Slow Down - BOOKS.HCCP.ORG

288 pages

English language

Published Jan. 1, 2024 by Astra House.

ISBN:: 9781662602726

(1 review)

Why, in our affluent society, do so many people live in poverty, without access to health care, working multiple jobs and are nevertheless unable to make ends meet, with no future prospects, while the planet is burning?

In his international bestseller, Kohei Saito argues that while unfettered capitalism is often blamed for inequality and climate change, subsequent calls for “sustainable growth” and a “Green New Deal” are a dangerous compromise. Capitalism creates artificial scarcity by pursuing profit based on the value of products rather than their usefulness and by putting perpetual growth above all else. It is therefore impossible to reverse climate change in a capitalist society—more: the system that caused the problem in the first place cannot be an integral part of the solution.

Instead, Saito advocates for degrowth and deceleration, which he conceives as the slowing of economic activity through the democratic reform of labor and production. In …

Why, in our affluent society, do so many people live in poverty, without access to health care, working multiple jobs and are nevertheless unable to make ends meet, with no future prospects, while the planet is burning?

In his international bestseller, Kohei Saito argues that while unfettered capitalism is often blamed for inequality and climate change, subsequent calls for “sustainable growth” and a “Green New Deal” are a dangerous compromise. Capitalism creates artificial scarcity by pursuing profit based on the value of products rather than their usefulness and by putting perpetual growth above all else. It is therefore impossible to reverse climate change in a capitalist society—more: the system that caused the problem in the first place cannot be an integral part of the solution.

Instead, Saito advocates for degrowth and deceleration, which he conceives as the slowing of economic activity through the democratic reform of labor and production. In practical terms, he argues for:

the end of mass production and mass consumption
decarbonization through shorter working hours
the prioritization of essential labor over corporate profits

By returning to a system of social ownership, he argues, we can restore abundance and focus on those activities that are essential for human life, effectively reversing climate change and saving the planet.

1 edition

kevin reviewed Slow Down by Brian Bergstrom

Not a strong thinker

2 stars

Enjoyed this light read. Saito comes off as extraordinarily delusional and dumb when he ends the book with "this is meant to be a version of Capital for this new era." This book is an airport read. The ideas in even the first few chapters of Capital are far deeper and more important than anything you'll find here. Saito's arguments are paper thin at best. That said, I agree with some of them, and do find the vision of degrowth communism invigorating. But we'll need much stronger thinkers to build the real strategy to achieve it, thinkers who are not afraid to learn positive lessons from Lenin, Mao, and other successful revolutionaries. Saito is unfortunately a severe anticommunist who believes himself to be the first person to understand Marx and who seemingly wants to throw out all Marxist thought other than his own.