Imagine a community of a thousand individuals. Within that community, there is a baker, butcher and tailor. For the sake of simplicity, they all sell a thousand pieces per day/week/month. But these thousand pieces are not evenly divided among the community. Some have two, three or even more per person, while others have to share them. Consequently, the idea is raised to grow the production by three percent a year, so everyone can have access to one piece per day/week/month. After 10 years, this three-percent increase means production has grown by a third, while after less than 14 years, it has increased by half. After 23 years – the span of a human generation – production stands at twice the amount, for a population that has grown to less than 1,070 individuals. That is an excess of over 900 pieces per person. Remarkably, despite the doubling, most people still do not obtain one piece a day. Others simply obtained more, while some of the produce goes to waste.
The eighth UN Sustainable Development Goal is all about growth and reads as follows:
- Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.
Certainly from the 1950s onwards, growth has traditionally been considered as a panacea for virtually all human needs. All over the world, political action revolves around growing the economy, no matter the cost. Since 1950, the World Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has increased more than fivefold. Despite this incredible growth, the benefits of this increase have not been evenly spread. On the contrary, the World Inequality Report 2026 states it clearly: “The world is extremely unequal.” This inequality began to take gigantic proportions between 1988 and 2008, when more than half of the total increase in global income was pocketed by just five percent of the total population. In stark contrast, half of the planet only managed to obtain 11 percent of this increase. This trend only worsened, because as of 2026, the top 10 percent of the world’s income-earners earn more than the remaining 90 percent, while the poorest 50 percent earn less than 10 percent. Although this inequality is more profound along the north-south divide, it exists everywhere. CEO Jackpot Day is when CEOs of Belgium’s 20 largest listed companies on the stock market earn the equivalent of a median worker’s annual salary. In 2026, this was the eighth day of January.
Civil society naturally contains networks of publishers of all manner, but so do the places where books can be found. Firstly, there is the place where readers can physically buy books. Many a book lover will fondly explore a newly printed novel or scientific paper- or hardback, or enjoy the hunt for a treasure buried on a (dusty) shelf in a second-hand bookstore. Antiquarians are in a league of their own. Secondly, and a vital part of the joy of reading worldwide, are libraries. For many children, but also adults, public libraries are a fountain of knowledge, the place where they can discover a world beyond the borders of the place they call home. Despite the internet breaking down barriers in many ways, a book shows the world in a different manner. A book can cast a spell on its readers, ignite a lifelong fascination and instil a profound respect for the unknown. Public libraries give an individual the opportunity to travel the world from the safety of one’s armchair.
Not all librarians work in a public library though. The database of the Yearbook of International Organizations testifies to that. Not only are librarians grouped along regional and continental lines, but every possible field of interest has its own library association: academic; agricultural; botanical and horticultural; catholic; environment; Jewish; law; medical; music; parliamentary; peace; school; theological; etc. Books are everywhere. Some museums not only have a themed book shop, but also house a small library where researchers or any interested individual can study the museum’s main focus.
Wealth is even more unequally spread. The wealthiest 0.001 percent – less than 60,000 multi-millionaires – own three times as much as half of the world. There was one day this year, when one man owned as much as 3.8 billion people, that is 46 percent of all people on this planet. The concentration of wealth is both persistent and accelerating.
Needless to say, voices are raised to call out this imbalance. Especially economists, such as Olivier De Schutter, Kate Raworth and Jason Hickel, to name but a few, are actively participating in the debate. It is their research that demonstrates unequivocally that a quarter of all the labour rendered worldwide does not benefit the workers, nor the community, let alone the planet. It is only to make rich people richer. They are labelling the current economy divisive and degenerative and are even calling ‘growth’ ‘a doomed strategy’. They all agree that underdeveloped countries still need growth to meet human needs. The problem, however, is with highly developed countries, which suffer from such a high level of consumerism that it is just not sustainable. To put it simply, while some countries still need to grow their economy, others are depleting the planet’s resources at such a fast rate that future generations will be left with none. Looking at carbon emissions, the richest one percent emits a 100 times more than 50 percent of the entire world. The balance is totally unhinged.
As political leaders still rigorously recite the growth mantra, civil society can lead the change, especially since that change will have to come from within the system. It is no secret that the realisation that growth may not be the answer is still a taboo within UN circles. It is also true that large UN bodies such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund disproportionately favour rich countries in their voting system, which leaves poorer countries with no voice to address the crippling debts they have to repay by exploiting their own resources and providing cheap labour.
Economists are advocating change and an end to limitless growth, but while some are proposing a stagnation of growth (the S-curve), others favour degrowth. Still, the solutions offered are remarkably the same and their ideas are reflected in civil society. Some of the longest-functioning associations in the field are those campaigning on debt. The urgency of the current economy’s impact on the planet is given attention by associations working on ecological economics or bioeconomy. There are organizations working on social justice or adequate wages. Some focus on tax justice to specifically focus on the startling fact that some multi-millionaires pay less tax than a nurse. There is an International Degrowth Network. Economists too establish new associations to ‘rethink’ economics or measure the growing inequality worldwide. The School for Moral Ambition, lastly, aims to bring together idealists and brilliant minds to tackle the world’s critical issues.
About 10 percent of today’s world lives in extreme destitution. At the same time, watches are manufactured for the price of 800,000 Swiss Francs for the happy few to wear. Every summer, governments ask ordinary people to limit water use, yet a caviar company is granted a licence to use 438 million litres of water a year, as much as 12,000 people: a vital and basic product lost for the luxury of some. The decadence and imbalance are so engrained in the current economic system that it can never be ‘inclusive and sustainable’. Economists worldwide are developing a ‘roadmap for eradicating poverty beyond growth’. It is up to those brilliant minds to have the moral ambition to deliver just that.
Issue #25 – September 2026