Have you heard of Doughnut Economics? It sounds delicious because it is
In short, it is an economic model with a goal to meet the needs of all people within the means of the planet.
Society currently says that a tree is worth more as wood than just a tree, never mind all of the free services it provides as a tree. Humans are worth sicker than they are healthy, look to healthcare and the pharmaceutical industries if you need clarification on that.
The fundamental problem with our current economic system can be summed up by saying, “We know the price of everything and the value of nothing.”
With the ever-present mental health crisis, we wonder why the numbers of depressed and anxious citizens are on the rise. Our identities and self-worth are wrapped up in how productive we are. Which is no way to live – yet it is our economic system that created and perpetuates this notion. We have failed to realize that just because we have a successful GDP (Gross Domestic Product), does not mean that we have a successful society.
Around the world, you can see what other countries might value most from how they rank their success; GNH (Gross National Happiness), OECD (Better Life Index), and SPI (Social Progress Index).
Amsterdam is the first country to roll out this new Doughnut economic model – you can read about it here. Other countries and cities are following suit. The doughnut looks like this…
What I love about this model is that it puts the wellness of all people at the very center of society, something that is needed now more than ever. Instead of creating a culture that preys on humans, it creates a culture of wellness that takes into account the whole picture.
Robert F Kennedy nailed it in 1968 when he said:
“Too much and for too long, we seemed to have surrendered personal excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things…if we judge the United States of America by that – that Gross National Product counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage.
It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for the people who break them. It counts the destruction of the redwood and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl.
It counts napalm and counts nuclear warheads and armored cars for the police to fight the riots in our cities.
Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate, or the integrity of our public officials.
It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country, it measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile.”
To solve 21st-century problems, we must apply 21st century (and beyond) thinking, yet our systems are stuck in the 16th century. We aren’t going to produce our way out of this one. Everything will change when we collectively decide that we have ‘enough.
?This week I’m…
? Reading:
- The Celestine Prophecies, an Adventure
- Jed McKenna’s Theory of Everything
? Listening:
- Heaven’s Gate Series with Glen Washington
- Aubrey Marcus Podcast ft. Shawn Model
??♀️ Practicing:
- Holding firm to my boundaries
- Creating a clear question daily
- Not qualifying my responses