One of the downsides of presenting such a visionary solution to our global crisis is that it's hard to know where to begin, beyond raising awareness. The gap between where we are now, and where we'd like to go appears so great that it is not at all obvious how the transition might work. And that's the danger, because the solution appears 'utopian' and not practical to the realities of the day, efforts to realize this vision may be abandoned in favor of more short term, but insufficient remedies.
A Resource Based Economy is one such holistic solution to the world's myriad problems. Coined by Jacque Fresco and later promoted and popularized by the efforts of The Zeitgeist Movement...
"A resource-based economy is a society without money, barter or trade, with the awareness that Humanity is One family and where technology, science and spirituality is used to it’s fullest to develop and manage the planet’s resources to provide abundance for everyone in the most sustainable way."
While this vision of an abundant, peaceful, sustainable and cooperative society may seem impossible, it is the goal we must aspire to, as the unsustainable system we have now, well, isn't.
But do not despair in the face of such a monumental undertaking - the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step from where we are now.
To kickstart this journey of the imagination (and discussion on transitionary solutions), I'm going to present 7 pretty significant ideas that we can work to implement now. Some of these may themselves take a while to achieve, but in the medium term, they are excellent transitionary steps that can help us get farther down the road.
The benefit of many of these ideas is that they could all feasibly be implemented at the local level, and the local level is by far where we have the most agency to affect change. Before we can work on 'globalizing' these solutions, our best shot at success is to focus on 'localizing' them first. That's where our power lies. That's where the transition to a more beautiful world begins.
1. Direct Democracy
2. Universal Basic Income
3. A 4 day/ 6 hour a day work-week
4. Cradle-to-Cradle Design
5. Economic Democracy and Worker Cooperatives
6. Integrate "The Natural Step" framework into everything.
7. Be the Media