Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
After the financial crash of 2008-9, I started to discover tools and ideas that I thought were promising, but discrete and disconnected. But they’re not: they can be (and are being) used together to form networks that have the potential to grow exponentially to challenge the status quo – to build a commons economy, a commons society, a commons world.
In this installment, Nate addresses the U.S. and Israeli military offensive against Iran and traces the reverberating effects that extend far beyond the conflict itself, starting with what the closure of the Strait of Hormuz means for a civilization that routes a massive share of its physical economy through a single maritime corridor.
But to the extent that economic growth and carbon-fuel usage are tightly linked – and not capable of being “decoupled” – some degrowth agenda is ultimately inescapable. The only question may be whether it will arrive via catastrophe or choice.
Mitchell’s new book reinforces this essential point. We must see through the alibi of capital, we must reclaim society from the grip of the economy, and we must change the rules of the game to save our collective future.
In this episode, Nate is joined by financial and economic analysts, Craig Tindale and Michael Every, to discuss the widespread implications of growing geopolitical tensions over scarce resources and the rapidly changing foreign policy and economic statecraft that countries are implementing in response.
Is decoupling happening, yes, or no? And if not, could it ever happen? Over the course of a few weeks, The Guardian published several pieces on the topic that may appear contradictory, arguing both that “economic growth [is] no longer linked to carbon emissions” and that “economic growth is still heating up the planet.”
We need our autonomy back. And that starts with walking out of the toy store empty-handed and realizing that the most resilient thing we can give the next generation isn’t a piece of plastic - it’s a planet that isn’t a graveyard for their old toys.
We need all hands on deck to ideate new ways to equip the Youth Movement with a holistic, radical approach. To generate systemic change, young activists must be brave in their criticism of capitalism and growth. Unfortunately, they must also get comfortable with doubt, not knowing exactly what tomorrow will look like.
Ten years ago, I started teaching at Bard’s Green MBA Program, where I now teach classes in economics, economic development, community investment funds, and “sustaining mission.” And what I can report is that the several hundred students I taught have created, run, or improved an amazing assortment of mission-oriented enterprises.
We don’t really see the violence that historically underlay and still underlies the globalised ‘free’ trade that defines the modern world because a lot of effort has gone into forgetting it. Better, I’d argue, to embrace the role of the settled local farmer-householder (which in fact many of the Vikings were too) who knows how to produce their own livelihood from the land.
From alpine pastures and salmon fisheries to offshore wind farms and online encyclopedias, commons take many forms. This article explores a wide range of real-world commons that span geographies, culture, and domains.
This would not be the first time a system has an ideology or an official cause for existence that is contrary to the actual workings of the system. That has rather been the rule during most of human history.
