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Sun Jan 17 01:13:10 CET 2016

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GTN Colleagues:

The point of departure for our JANUARY DISCUSSION is the new GTI Viewpoint
=E2=80=9CWhy We Consume: Neural Design and Sustainability=E2=80=9D by Peter=
 Sterling.
Please find it and read it at
www.greattransition.org/publication/why-we-consume.

A recurrent theme of recent discussions has been the growth imperative of
the capitalist system and ways to transcend it. But growth in output would
have been a recipe for overproduction and stagnation (=E2=80=9Crealization =
crises=E2=80=9D)
had the demand side of the economic equation not expanded apace. Indeed,
Keynes, Schumpeter, and Marx=E2=80=94for different reasons=E2=80=94all beli=
eved
productivity increases would outpace demand growth, thereby subverting the
long-term viability of capitalism. Keynes welcomed that destiny as an
opportunity for fashioning a post-scarcity society, Schumpeter rued it as
an inevitable segue to some kind of state socialism, and Marx saw deep
structural crises as fuel for proletarian revolution.

Of course, history has not been kind to these prognoses. Despite episodic
stagnation crises, consumer demand kept ballooning, postponing the day of
reckoning. What drives this seeming insatiability of wants beyond basic
material needs? As a neuroscientist, Peter Sterling draws on contemporary
research to diagnose the roots of consumerism in the way the brain works,
and to limn lessons for the project of transcending it.

Now, a number of you have been looking at the problem of consumerism=E2=80=
=94and
prospects for =E2=80=9Csustainable consumption=E2=80=9D=E2=80=94through com=
plementary windows of
perception, stressing, inter alia, sociological pressures, psychological
needs, cultural influences, and economic manipulations. What resonances or
dissonances do you see between your own perspective and Sterling=E2=80=99s =
emphasis
on neural design?

IN PRAISE OF BREVITY: GTI exchanges benefit enormously from expansive
comments, but concise, pointed comments or questions are equally
appreciated! Please do not hesitate to weigh in.

Comments are welcome through FEBRUARY 2.

Friends, 2015 witnessed some hopeful developments for a GT, but also all
too many reminders that =E2=80=9Cwe have no time for the tranquilizing drug=
 of
gradualism=E2=80=9D (Martin Luther King, Jr.). Perhaps our dialogue will ri=
pple out
further and faster in the coming year, and enrich the multifarious efforts
of this remarkable assemblage. All of us here wish all of you a healthy and
meaningful New Year.

Looking forward,
Paul Raskin
GTI Director

NOTE ON GTI=E2=80=99S PUBLICATION CYCLE:
GTN discussions occur in ODD-NUMBERED months, and GTI publishes in
EVEN-NUMBERED months. Each discussion takes up a new essay or viewpoint
prior to its publication. After the discussion closes, GTI publishes and
distributes the piece, along with comments drawn from the discussion and a
response from the author. You can review all GTN discussions at
www.greattransition.org/forum/gti-forum.

-----
Hit reply to post a message
Or see thread and reply online at
www.greattransition.org/forum/gti-discussions/172-why-we-consume-neural-des=
ign-and-sustainability/1468

Need help? Email jcohn at tellus.org

-------------------------------------------------------
Hit reply to post a message
Or see thread and reply online at
http://www.greattransition.org/forum/gti-discussions/172-why-we-consume-neu=
ral-design-and-sustainability/1471

Need help? Email jcohn at tellus.org

--=20
Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: http://commonstransition.org

P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net  - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net

<http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Update=
s:
http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens

#82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/

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<div dir=3D"ltr"><br><div class=3D"gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded messag=
e ----------<br>From: <b class=3D"gmail_sendername">Great Transition Networ=
k</b> <span dir=3D"ltr">&lt;<a href=3D"mailto:gtnetwork at greattransition.org=
">gtnetwork at greattransition.org</a>&gt;</span><br>Date: Sat, Jan 16, 2016 a=
t 12:09 AM<br>Subject: Why We Consume: Neural Design and Sustainability (GT=
N Discussion)<br>To: <a href=3D"mailto:michelsub2004 at gmail.com">michelsub20=
04 at gmail.com</a><br><br><br><br>