We've created a society that depends on growth. CEOs sign up for a job where they're responsible for growing a company, so they're obviously the type to value growth and want more for themsleves too – there's not a lot of CEOs who do it out of the goodness of their hearts. The investors, from the board down to individual nameless shareholders, all demand more money every quarter... even the employees want growth so their equity is worth more and they can get a raise.
I don't think most people are Gordon Gekko types... it's mostly normal people who depend on a 401k or a pension or their house to appreciate in value. Even just cost-of-living salary adjustments is a form of growth. That money has to come from somewhere.
There's no limit to the growth; there's no Good Enough. Nobody at Apple or Amazon has ever said "Hey, we did it, we won capitalism! Congrats!". There's always more to grow. There's literally no incentives for anyone, from employee to investor to CEO, to do anything but maximize growth. We don't celebrate companies that don't do layoffs, and the ones who do take a quick hit followed by a WSJ article the following quarter talking about how they hit their revenue goals.
It's a depressing treadmill that keeps speeding up. But my point is... this is a symptom of a much bigger mindset we have, mainly in America. We all read this and are upset, but we are propping it up indirectly... via stock portfolios, 401ks, pensions, salary, equity, etc. Growth is good! But unbridled, never-ending growth is exhausting.