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Illusionists
Illusionists are those academics and leaders who make the impossible possible, by the sheer magic of the words, disconnected from reality.

Their tales are deceiving. They factually serve to continue the present trends of depletion and destruction of our environment.

This random collection of HOT-people's(*) quotes may spark debate on a different reality.
Illusionist Statement Reality principle
The BPE Compact* (0) "Sustainable Growth" All growth is material and finite.
H.E. Sheikha Lubna, quoted by Joost Pauwelyn, teacher at the Graduate Institute of Geneva (1) "How can we increase economic well-being and expand trade, while promoting the optimal use of the world’s energy resources and protecting and preserving our shared environment?" "Expansion of trade and economic wellbeing" and "preserving the environment" are incompatible, because economic growth and more trade both factually increase resource depletion.
Björn Stigson, president of the World Business Council for Sustanainable Development* (2) "...companies need to generate return for shareholders and create economic growth, jobs and investment." Companies must produce what people need and what can be sustained by the environment. Sustainability excludes growth. Shareholder value and jobs do not justify increased depletion rates of nature's resources. Feedback submitted to Mr Stigson
Ricardo Meléndez-Ortiz (3) Statement Reality principle
Pascal Lamy, Director-General of the WTO (4) Statement Reality principle
Edward B Barbier, from the American University od Wyoming, and his disciples (5) Statement Reality principle
Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director, UN Environment Programme (6) Statement Reality principle
Nick Beglinger, director of Swisscleantech, and his follower, Doris Leuthard, Swiss Federal Councillor (7) Statement Reality principle
Pascal Couchepin, ex Swiss Federal Councillor (8) "The stone age did not end because of a lack of stones". We will find new technologies so we can continue to grow.(*) Continued growth is impossible. Salvation by technology is a HOT-people idea.
Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity. (9) "we must continue growing"; we can't go back to the middle ages" Growth is a sucicidal ideology
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References
(0) "We need more growth": An endless number of public and private statements by the members of the Compact of Business, Politics and the discipline of Economics, the BPE Compact.
(1) Global Challenges at the Intersection of Trade, Energy and the Environment Edited by Joost Pauwelyn, 2010 p. viii ISBN: 978-1-907142-04-8 http://www.cepr.org/press/CTEI-CEPR.pdf
(2) The President's Blog, 10 March 2011: http://president.wbcsd.org/2011/01/welcome-to-the-turbulent-teens.html#more
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8) Pascal Couchepin at the Davos open Form in February 2008.
(9) Convention on Biological Diversity, CoP-10 Debriefing - 24 November 2010 at the International Environment House UNEP Geneva www.environmenthouse.ch www.environmenthouse.ch/docspublications/CBD_24.pdf

A shortlist of arguments in defence of growth

    In random order
  1. You're a pessimist!
  2. I'm an optimist.
  3. I'm crossing my fingers, hoping, praying, ...
  4. We've been told many times the world is lost and look we're still here.
  5. The Club of Rome was wrong
  6. People have always found a way to deal with the problems.
  7. We'll develop new technologies.
  8. We'll find new energy sources.
  9. We have renewable energies.
  10. There are still large amounts of resources, oil.
  11. They are hiding new technologies in the drawers.
  12. You're a communist, socialist, weirdo, ....
  13. You're too radical.
  14. One day humanity will die out anyway.
  15. The risk of a (traffic) accident is much higher than environmental collapse.
  16. There will still be people around, possible 500 million.
  17. There's still much space.
  18. It just all ideas in your head.
  19. You're agressive.
  20. People will never give up ...
  21. The leaders are only thinking of money.
  22. We can't stop population growth.
  23. Do you want to kill people to reduce population?
  24. We need a dictator.
  25. You're a green dictator.
  26. Malthus was wrong.
  27. Genetically modified crops will feed futur populations.
  28. The stone age did not finsih because of a lack of stones.
  29. We can't go back to the middle ages, to the stone age.
  30. We must grow since we need jobs.
  31. We must grow because of our obligations to the company's shareholders.
  32. You cannot stop growth.
  33. The economy will collapse without growth.
  34. We're changing to a services economy.
  35. We're changing to green growth.
  36. We need growth that is balanced, different, sustainable, dematerialised.
  37. We must internalise externalities.
  38. We can increase efficiency.
  39. The Chinese will not...
  40. You can't stop the Chinese...
  41. You can't forbid the poor to catch up.
  42. You can't stop progress.
  43. People always want more.
  44. People will not willingly agree to live more simplified lives.
  45. We're having a good life
  46. People in the stone age had short, miserable, and brutish lives.
  47. Environmentalism, climate change worries, population worries - it's part of a conspiracy for world government by a few.
  48. The rich will survive.
  49. It's better for nature if humans disappear.
  50. We can't understand the plans of the Lord.
  51. I don't care.
  52. Leave me alone.
  53. We hate the earth, we hate life, we first have to change ourselves.
  54. You are an Ayatollah.
  55. Your computer is depleting oil.
  56. Do you have a car? Do you fly?
  57. I'm only telling what I've been told (oil reserves, biofuels, etc.).
  58. I'm an economist, not a scientist (their a re scarcities, the problem is investment.).
  59. Climate change is part of a secret plan to govern the world.
  60. Humanity has to die-out some day, when the sun cools off
  61. God's plans are misterious
  62. People hate the world.
  63. People have a distructive character
  64. The animals and nature will be better off without humans, so our demise will be no loss.
  65. ...

Avoidance and Denial Strategies,
according to type:

    (under construction)
    A. ad hominem - attack the person
  1. You're a pessimist.
  2. You're an Ayatolla.
  3. You're aggressive.
  4. posing authority, age, quantity
  5. ...

    B. evasive strategies
  6. interrupt and capture the discussion
  7. replying to a different question
  8. changing subject
  9. refusing to listen
  10. refusing to discuss the issue
  11. creating confusion by mixing issues, rapid speech, accumulating statements of any kind, such as lies, unwarrented accusasions
  12. ...

    C. logical fallacies
  13. make wrong comparisons
  14. false generalisations
  15. unwarranted claims
  16. suggestive questions
  17. philosophy and religion
  18. use emotive particles
  19. ...
A previous list with arguments and some answers
Growth page list