I've come to believe that ecological healing is -- more than technological innovation -- about changing the narratives of humanity. And indeed, scarcity is one of the most powerful stories we've been telling about the world. From economic textbooks to resource depletion, we are constantly told that the planet is running out, we are running out, it's time to sacrifice.

It might sound counterintuitive, but the pursuit of degrowth is essentially the pursuit of an abundance mindset. If we face the world with gratitude and take what we need and what we're given, rather than what we impulsively desire, we will see that the world is indeed incredibly abundant.

That is not to say that scarcity doesn't exist. On an individual level, scarcity is very real. Entrapped in an exploitative system where private riches are expanding every second at the expense of public wealth, many injustices are prevalent. But if we all collectively viewed the world as abundant and healed from our narratives of scarcity, we could create systemic changes that lead to a more equitable society.

I still have so much thoughts around this, that need a future longform blog post to be fleshed out. But for now, here's today's rabbit hole.

Some resources I found helpful:

• Book by degrowth scholar Giogos Kallis, dedicated to the matter: “Limits: Why Malthus Was Wrong and Why Environmentalists Should Care”
• Brilliant paper by Jason Hickel, “Degrowth: a Theory of Radical Abundance”
• Essay by anthropologist Jerome Lewis that particularly highlights the abundance mindset that 'Yaka' hunter gatherers in Congo upheld in relation to the scarcity mindset of today, “Managing Abundance, Not Chasing Scarcity: The Real Challenge for the 21st Century”
• Shorter, introductory article on Medium: “Scarcity is a state of mind — introducing economies of abundance”