I repeat. To stop growing is to start dying. The discussion is about new gamers. If the hobby stops aquireing new gamers, then the hobby is dead when the second to last person rolling dice today dies. If we keep getting new players, then we can keep gaming even as our ranks are winnowed by jobs, kids and inattentive bus drivers.
Can we get new gamers without a healthy industry? Impossible to say for certain but to quote the mighty eight-ball 'Signs point to No.'
And if the new audience downloads their games instead of buying them? ;p
Again, I don't think ANYONE here has said "Growth is bad." They've said "Growth is growth. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's not. You can't just paint it all under one brush."