如果你不成长，你就在衰亡。这是我们这个时代资本主义经济的企业假设：一家企业的健康要求其收入和利润每年都增长。

If you’re not growing, you’re dying. This is the corporate assumption that underlies the capitalist economy of our times: The health of a business requires that revenue and profit increase every year.

在其他语境中，人们通常认为实现平衡与“可持续性”是最为合理的。这也正是环保主义大多数主张的核心所在。一个健康的地球，应当是人们只消费自己所需，并且以长期可持续的方式进行消费，同时不妨碍他人的需要。

In other contexts, it is seen as most reasonable to achieve equilibrium and “sustainability.” That’s certainly what so much of environmentalism is supposed to be about. A healthy planet is where people only consume what they need and do so in a way that is sustainable long term and doesn’t take away from the needs of others.

如果你认为缺乏增长就等于死亡，那么这是不可能的。认为持续增长可能实现，本身就预设了无限的资源。举例来说，总有一天，世界上每个人都可能拥有一部苹果 iPhone。在那之后，还有什么增长空间吗？不对！地球上的每个人还可以拥有一台 MacBook。之后，他们还可以都拥有 iPad。再之后，苹果或许还能拓展到其他领域，比如服装行业等等。换句话说，只要一个品牌尚未主导每个人消费的各个方面，增长的空间就始终存在。直到品牌吞噬了消费者，改进的空间就一直存在。就像一种病毒。

This is not possible if you believe that lack of growth means death. The notion that continuous growth is possible itself assumes infinite resources. For example, at some point, every person in the world could have an Apple iPhone. After that, there is no more conceivable growth, right? Wrong! Every person on the planet could also own a Macbook. And after that, they could all own iPads. And after that, maybe Apple can expand into other verticals, like the clothing industry, etc. In other words, as long as a brand is not dominating every aspect of every person’s consumption, there is always room for growth. Until the brand consumes the consumer, there is room for improvement. Like a virus.