(The question “Do We Have To Limit Growth To Save The Planet?” was posed to sustainability expert Frances Moore Lappe by the Corporate Social Responsibility’s Talk Back Blog.)

By Frances Moore Lappé

We humans create the world according to ideas we hold. Our biggest ideas, our frames, determine what we can see and what we can’t. Ultimately, they will decide whether we can turn our beautiful planet toward life…or not.

Two frames I increasingly hear are “Because growth is killing the planet, we need no-growth;” and “We’ve hit the limits of a finite earth.”

Hmm.

“Growth” sounds pretty good to my ears, especially when I consider the opposite: shrink, shrivel, decline, decrease, die. So it’s hard to visualize excited crowds waving “No-growth NOW!” placards!

The danger in this frame goes far beyond its lack of sex appeal. The real danger is what it leaves unchallenged: the assumption that today’s economy is in fact defined by “growth” — ever-expanding abundance.

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