Limits to Growth 50 Years Later Ukraine, Inflation, Depletion & the Urgent Need for Systems Change

Panel on 50th Anniversary of Limits to Growth

It has been 50 years since the Limits to Growth (LtG) report, sponsored by the Club of Rome, became one of the top-selling environmental titles ever published, with more than 30 million copies sold in 30 languages. In the early 1970s, MIT's Jay Forrester assembled a team of up-and-coming experts in the emergent field of complex systems that included Donella Meadows, Dennis Meadows, Jørgen Randers, and William Behrens III to uncover the system dynamics of what would happen if humanity allowed unconstrained population and economic growth in a biophysically finite planet. 50 years later, humanity is faced with increasing ecological and social crises that merit revisiting the warnings in LtG to envision and realize systems change that can enable us to achieve a just sustainability transformation to a right-sized economy in this decade of action.

L4E's Rigo Melgar leads a panel discussion with Charles Hall, Nate Hagens, Marta Ceroni and Joshua Farley.

[stevefitt]

I bought the 1st paper back edition of "Limits". It and "Population Bomb" moved me to change my life path. For that I've been shunned. I lived small and had no children. I retired to Thailand to stretch $2000/mo of Soc. Sec for 2 people. I'm living here OK. I really tried to change people in my own small way, but I failed. Everyone else on my side also failed, obviously. The world ignored us for 50 years. Now, it can't ignore the disasters that are piling up, and getting worse. I told them so. They chose not to listen.

[timeenoughforart]

Fifty years ago we passed most modern environmental acts and the first energy shortage had people aware of resource limits. Silent Spring was fresh in our minds and I got to watch the Bald Eagles recover. I was going to college to study environmental architecture and then we elected Reagan. Hundreds of small solar companies went out of business over night. It became obvious to me architecture was just going to be a corporate puppet and I didn't want to build banks. We spent our days snorting cocaine in hot tubs and counting our 401k's. I changed my studies to chasing women and alcoholism. Now we just had Trump and I was reading today he leads Biden in the poles. Hope is delusional. Unless you are like me and hope this culture collapses soon enough that a few ecosystems survive.

[derekmiller]

The last speaker was off her game
Otherwise, great informative

[donniemoder]

The sound quality is so poor, I can't listen to this .

[angamaitesangahyando]

Yes, the Western élites totally ignore the reality of finite resources, but so do you ignore the reality of European replacement. Something that both Ukrainians and Russians are laughing at you for, but which is an utter taboo for English-speakers. Boring.
- Adûnâi

[chaptertravels]

Unlimited affordable energy really throws a monkey wrench into your Doomer fantasy.