
I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is they must change if they are to get better.
- Georg C. Lichtenberg
“If we stay where we are, where we're stuck, where we're comfortable and safe, we die there. We become like mushrooms, living in the dark, with poop up to our chins. If you want to know only what you already know, you're dying. You're saying: Leave me alone; I don't mind this little rathole. It's warm and dry. Really, it's fine.
-- Anne Lamott
We hear it so frequently that it's beginning to seem like the primary political principle. The fragile economy is our biggest problem; even more immediate, serious and frightening than terrorists, refugees, and melting icecaps.
We are habituated into staying focused on the economy, to keep the corporate and financial world happy. We must keep the fiscal machine oiled and running at all costs, or inflict terrible but unspecified financial catastrophe upon this wonderful nation of ours, which was built, supported and paid for by the freest trade and the briskest commerce of private capital. We already have the best government that money can buy.
What's wrong with that picture?
When we think of capital, most of us think in terms of money and investments, as well as other tangible assets. That is fiscal capital. It is the stuff of the economy, budgets and planning, banking, trade, markets and shopping.
But there is another kind of capital, so inherent to our nature as humans that most people aren't even aware of it, much as fish aren't aware of the water they swim in. It is what is called social capital.
Social capital is the collective value of all personal networks (the people each of us knows, our reputations in each other's eyes, and the degree to which we are interconnected). It begins with the goodwill and trust that are required to keep a community together, and crystallizes as its supporting infrastructure.
The most important aspects of our social capital are too fundamental to be evaluated in any monetary system of accounting; things such as friendship, family, freedom, and open communication.
What's happening is that in our obsession with fiscal capital we are neglecting our social capital. We've become so obsessed with numbers that we've ignored the things that really count.
Yet in every election, "The Economy" emerges as one of the most important issues. But what exactly does that mean? Is maintaining certain patterns and trends in accounting figures the most important aspect of society? Is being "in the money" the primary political principle? Is it more important than attending to social problems such as unemployment, lack of affordable housing, inadequate health care and education systems, wealth inequality, and a diminishing sense of community? Is it more of a concern than overpopulation, dwindling resources and the destruction of the biosphere?
As Albert Einstein reportedly said, "Not everything that can be counted, counts; not everything that counts can be counted."
It is our debt-based, growth-driven economic system that is keeping us locked in to the malignant lifestyle that is slowly killing us. Making the economy our top priority is the worst thing that Canada, the U.S., the E.U or indeed any province, state or nation on earth could be doing right now.
The number one issue anywhere on Earth is the impending decimation and perhaps even extinction of humanity. In that sense alone the economy is our primary problem, because it is the greatest impediment to saving our species. Any argument that economic numbers have importance in and of themselves is a straw man argument supporting the current global regime.
The fact is that we are living under the deadliest economic system that could ever be imagined - a primitive, free-for-all battle; might is right, dog-eat-dog, and be careful where you step. "The Economy" is what has locked us in to our gravest existential threats in the history of mankind. In the end it serves only the wealthiest, and continues to prevent humanity from dealing with our increasingly critical situation.
On a finite planet with limited resources, it is not possible to sustain continuous growth. Yet we are obsessed with economic growth. That indicates a fundamental flaw in our economic thinking.
We don't need to "manage the economy." We need to come up with a new and saner way of managing ourselves, our society and the environment.
The Canadian Titanic is just one of the ships of state in humanity's fleet, all of which are on collision courses with the looming iceberg of disaster and even extinction. More and more of us are waking up to that reality.
Neither conservatism nor liberalism is a blanket solution. They are simply two sides of a balanced approach to problem-solving. All sides should be synthesized into any process of arriving at political decisions, but none should be crystallized into rigid dogma.
The days of entrenched, two-party politics must end. The party system is inherently oppositional, competitive and even combative. It is a divisive distraction that maintains the existing socio-economic hierarchy. We could address critical issues much more effectively through collaboration than through competition and conflict.
There are too many important decisions to be made to give full control to any one group for four years. Society has grown too complicated for such a simple, black-and-white approach to government. It's time for a more participatory democracy.
Electoral reform is the most important first step. Let's not allow ourselves to become overly distracted by the usual campaign rhetoric and dramatics, or by focusing too narrowly on individual issues.
Proportional representation is long overdue. It would mean that no party could gain full control of the government without the support of a majority of the electorate. It would mean that those who vote for parties other than the traditional two would be properly represented in the House of Commons. It would mean that original and creative proposals to conduct the nation's affairs in non-traditional ways had a chance of being implemented. It could open the way to eventually wresting control of our collective destiny from our oligarchic global overlords.
(image credit: FreeImages.com/Photos.com)
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