Peter Barnes’ concept of commons trusts is nothing short of brilliant. If applied on a large scale, it would fundamentally change capitalism. This idea has legs.
Marjorie Kelly, author, The Divine Right of Capital
Time to Upgrade
All thought processes start with premises and flow to conclusions. Here are the main premises of this book.
1. We have a contract.
Each generation has a contract with the next to pass on the gifts it jointly inherits. These gifts fall into three broad categories: nature, community, and culture.
2. We are not alone.
Not only do our children and grandchildren matter, so do other beings and their offspring. An economic system must represent their interests as well as ours.
3. Illth happens.
Poverty, pollution, despair, and ill-health — what John Ruskin called illth — is the dark side of capitalism. This dark side needs to be systemically addressed.
4. Fix the code, not the symptoms.
If we want to reduce illth on an economy-wide scale, we need to change the code that produces it. Ameliorating symptoms after the fact is a losing strategy.
5. Revise wisely.
Most of what’s in our current code is fine as is, and shouldn’t be tinkered with. What does need fixing should be fixed gradually, fairly, and efficiently.
6. Money isn't everything.
Money is the blood of our economic system; it shouldn’t be the soul. Humans have needs and desires that can’t be met by exchanging dollars. These needs include con¬nection to family and community, closeness to nature, and meaning in life. A 21st century economic system must address these needs, too.
7. Get the incentives right.
Notwithstanding the above, an economic system works best when it rewards desired behavior. As Mary Poppins put it, “A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.”
If these premises make sense to you, then welcome to these pages. I won’t bore you with statistics, or tell you, yet again, that our planet is going to hell; I’m tired, as I suspect you are, of numbers and gloom. Nor will I tell you we can save the planet by doing ten easy things; you know it’s not that simple. What I will tell you is how we can retool our economic system, one step at a time, so that after a decent interval, it respects nature and the human psyche, and still provides abundantly for our material needs.
