Everyone knows you can't stop progress. Growth is our icon, our mantra, our grail. We sift through the economic indicators, looking, hoping, for signs of growth. Our town could solve its problems, if it could attract more growth. Environmental regulations should not be allowed to slow growth.
Development means to get better, growth means to get bigger.
Growth of food for the hungry is good, as long as the earth can support it. Growth of fishing boats in an overfished territory is a disaster. A light bulb that gives the same light using one-eighth as much electricity means negative growth worth celebrating. The planet Earth develops, diversifies, evolves. It does not grow.