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I'm in agreement that rates of anything are unsustainable, including growth rates, whether that's GDP, population, etc. It is political suicide to suggest not even a decline in consumption (GDP), but even holding steady. After all, who would be excited to work at a place and never receive a pay raise?
We get out of bed in the morning because of the prospect of improving our position in the world, or at least making our situation less bad. Most of us don't get out of bed to merely maintain our position, or to consciously not exceed current consumer ability.
Governments rely on the will of the people, so there's no such thing as a political faction that can rise to power and exert their will against the will of the people for any long period of time. There's also zero chance they can do that without being corrupt themselves.
Any solutions then must fit within the basic instincts of humanity, as all others are doomed to failure. If we were somehow able to accept zero economic growth and a roughly equal distribution of resources, we'd largely eliminate technological innovation, which itself can provide solutions to problems.
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