Designing a New System for The World!
Yes, many others have been looking at ‘New Economy’ models, etc to solve our ‘Climate Problem‘. I have ‘searched the world’, and read most of the publicly available stuff, but I have yet to find any initiatives that START with a Non-Negotiable, One Point Zero World, End Goal. Then work back down from there to find a ‘meeting interface’ with ‘The System‘ we have today. This approach is powerful in both its radicalness, and link back to fundamental Human Purpose, and Belonging on this Planet
Almost all of the current initiatives that I am aware of, start with the current System, the market economy and western ideology / neoliberalism being central, and then a condition that this is ‘Not to be Significantly altered / disturbed’! Essentially tweaking Capitalism, or what is called ‘Reform of Capitalism‘. This is a fatal, architectural flaw.
The main reason why this is happening because unless one takes a clear, non-arbitary, One Point Zero moral End Success goal, there is a inner conflict, when deciding an ‘arbitrary goal’, based on allowable planet warming, while trying to minimise ‘societal disruption’. Society disruption will always be preferentially avoided, and the Success Goal, bar lowered. As has happened with The UN Process to date, as it debates ‘arbitray temperature rise goals! This only brings problem abeyance, not solution.
They are either anti-capitalism, green / environmentalist, or pure ‘global warming’ abeyance, focused. Most of the initiatives today are ‘Climate‘ focused, and fuelled by fear of severe weather disrupting human life, rather than a moral imperative to live intergenerationally within Our Natural Resource means. This seemingly comforting approach, encourages delaying of taking of the Severe Medicine urgently needed. Nor does it address the ‘fact’, that ‘The System’ today has produced a de factor global ideology, that is now chronically Cancerous. Read more here.
So starting with One Point Zero has a clear, focused defensible human imperative goal, and one that is linked to Human Belonging on this Planet. With this highest level beacon of Human Success, it is clear that a new ideology has to be created that facilitates that goal delivery.
The other advantage of this approach, is that many of the industries / products / services / infrastructure that is around and used today will not be part of a One Point Zero world. We need to be doing today’s ‘Greening‘ with an Alternate Ideology in mind, not trying to ‘Green’ the current system and infrastructure, that may not be needed in the future…
Not only must this alternative system / ‘ideology’ deliver a One Point Zero (and less) world, it must also take the opportunity to ‘correct the broader, holistic failings of society today: The Symptoms of our Ideology Cancer today. The design must simultaneously address all the ever widening Three Gaps in society (The Chasm, The Divide, and The Void).
As such it will need to be a radical new Socio-economic system. Beyond the current Franchise, and Competing model.
It’s important to start with the Brutal Truth picture:
To use an analogy: We’ are like a serious obese human being, say 300+ lb: First thing we need is a transformational crash diet, to get us down to ‘healthy weight (One Point Zero). That in itself is a very difficult cultural / behaviour change challenge.
Then once there, we need another transformational intervention to deliver a ‘Way of Life‘ (far different to the diet life) that enable us to live a flourishing, on purpose life, at this new ‘right weight’!
In its simplicity It’s almost a two stage process. Today’s changes to energy sources, electric cars, recycling and infrastructure are part of the crash diet part, but include very little consumer behaviour change.
I have been working on the design of the post, crash diet, situation challenge: The design of flourishing new ‘Way of Life’ and New socio economic system, for ‘Right weight Humans’, and to one that enables us to keep at ‘Right weight’. In working on this end point, I have not ignored the nature of the crash diet journey ‘we’ will need to get there, and much of what is going on today is part of the crash diet, but its not an aggressive enough diet plan. There doesn’t seem to be any / much thought being put into the post, crash diet, diet, and way of life!
Always going back to the need for One Point Zero compliance forces one to confront the ill serving, sacred cows of today’s society’s workings. The ‘rules’, that we don’t see as ‘rules’ for living that are all designed by humans for a human journey to a anthropocentrically human designed definition of Success.
These sacred cows don’t get exposed if one progresses incrementally from where we are today to some compromised, less ‘traumatic’ goal. Many of today sacred cow ‘rules’ are incompatible with a One Point Zero world, and so this challenges one to thinking of what went wrong, and why did ‘we’ think that we were on the right path? This is all turmoil I have had to deal with and not let the pain of those discoveries detract from the pursuit of my design goal.
As ungrounding as this design process has been for me, it has minimised the number of ‘sacred cows’ in my beliefs, and where these rules blatantly prevent achievement of the One Point Zero. I have had to look at removing them from the design, and seeking new Socio-Economic formulae. To find new value proposition relationships that can alternatively satisfy the human needs behind the ‘rule’.
