Lately the news has been full of dire reports about the economy (LATimes article, Baker article, Stanford/Berkeley study)
Let’s get back to Resilience. Sufficiency. How can we thrive, economically, despite these dire reports?
If you run a small business (or are thinking about having a small business), here’s how to build resilience in your business.
As an individual, or a community member, here’s how you can help build a resilient local economy.
Nicole Ashcoff has posted an excellent article on what comes after capitalism — or more precisely, what DOESN’T come after capitalism.
She writes: “While elite storytellers [like Ophrah Winfrey, Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook, John Mackey of Whole Foods, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation] present ideas like creative or inclusive capitalism as radical solutions to global problems, their ideas actually inhibit real change and strengthen the status quo.”
Ashcoff continues “In covering up the structural nature of problems and putting a radical sheen on ideas that reinforce existing hierarchies of power, these solutions ‘kick the can down the road,’ displacing critique and enabling capitalism to survive as a system. …”
She concludes “It’s imperative that we train a critical eye on easy solutions and start building collective, democratic projects of our own that develop real alternatives for change.”
What are these collective democratic projects that develop real alternatives for change? See 10 Practical Tools for a Resilient Economy.
I like poetry. I delight in hidden messages and creating layers of meaning for people to discover.
When I was figuring out a name for my business guidance, I began thinking of what is currently available to (conventional) businesses: hard-hitting, competitive edge, cut-throat, push-push-push to get ahead. The emerging new economy isn’t like that.
The Great Turning says society is making a major shift. And changes to business and economy are part of that. We’re changing to simpler ways — that are wiser with respect to earth’s resources, and more sustainable with respect to the human spirit. Continue Reading