetic and romantic tradition, a very old strand of thought predating socialism, and going back through Ruskin and Morris to Romantic-era reactions against industrialization. It simply finds modernity ugly, hurried, and spiritually depleting. Smallholding, craft, and seasonal eating have a genuine appeal to people who feel that modern life has lost something. This is not quite an argument, it is a sensibility which should not be dismissed. There are real questions about meaning and community in industrial modernity, but it tends to romanticize pre-industrial poverty selectively. Institutional capture has boosted the degrowth movement because much of its language now comes from NGOs, international bodies, and academic departments that have strong incentives to find crises requiring their management.” (06/25/26)