Rethinking Success
Why GDP Growth is a Dangerous Obsession
Growth often seems like progress. But when it happens without consideration of the system as a whole, it becomes the opposite. Unrestricted growth becomes destructive, regressive, and ultimately threatens the life of the host.
Take a cancer cell for example. It grows exponentially, rapidly multiplying without limit, eventually overtaking healthy cells and destabilizing the body. What any cell would call “progress” quickly becomes a threat to the ecosystem when left unchecked.
This same concept applies to our society’s obsession with measuring economic success through GDP (Gross Domestic Product), which tracks economic growth without considering its impact on society or the environment. We define “success” as GDP Growth.
Like the cancer cell that “succeeds” to the point of killing its host, the pursuit of endless GDP Growth will eventually kill our host and ourselves in the process.
Earth may continue to exist as a celestial body. But it will be unlivable for us. We are the cancer cell whose definition of success is suicide.
This is where Doughnut Economics offers a different perspective. It helps us move beyond GDP Growth. Instead of focusing solely on economic growth, it emphasizes the importance (and challenge) of living within ecological…
