Richard Case
Special to the Tribune Advisor
Hooked on Growth, a film from Growthbusters is next up on the Transition Town Group’s discussion night schedule.
The 54 minute film Hooked on Growth is the quintessential David versus Goliath story, starring modern-day filmmaker David (yes, his real name) Gardner in his autobiographical crusade against industrial civilization’s prevailing and largely unquestioned myth that growth is good, whether it’s populations or economies.
As he points out, infinite growth ultimately doesn’t work on a finite planet. Things run out.
Bucking the tide, our crusader runs for city council in his hometown of Colorado Springs, pointing out to his constituency how continuing development and resource-use actually ends up costing the city more than the increase in revenues.
The film is thoroughly sprinkled with experts from the likes of Paul Ehrlich (The Population Bomb), Bill McKibben (The End of Nature), Bill Rees (inventor of the Ecological Footprint), Chris Martenson (The Crash Course), and many more. Outrageous humour is used to show that the growth imperative needs to be stopped and that in fact, it will be stopped — either voluntarily, or when planetary limits slam humans against the wall, as happens with any population that overshoots its environmental base.
Hooked on Growth will be shown on Monday, Jan. 27 starting at 6:30 p.m. in the Central Cariboo Arts Centre. Doors open at 6 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m.
Thirty new books and films have been added to the Transition Town library.