hn • r/hackernews
Comment on: After rising for 100 years, electricity demand is flat
The "growth imperative" is ... complicated. I wouldn't put the cause / blame / credit / fault entirely with capitalism, and I'd specifically exclude fractional-reserve lending[1]. At the same time, there is a clear tendency for a growth-at-all-costs mantra. Seems to me there are several dynamics at play.1. Given growth, redistribution is not as urgent.2. Redistribution is politically exceedingly unpopular ...3. Most especially with those who have the most wealth to redistibute. As Adam Smith wrote in one of his briefest sentences ever ...4. "Wealth, as Mr Hobbes says, is power."5. There's