WhoSpeaksForEarth

THE RESOURCE BASED ECONOMY

My book, Who Speaks For Earth, covers a lot of ground and checking out four hundred references takes time. In any case, congratulations for your interest and curiosity. Hopefully, chapter eleven will be interesting to you. Be forewarned, the economic future described therein may seem bizarre at first and will most likely raise a lot of questions. Thinking outside of the proverbial box is especially difficult in this case because we have spent every second of our entire lives trapped within this very same box. Much of the background behind this proposed economic system is supported in the previous chapters and is also covered in greater depth in the references. As you will see, virtually every tenet of today’s economy is upside-down when compared to the resource-based economic model.

For example, in today’s economy our production (GDP) absolutely needs to grow continuously. In the new economy we don’t want it to grow at all. Instead, we want it to remain steady state, in balance with Earth’s resource capacity. Today, we hear that the Dow and the NASDAQ are growing by leaps and bounds, and we are impressed. We are told this indicates the economy is doing great. However, we don’t understand why they keep saying that; most of us haven’t been lifted by that economic-growth indicator in the last 40 years. In the resource-based economy of the future there will be no use for any of these metrics because there will be no stock market. As a matter of fact, there will be no banks, insurance companies, mortgages, loan agents, savings bonds, bail bonds, investment opportunities, etc. This is because there will no longer be money. Even better, there will be no debt.

This will be accomplished simply by embracing the fact that all life on our planet is intimately interconnected and that life needs are our birthright. This means they must be free. Water, food, housing, safety, education, transportation and healthcare will be free. Likewise, recreation, comfort, convenience, and other pleasure amenities—also free.

One of the greatest social benefits of this future economy will be in education. Today’s educational systems are stuck in an old paradigm originally designed to power the Industrial Revolution, i.e., mass production and standardization. Without the labor-for-money market imperative, education will be untethered to undergo a radical transformation enabling students to understand the world around them and the talents within them so that they can become fulfilled individuals and active, compassionate citizens. “No child left behind” can finally become a realizable norm, not just an ironic political soundbite.

School kids of the future will be puzzled and amazed by the ignorance of their predecessors as they learn how a true economy is derived simply from the math and science of the natural world, not from some religious-like faith in a false money god, played out in a superfluous game called The Market. They may not express it exactly that way, but they will get it, they will understand it, and most importantly, they will embrace it.

MARKET CAPITALISM VS.
A RESOURCE-BASED ECONOMY

Market Based Economy
(Wasteful & Inefficient)

Resource Based Economy
(Conservative & Efficient)

Scarcity

Makes competition imperative; winners, losers, bankruptcy, poverty, corruption, inequality, and social disorder. “We can’t feed the world and we can’t fix our bridges, because we can’t afford it.”

Abundance

Eliminates the competitive imperative, labor-for-income and money. Abundance is created through automation, and choices are based on planetary resource capacity instead of the market.

Competition

Wastes human resources, reduces Innovation via secrecy, intellectual property, redundant operations, ownership laws and legal disputes.

Collaboration

Enhances innovation and production efficiency through cooperation, open source, shared knowledge, shared resources and integrated operations.

Inequality

Lower life expectancy, literacy, social mobility and trust. Higher homicide, imprisonment, teen birth, obesity, mental illness, infant mortality, and all forms of addiction.

Equality

A much more equal society that sets every person free to pursue their own fulfillment, unburdened by debt, oppression, financial failure or class discrimination.

Continuous-Growth

Economic growth is imperative due to the continuous depletion of the money supply to debt ratio.

Steady-State

Earth’s resource capacity sets RBE utilization rates, thus incentivizing innovation, efficiency and sustainability.

Consumption

Mind numbing advertising has driven U.S. consumption to irresponsible rates that are five times planetary capacity.

Preservation

Consumerism is antithetical to the RBE. Controlled use of resources and sharing is the key to abundance.

Labor for Money

A working class is mandatory to create money through loans from a bank.

Automation

Eliminates labor for money. Work is voluntary except when necessary. Work becomes fulfillment to those so driven.

Property

Ownership is the key tenet of capitalism. It enables unearned income which is the primary instrument of inequality.

Access

Transportation, housing, recreational, etc. “Shared access” will become the preferred norm over the “burden of ownership.”

Obsolescence

A hidden but necessary defect for consumerism. Great for business, but not great for the planet.

Optimization

Longer lifecycles, higher upgradeability, higher quality and efficient recycling work together to minimize waste.

Globalization

The average dinner ingredients travel thousands of miles. This is extremely inefficient and would not be affordable if externality costs were included.

Localization

Food and goods produced locally to maximize efficiency and minimize waste. Examples –local vertical farming, 3D printing, recycling & upcycling.

GET THE BOOK

Amazon (print and ebooks for Kindle and Android devices)
Black & White Inside: CLICK HERE
Special Color Edition: CLICK HERE (currently unavailable)

Apple (ebooks only)
Reflow for iPhones & small screens: CLICK HERE
Fixed Format (layout like the print book): CLICK HERE

INFO

Email:
ejparker@WhoSpeaksForEarth.com

About the author:
CLICK HERE
To download an author bio (pdf)

Press:
CLICK HERE
To download a full press kit (pdf)

Logo:
CLICK HERE
To download our logo (pdf)

Join:
CLICK HERE
To join the earth community