Serious literary fiction about growth

Khazoom! New Zealand's Finance Minister, Jane Austen, and me.

ONCE UPON A TIME a tree-feller would wake early each morning, eat a satisfying breakfast of eggs on toast, then travel to his workplace. Armed only with an axe he would chop down two trees: one before his packed lunch and the other by home time. It was hard physical work. In the evening he would collapse exhausted into bed.

So, one day, the company owner invested in a chainsaw to replace the feller’s axe. The chainsaw’s motor gave an arousing throb and a ring-a-ding-ding as it sawed through the bark and heart of easily ten trees in one day. The feller barely noticed the oily stink of its exhaust (eventually) and the motor holler that muted birdsong. He still collapsed into bed that night, but he wasn’t quite so sore and tired.

The feller and the owner were delighted. From that day on, the feller finished his working week on Monday at 5pm and didn’t return till he was thoroughly refreshed the following Monday at 8am.

THE END.

Not really.

The company owner still demanded the tree-feller work every weekday for the same wages. The increased profits were invested in more tree-fellers also armed with chainsaws.

Khazoom! Growth.

The phenomenon in this story has a name

The above very serious piece of literature (authored by me) illustrates the Khazoom-Brookes Postulate.(1) When technology increases our efficiency, we use the increased profit and productivity to do more stuff in the same amount of time.

Who won? The company owner.

What about the tree-feller? Meh. Not especially.

Who lost? The forest. And every living thing that depends on it.(2) Not that you’d know, because these losses won’t be recorded in the company’s accounting.

Growth = energy + resources

Regardless how crazy, sexy, cool our technology tools are (for example, AI), the hunger for economic growth today is so strong we will channel profits to produce more. And the reality is that growth demands energy and resources.

At first the tree-feller’s workday was fuelled by breakfast and a midday sammy. But his greater productivity was fed by more energy (fuel for the chainsaw) and more resources (eight extra trees per day).

That’s the formula: Growth = Energy + Resources.

The BS of growth all the time

In May 2025, New Zealand’s Finance Minister delivered a budget affectionately referred to (by some) as “the Growth Budget”. The minister herself, Nicola Willis, called it the “no BS budget”.

Pardon?

Thank goodness I studied Jane Austen as an undergraduate.(3) She taught me irony. Minister Willis studied English Literature too, so she must’ve crossed paths with Austen too. Or did she?

Because, the thing is, we live on a finite planet. If humans continue producing more and more stuff indefinitely—because growth!—then eventually Earth’s ability to provide resources will run out.

The concept of “running out of something” isn’t rocket science. I get it, you get it, children get it. Even my dog gets it.

But “it” gets forgotten—lost in a maze of political double-speak and economic beliefs repeated for decades. Governments and commentators blether on about the importance of growth, which the bletherers imply must continue forever, ignoring the simple, inconvenient truth that…it can’t.

Infinite growth = BS.

Where does hope for a sustainable future live?

I once wrote about Doughnut Economics, a sweet economic system that doesn’t depend on growth. Instead, it aims to nurture flourishing lives through social, environmental, and economic justice. (Unrealistic? Only equal to or less than “infinite growth”, but potentially much, much better.)

The collective hunger for economic growth appears inescapable. But the right knowledge gives everyday people the power to peel back layers of BS to reveal simple truths. Knowledge helps us vote for politicians who also call out BS. And it opens our minds to considering what a post-growth society might be like.

One that’s solarpunk good.

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1. Less Is More by Jason Hickel, p154

2. That’s you and me too, by the way.

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicola_Willis. So if Minister Willis can direct the Government’s spending, surely I can opine about it.

Credit: Me, 25 July 2025, 3:44pm - A sleepy seal agrees that some of the best days on Sumner beach in Ōtautahi-Christchurch are enjoyed in the middle of winter.

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