At times it has been very confusing as I flipped through the ‘Jeff Bezos‘ type ‘Capitalist Success’ stories, to developing countries ideology, to communism, to colonialism, etc to the current world order. Even with a ‘free-ish’ mind, this exercise has been, ‘fundamental belief challenging’ for me.
Getting to the very deep questions about Human Purpose, the meaning of work, the value and role of money, the origins of the pecuniary struggle, concepts of fairness vs equality, our relationship to Nature and other living beings, etc, etc….
A Snap Shot of This New Future
Essentially we’d need to be looking at a global economy some 50% or more smaller than todays. From many writings that I have read, they seem to confirm a similar picture. Yes, switching to renewable energy etc, will reduce that economy shrinkage needed, but that’s part of the first, ‘Crash Diet‘ stage above. The facts are:
Significant shrinkage is needed, and then a ‘Non Footprint Growth’, ‘Way of Life’, society, must become the norm, after the crash diet.
Amercanism is mutually exclusive to a ‘shrinkage journey’.
Money in The Future
I have concluded that the Role of Money and its relationship to wealth accumulation in society today is central to our obese condition. Not just the amount of money, but who holds it, how they accumulated it, and how they spend it. I know many have come to the same conclusion and much written about all this….. Work and leisure balance, UBI, robotic taxes, etc….
Many of these ideas are very useful, but these are ideas, are mostly presented in a ‘more of the same’, socio-economic system context, without a clear underpinning One Point Zero alternative goal. And almost every one needs a large economy to generate the taxes that pay the people the UBI’s etc.
Changing the value of money, and its role in our lives, can simultaneously address all three, humanity destroying Gaps above: (The Chasm, The Divide, and The Void) My new system, has a very innovative money replacement concept. Our currency becomes directly linked to Ecological Capacity. Instead of the Gold Standard of old, we would now have an Ecological Capacity Standard. This limiting the currency supply to only waht Nature we have ‘each year’.
A New Way of Life
From my personal experience of living an, ‘individual, One Point Zero, lifestyle for 12 months I concluded that one cannot spend more than $30-40 000 per annum (2018 US Dollar basis) before one runs out of ‘fair share’, Ecological Capacity.
After one year of hitting against this limit and undergoing some more personal transformation, I concluded that placing a personal limit on Ecological Capacity utilisation has a profound impact on human behaviour, and the role that money plays in one’s life:
There is no longer much value in accumulating wealth beyond the circa $30-40k per annum, certainly not multi millions, as one can’t spend it: Without personal Ecological Capacity credit, one is essentially ‘financially broke’.
Like Carbon Trading should be today, trading Ecological Footprint is a ‘No-No’, as beyond not fixing The Chasm problem, this will not help ‘The Divide’ problem.
Individual One Point Zero lifestyle for now means ‘we’ all get, Equal Ecological Capacity. Read more here
So, there literally is no use for excess, dollar based, wealth! One still has a large freedom of choice relating to consumer decisions, but the emphasis now moves to purchases that best use one’s limited Ecological Footprint currency. This immediately eliminates the impulse buying, instant gratification, ever increasing novelty demands etc… Americanism loses its pull, and beacon of Success. Advertising industry will be decimated, and advertising will only be about promting Footprint advantages
This all has a huge change in ‘Being Human‘, context: Essentially it drives one’spersonal transformation to becoming a deeper, less materialistic human, and more mindful of one’s origins, and appreciative of one’s simpler pleasures.
Yes, that is controversial, and a challenge to sell, but these are all parts of the whole New Vision picture. Yes and many will not like it but I have designed it so that The Majority will! I realise that, that is controversial in itself!
Carbon taxes, preferential goods and service taxes, flying carbon credits / taxes etc will not achieve this, and will not address The Divide and The Void issues, and probably not even The Chasm either! .I think your book conclude that too…. They encourage the pursuit of wealth it afford the increased costs, and simultaneously further disadvantage the less wealthy.
The Killer App! Technology that Enables Humans to Diet!
SO…..: This all needs is ‘A System‘ that manages Ecological Footprint down to a personal level.
While this seems draconian and state surveillance orientated, it is THE most Liberating way forward given our Acute Health Problem. Having tried it out for 12 months, I’m witness to its high level of personal empowerment, and freedom of choice enablement.
