Devoir d'anglais: King Charles versus Trussonomics

« DM, EC1 King Charles versus Trussonomics Economic growth: the cause of, and solution to, all life’s problems “Harmony: a new way of Looking At The World” is an arresting read.

Published in 2010, the book by Prince Charles, now King Charles, is a peculiar work stretching from ecology to economics, via ancient philosophy and sacred geometry.

At times Charles comes across as a regal Jordan Peterson, who researched symbolism before switching to life advice for teenage boys.

(...) Mankind is on a path to misery, expanding Gross Domestic Product1 at the expense of the environment, argues Charles.

An addiction to consumption leaves people stressed.

GDP is a 20th-century measure in a 21st-century world.

Unfortunately for the new king, a person who takes the opposite view now sits in Downing Street. Liz Truss has made growth the be-all of her premiership.

Boosting trend growth to 2.5% per year, as the government intends, may be a bloodless cry.

But it is a loud one.

Speaking at the United Nations in New York, Ms Truss hailed GDP as the route to power as well as prosperity, with democracies able to fend o the likes of Vladimir Putin only if they become richer.

For Charles, economic growth is the problem.

For the prime minister, it is the solution. Some aspects of the Carolean view are reasonable.

Boosting the economy while ignoring environmental harm would be bonkers.

Charles notes that increases in GDP stop correlating with increased happiness above a certain level.

Sometimes the problem is the messenger more than the message.

Arguing that there is more to life than money is a platitude.

It is, however, a strange sentiment from a man who lives in a palace. Ms Truss takes a hard-nosed view of increasing wealth.

Charles approvingly quotes Gandhi at his most trite: “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony”.

By contrast, during the leadership campaign, Ms Truss said: “Happiness is a faster-growing private sector than public sector.” The prime minister’s line is unlikely to end up on a fridge magnet, but it is at least feasible. Consumption is a cause of our ills, argues Charles: “Poverty, stress and ill health…seem reluctant to respond to the cure of yet more consumption.” Economic growth has failed to alleviate these symptoms, he laments. Ms Truss sees consumption as the cure.

It is such a fundamental aspect of her ideology that, even with the possibility of blackouts this winter, the government dares not ask people to turn down their thermostats and throw on jumpers.

“Ever since I can remember, the environment has been presented as something worthy,” complained Ms Truss in a speech she made while environment secretary in 2014.

(...) Ms Truss is right that unless Britain boosts its lousy growth rate, decline will follow.

But the unelected monarch is, unfortunately, with the people in opposing the measures that would do just that.

Strict planning laws make it di cult to build, which is just the way voters want it.

Ms Truss cheered as towers sprang up across Britain’s cities; Charles led a popular backlash against them.

Many voters like to say, as he did, that they are happy to give up on growth if it means a greener future. Politicians of all stripes console themselves with the notion that Britons voted to leave the eu in 2016 because they were misled by other, less upstanding politicians.

“No one voted to be poorer,” runs the refrain.

A scarier possibility is that people knew perfectly well what they voted for.

Brexit will create a smaller economy, but voters simply did not care.

Palace-dwellers are not the only people who are insulated from economic shocks.

Home-owning pensioners are pretty well protected, too.

(...) 605 words Sep 22nd 2022, economist.com 1 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) = Produit Intérieur Brut (PIB) Lycée Chaptal • • I. DM, EC1 Nom : PAULEUS Prénom : Dora Version Translate from “Consumption is a cause of our ills” to “in opposing the measures that would do just that.” Please, answer on the handout provided La consommation est une cause de nos inconvénients, affirme Charles : « La pauvreté, le stress et la mauvaise santé… semblent réticents à réagir pour la guérison d’encore plus de consommation.

» La croissance économique n'a pas réussi à atténuer les symptômes, déplore-t-il.

Mme Truss voit la consommation comme le remède.

C'est un aspect tellement fondamental de son idéologie que, même avec la possibilité de coupures de courant cet hiver, le gouvernement n'ose pas demander aux gens de baisser leurs thermostats et d’enfiler des pulls.

« D’aussi loin que je me souvienne, l'environnement a été présenté comme quelque chose de valable, » s’est.... »