The problem with "unlimited" growth

Yesterday, I shared with you an article about the current ecological crisis by Bill Moyers. Today I have just stumbled upon a response to that article by Stan Cox entitled, "Look Deeper, Mr. Moyers" that outlines the economic reasons behind the crisis.

Moyers is right: It "sends a shiver down the spine." But the Earth was headed down a highway to hell long before Bush was elected or the Armageddon Clock started up. Triumphant capitalism, performing precisely to specifications, is showing itself fully capable of pulling off an ecological apocalypse, with or without the help of superstitious scripture-twisters.

When it comes to shining a light on some of the most alarming outgrowths of capitalism, Moyers is a master. But in going after the Bush administration's scorched-Earth environmental policies, its "multinational corporate cronies", and those hallucinatory crackpots brandishing their biblical licenses to plunder, he missed the root cause of the problem: capitalism's addiction to perpetual growth.

Growth: the sacred bull in the china shop.

Cox continues by outlining the tenants of something called ecological economics. I recommend the article. I also strongly believe that we need to stop making capitalism into a religion that we defend with a fanatic's zeal. We need to start thinking outside the traditional capitalist box as a people if we're going to save our world.