This Footprint Management System will be THE KEY Technology that drives the Solution of ‘THE Problem’: The Human behaviour / culture problem: The biggest and most serious problem humanity has ever faced.
I’m not ignoring the need for global / national / city level footprint reducing initiatives. I’m not implying that just managing individual footprints will solve the problems on its own.
It is about ensuring we have a full range of impact from top down and bottom up. The two must meet, and essentially I believe the change should be demanded from the bottom, that’s why the system down to individual level is vital.
Over the years, I have been shocked by the lack of real understanding and real responsibility for footprint the general public have? I believe some of that is ‘purposeful mushrooming’ of people by governments, elite, politicians, business, etc…
An individual level system will rapidly educate and empower people as to what really is important, and the impact of their choices on Nature, and our ability to belong on this planet!.
I’m a ‘Freedom junkie’: My whole life has been focused on getting maximum Freedom, autonomy to be able to move as close as possible to ‘totally’ plotting my own course of life. I have detested rules, regulations and control.
I saw that simplicity, and power, through submission to nobody else but Nature, was the best path to Freedom for me. Needing ‘a buck’ from someone else, would always result in some form of servitude, and then living an extravagant life would make me a servant to the system, whether that be in continual need of financial resource, or continued / increasing societal recognition.
So contrary to what people may think, I’m not desiring of ‘policing or controlling’ others. I detest that, as I am a Deep Anarchist at Heart.
What I have come up with is ‘The Most Freedom enabling’ system’, for all. This however in the context where ‘we’ have anthropocentrically, abused our Nature given freedom, got obese, and now need to voluntarily go on the huge ‘double diet’ journey, above.
The Footprint Management system above is the easiest and most empowering way of doing this.
Anyone seeking to continue the path of ever increasing, absolute freedom, is deluded in thinking that we will make any impact on solving ‘Our Problem’. This is the seemingly bitter pill I had to swallow, and have long since acquired its taste!
In simple terms, the resistance ‘we’ have today is: The elite / wealthy / leadership cannot yet see how that apparently huge and ‘vilely bitter’ pill they see, is not quite like that, and can actually become sweet, and addictive soul food!!
In a nutshell that is the cultural transformation that is needed. A few billionaires, through their ‘walk the talk’ showing us that they prefer the ‘bitter pill’ diet, and have given up the ‘obesity promoting’ food, will change The Fashion of Success, OVERNIGHT!
Jobs, work, and sustaining human vibrancy, are obviously a huge part of this new socio economic system design The issue of loss of jobs as a result of the significantly shrunk ‘economy’ is managed in a separate ‘chapter’ other than to say that the Footprint System would annually allocate Footprint ‘salary’ to all those meeting the conditions of the ‘Collective’ to who they belong.
The concept of Collectives, rather than sounding communistic and dehumanising, is a very innovative one that provides for a huge variety of voluntary, multi-sub ideology, communities, ranging in size for the single, self-sufficient, anarchistic family, through to a China size, Nation type collective, and all shapes and sizes in between. Autonomous, voluntary Collectives and the Footprint Management system are central to my solution vision.
Obviously the whole New Economy vision is much more complex than ‘just’ what I have outlined above. I have many of its complex modules in various states of design, which are all quite exciting!
As the Footprint Management system would be the fundamental cultural change enabling technology, I decided to put a hold on further design of these other modules until I have conceptual clarity on the Footprint Management ‘feasibility’. I’m now driving these Footprint Management System issues to the point where I am happy that a System solution is either possible or not? This is a vital step, for this ‘proof of concept’ stage.
I have taken many products / services and industries and run them through how Footprint would be allocated along the value chain from natural resource extraction through to final consumer purchase, and then final consumption / use. While obviously there are many challenges, from dairy products, to lawyers and accountants in ‘London’, to village markets in Africa, as I explored I found lots of similarity in the VAT / GST process / systems around the world.
I have concluded that within my limited wisdom / knowledge the design of a Footprint Management System for the purpose is both conceptually, and most likely, practically, possible.
THIS Project was terminated in November 2018, as the founder of the Global Footprint Network, distanced himself from the concepts and philosophy presented above. This was a HUGE blow to my two years of ‘New Manifesto‘ Efforts and has been probably THE Most significant reason for me concluding:
Its’ Hopeless and I’m Helpless!
Further in my in depth, scanning the world for partners to assits me complete this New Manifesto Vision I have only been met with cynicism and rejection. It’s ‘Ahead of its Time‘, yet We don’t have Time, and so in the future is will be judged as Too Late!