Zeitgeist

This idea was shared by Mill, “…a stationary condition of capital and population implies no stationary state of human improvement. There would be as much scope as ever for all kinds of mental culture, and moral and social progress; as much room for improving the Art of Living….” (5). Instead of focusing on economic growth, the steady-state says the government should focus on allowing intellectual growth and providing a higher standard of living. deplete up to the amount of the quota for each resource be auctioned off by the government, at the beginning of each time period conveniently divisible units, to private firms, individuals, and public enterprises” (4). Depletion quotas must be auctioned directly from the government to companies, allowing the government to restrict and directly control the output of the market. Steady-state economics takes the idea of equality further than other ideologies and argues that people are equal in all facets of society including economic. Steady-state economics advocates for economic equality citing continued economic growth as a way to ignore the inequality that persists in the current system (4). Herman Daly wrote, “For too long we have, in the name of positive science, evaded the ethical and moral issues of just distribution by hoping that growth would mean prosperity for all with sacrifice by none” (4). By prioritizing growth governments have failed to address economic inequality. To remedy this inequality, the steadystate advocates for a redistribution of wealth. In his journal article “Steady-State Economics versus Growthmania”, Daly wrote that “The principal moral precondition of the market system-limited inequality-is remedied by the institution of minimum and maximum limits to personal wealth and income. Some such limitation…is desirable on independent ethical grounds” (4). Economic equality is necessary to increase the standard of living for all citizens without solely increasing the GDP. Economic redistribution would bring everyone to a middle ground whereas continued GDP growth increases everyone’s wealth but does not address the massive disparities that exist in the current state (4). Though wide scale implementation of a steady-state has yet to be seen in the world, the introduction of a PAGE 28 VOL. 1, NO. 1 ZEITGEIST The theory of steady-state economics argues that an active government is necessary to preserve the environment and sustain society. The steady-state theory advocates for government restrictions on resource use through the implementation of depletion quotas (4). To maintain a steady-state, there must be restrictions as to the quantity of resources that companies have access to and are allowed to use. If a government limits the amount of resources that are taken from the earth they can directly limit the amount of goods that are produced. Herman Daly explained how depletion quotas would function as follows, “Let legal rights to A portrait of John Stuart Mill.

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