Less Is More
by Jason Hickel, Fabio Galimberti, Paola Marangon · first published 2020
9mentions
7recommended by
9HN commenters
2021–2025first – last mentioned
78% recommend22% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Argues that endless economic growth conflicts with planetary limits and lays out degrowth ideas. It is thorough on definitions and suited to newcomers to the topic or readers seeking a deep dive.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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Reading this, I was getting vibes from another book I read recently: "Less Is More" by Jason Hickel, which I can recommend. A lot of the topics in this article like enclosure are covered in the book, with complementary conclusions drawn.
on “When we get Komooted” ↗About a year ago I stumbled upon the degrowth concept and subsequently picked up the book "Degrowth: Less is More" by Jason Hickel. For those unfamiliar with the term: "an infinite expansion of the economy is fundamentally contradictory to finite planetary boundaries".[1] There's been some of HN posts mentioning…
on “Ask HN: Is the world going to shit?” ↗For those interested in learning more about the agrowth perspective, and how investment in public commons can be a convincing solution I highly recommend Jason Hickel's work, specifically his book "Less is More". If you want the deep dive treatment I've just finished Thomas Piketty's "Capital and Ideology" and was very impressed with the thorough historical treatment. https://www.jasonhickel.org/less-is-more…
on “MIT Predicted Society Will Collapse in 2040. Research Shows We're on Schedule” ↗…lives, but it does also not ignore that particularly wasteful nations/lifestyles may need to live differently. Hickel and others who write on degrowth are mostly very clear about these definitions (and Less is More is exceedingly thorough on the matter), but obviously you have to read past the surface level to pick up some of the detail. That's not meant as a dig at you or to imply that you're not willing to do…
on “Mitsubishi Heavy to build biggest zero-carbon steel plant” ↗Reading a lot about it, which is harrowing on the one hand. On the other, it feels like a necessary first step. Recent interesting book: Less is More by Jason Hickel https://www.jasonhickel.org/less-is-more - all technological measures etc. will not help if we don‘t also find a way to get rid of the obsession with permanent economic growth.
on “Ask HN: What are you doing about climate change?” ↗Less is More by Jason Hickel and The Day the World Stops Shopping by JB MacKinnon to explain the true state of capitalism and why we never can work less despite being more productive, why wages have stagnated, and…
on “Ask HN: What Books Do You Recommend Reading for 2022?” ↗…existential threat of climate change and the main driver of the catastrophe (capitalism and perpetual growth) then you are wasting your (and your children's) time. An excellent book on what needs to be done is Less is More by Jason Hickel [2]. This is the only problem that matters since literally existence depends on solving it. The time for deep concern is over. Action is needed and it is needed now. Education, degrowth,…
on “Ask HN: Problems for the Next Decade” ↗> I would love renewable or fusion to cover all our needs, and keep my comfortable life as it is today I've been reading Jason Hickel's book "Less is More" [1], which talks a bit about energy use, in general, and how it must be reduced, regardless of what technologies we wind up with. And one of his points is examining how much energy is just flat-out wasted.…
on “Nuclear technology’s role in the world’s energy supply is shrinking” ↗…truth that we are reluctant to accept. Countries in the global north consume way too much energy, and countries in the global south consume way too little. This what Jason Hickel suggests in his book Less is More [0]. [0] https://www.jasonhickel.org/less-is-more
on “The operative system for a decarbonised, decentralised, digitised energy system” ↗