This past summer, we experienced some of the hottest temperatures ever recorded. Wildfires ravaged Canada. California saw its first hurricane in sixty years. Scientists say that we are in the middle of a mass extinction event.

All the while, GDP, which has been repeatedly linked to carbon emissions and material extraction, continues to increase with the full backing of all of the world’s most influential economic actors. Why is this? GDP continues to grow despite all signs pointing to collapse because of the prevailing economic system – capitalism. Capitalism lives off growth, and without growth capitalism falls into crisis.

First, it is clear that we must stop economic growth – we must degrow. Degrowth is a movement which calls for reducing our material consumption while redirecting existing material use towards human needs and flourishing. This is incompatible with capitalism. Under capitalism, reduced material use leads to what little material is left being consumed by the people who already can meet their basic needs and more – in short, the capitalist class. On top of this, multinational corporations drain the Global South of economic resources all while paying their workers pitiful wages and forcing them to work in pitiful conditions. Under capitalism, cost-cutting is the name of the game – the less you have to compensate workers and the environment, the higher the profits and the more “entrepreneurial success”.

So how do we achieve equitable degrowth? Furman YDSA believes that this can only be achieved through a democratically planned economy. A democratic economy allows for things to be produced for concrete needs rather than abstract money-values and profit margins by making the conscious input of human beings, not price signals, the determining factor. The goal is to redesign our economy to be able to thrive within biophysical limits and reprioritize what we value; cherishing human health and prosperity over unneeded material or social objects. Degrowth requires placing money at the bottom of the hierarchy of these values. In order for this to work, there needs to be a collective transformative social change, starting with the nations that are leading in consumptive practices.

Higher-education is among these transgressors. Furman University claims to want to create a Climate Action Plan to mitigate their carbon footprint. But how much of this is genuine commitment and how much is hand-waving? Biodiversity is a critical factor of the climate crisis that is creating cascading effects around the globe. Furman itself contributes to this ongoing emergency through our useless landscaping endeavors. Our notion of keeping our lawns pristine and well-kept is an extractivist and harmful practice that must be stopped. A lawn-mower emits more carbon than most cars, and implementing mono-culture practices have detrimental effects on the ecosystems of Furman. Using a non-native, invasive grass species forces out the native animals and plants that help our ecosystem thrive.

Ideas like degrowth and a democratically planned economy are massive changes to the way we are currently operating. It may seem like too tall of a task for any of us to try to accomplish. As college students, it probably is. But what we can do is lay the ground-work for something bigger. Right here, and right now at Furman we can start the process of changing the suicidal system that is destroying our Earth. To be able to eventually stop harmful growth across our whole economic system, we must do something to stop harmful growth where we can, at Furman.

With our 2023-2024 campaign, we propose that we as a Furman community put together a democratically elected committee of students, faculty, and staff to oversee our ecological impact and to not only establish but also enforce our next Climate Action Plan. We are advocating for the disclosing of Furman’s financial investments, and the divestment of funds from the fossil fuel industry. We are advocating for wide reform of the landscaping of our campus, moving from a country club style of landscaping to that of a national park. Unless we start making significant changes, we as a species are doomed to extinction. Join us as we fight for the right of all people to a safe and just planet.