Social Economies to Transcend Knowledge & Industrial Economies

Posted August 19, 2006 in News

The size of one's economy or population or natural resources is no handicap to being able to add-value to the global community. Cultural, intellectual and spiritual resources are going to be our best weapons in the struggle to come to grips with AIDS pandemic, overdependence on violent solutions, the end of the oil age, the need to adequate provide and care for the enviroment and world's citizens.

Two articles of merit triggered this contemplation. One was from Thailand about reconciliation and the other from Barbados about sustainability. Both articles are of merit in their own rights, the Thais are continuing to teach us about humanity by reminding us that reconciliation is more than silencing critics. (After the SE Asian Tsunami the Thais stood out for helping us learn to co-operate and not compete by simply accommodating all those who wanted to help and gently reminding there were others in need when there were more resources than infrastructure to support their inital activities). The Barbados article is demonstrating that this nation is being led by visionaries who understand that sustainability must extend beyond the environment to include the Social Agenda if there is to be a desirable legacy.

Yet as I continued to mull over these articles and how to "spin" them for an article, that there shared a common theme. Namely that both these societies were modelling methods of how to build sustainable communities in a global context. Further, that this ability to envisage and build sustainable communities is not restricted to the affluent or the large. Countries such as Cuba have won international respect for their making medical treatment and education available to the poor; Nicaragua has an excellent history in literacy, women and environmental strategies; Vietnam in selfless compassion and defence of Cambodia; Cambodia in turn on rebuilding from the ruins with little or no money.

Simlarly, the BBC published the findings from a 178 nation happiness index in July 2006 that shows that happiness doesn't have to cost the earth. In fact, Vanuatu (not one of the world's richest nations) came up as the happiest place in the world to live.

There is to be Global Environment Facililty (GEF) Assembly in Capetown in the near future. This is a wonderful opportunity for leading thinkers to get together to contemplate how to identify and encourage sustainable initiatives. The title of the article is "Protecting our world is good economics." It means in part understanding what of our current economic paradigms foster sustainability and what of our current indicators actually are an impediment to good global stewardship.

There are certainly enough indicators that we need to embrace new paradigms for example challenges in providing adequate basic infrastructure, the need to rebuild dismantled healthcare systems, millions of people needlessly starving and dying from preventable illnesses, the AIDS pandemic, impending potential biodiversity and environmental systems collapses.

Yet the traditional profit and loss statements do not necessarily take these things into account. In fact, it could be argued that at its core it rewards narcissism and the ability to divert as much resources as possible out of the system for a parasitic elite whilst they still demand good health, infrastructure, consumerism and actualisation. This elite might be able to move their money, their bodies, and their industries around at will; but it is effectively at the cost of the rest of the world giving them a free ride.

The pursuit of profits has led to endless rounds of cost-cutting for the sake of the bottom-line. It is not a surprise that we are seeing a disaggregation of economies (both between and within nations). This is the inevitable outcome of unregulated narcisstic economics. If we want money for healthcare, water, transport then we need to provide for those things.

If we do not accept our responsbilities, then we should not be surprised that those disaffected and disenfranchised would give up hope and embrace violent means to draw attention to their frustration. If we can not acknowledge and work out how to co-operatively meet these basic needs, then we are playing into the hands of violence mongerers as this will be the only reasonable path left over to those disenfranchised from the current systems.

The true indicator of wealth is the ability to provide for one's citizens for generations to come. Sustainable paradigms liberate nations' from narcisstic dependency relationships, which also makes good economic sense. 

SOURCES: The Nation The Royal Gazette Business Day BBC: Happiness doesn't cost the earth What's so great about living in Vanuatu?

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