Since World War II, capitalist societies have become focussed on growth to avoid the dangers associated with the post World War I world economy. The prosperity of business has come to be seen as a necessity for general well being, mainly a process to be achieved through growth economics. Labour has sought to redistribute wealth through wage accords, joining business in the growth paradigm. Governments also perceive the increase of GNP and growth as progress and as a way to increase budgets and carry out programs. Our political system encourages emphasis on short term priorities.
Governments only have a few years between election campaigns to implement their policies.
This encourages the need for quick return investments creating problems which will only be felt by future generations. Limited growth is not the current focus of most governments who promote expansion, ignoring many environmental and social costs. Environmentalists base much of their argument on the notion of a finite world with definite limits to resources and the carrying capacity of the environment. Capitalist and socialist systems have embraced a growth and development model ignoring these limits. Both systems attempt to transform nature, to improve it, and to use production for the benefit of humans.