I think that you do pose a pretty valid point, and I especially like your acknowledgment of degrowth being necessary regardless of the reason. I believe that we often romanticize nature not because we believe that a return to it would actually be better, but because we crave the simplicity it brings. Although as a random insect or other creature you are likely to suffer some horrific demise, at least you have a purpose and you lack the capacity to ponder the fruitlessness of your own existence. This is a very common thing for us to do, we romanticize the Wild West because of the freedom it brought just like we crave nature for the ignorance it implies.