Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Where markets “commodify” and states “collectify”, Commons initiatives “commonify”: rooted in a culture of collaboration around the needs of a community, they mutualise the benefits that arise from collectively created wealth—through systems owned, governed, and maintained by the community itself.
Many people question the meaning of life embedded in capitalism, or rather that there is no meaning of life embedded in capitalism. It is a system without a higher purpose and its only moral doctrine, if any, is the (flawed) notion that all will be better off if we just think about our own interest.
In this episode, Nate is joined by economic writer and strategist, Stacy Mitchell, to explore how concentrated economic power shapes the health of towns and cities – from economic resilience to social connectedness.
Within degrowth, we can and should continue to debate theories and strategies. But if we want to meaningfully engage with system transformation, we must recognise the pluriversal essence of the degrowth contribution and offer our analytical tools to support the anti-capitalist struggles, becoming thus an attribute – or adjective – of existing political proposals.
To live justly, then, is to live in common. Not through coercion or conformity, but through recognition — that our survival depends on the health of the shared systems we inhabit. Without that awareness, every revolution remains partial, every justice incomplete.
Capitalism interacts with almost all critical functions of society in such a way that it, together with modernity, defines current societies.
What our series shows is that despite the storm clouds, there is a lively and pluralistic degrowth movement waiting in the wings, with a life-belt to hand, since it is degrowth that is the only hope for a viable future.
What if relying on the rich to “take care of everyone else” was neither politically nor financially sustainable? What would this mean for how we interpret the history of liberalism and the welfare state? And most importantly, what does this imply for how our communities should develop economically?
This excerpt from Chuck Collins’ new book Burned by Billionaires includes examples of rule changes that would lift people out of poverty, increase economic security for the precarious, and reduce inequality.
Chuck Collins returns to Crazy Town to offer insights from his new book, Burned by Billionaires: How Concentrated Wealth and Power Are Ruining Our Lives and Planet.
We really believe that degrowth is a more complex, substantial and significant concept and movement than its treatment in the Hickel interview. We think that the degrowth movement has a very important role to play in the challenging political context.
So, it is not the case that the market’s functioning is a reflection on who we are and how we choose to behave, how we meet our needs. We do not need to be homo economicus for the market to thrive.
