Why This Crisis May Be Our Best Chance to Build a New Economy
Wall Street is bankrupt. Instead of trying to save it, we can build a new economy that puts money and business in the service of people and the planet—not the other way around.
David Korten, Yes! Magazine
Submitted by Evergreene Digest Contributing Editor Ken Mitchell
David Korten | Paul Dunn for YES! Magazine
Whether it was divine providence or just good luck, we should give thanks that financial collapse hit us before the worst of global warming and peak oil. As challenging as the economic meltdown may be, it buys time to build a new economy that serves life rather than money. It lays bare the fact that the existing financial system has brought our way of life and the natural systems on which we depend to the brink of collapse. This wake-up call is inspiring unprecedented numbers of people to take action to bring forth the culture and institutions of a new economy that can serve us and sustain our living planet for generations into the future.
The world of financial stability, environmental sustainability, economic justice, and peace that most psychologically healthy people want is possible if we replace a defective operating system that values only money, seeks to monetize every relationship, and pits each person in a competition with every other for dominance.
Related:
Fixing Wall Street Won't Fix Our Economy, Sally Kohn, Movement Vision Lab, in AlterNet
We could have averted the current financial crisis by creating affordable housing and good jobs, strengthening public education and providing health care and child care for all families, to help hardworking Americans thrive in the middle class instead of being pushed into poverty.
Obama's Economic Reforms Should Re-structure the System -- Not Just Reform It, Danny Schechter, AlterNet
We're dealing with a political elite that is more Clintonesque than Rooseveltesque. Will meaningful change be possible?
