Toward a Life-Centered Economy: From the Rule of Money to the Rewards of Stewardship
John Lodenkamper, Paul Alexander, Pete Baston, and Judith Streit
Toward a Life-Centered Economy: From the Rule of Money to the Rewards of Stewardship is QIF Focus Book #12, published for the Quaker Institute for the Future by Producciones de la Hamaca, Caye Caulker, BELIZE - 116 pages (2019)
Toward a Life-Centered Economy: From the Rule of Money to the Rewards of Stewardship shows how we as consumers and investors could shift the marketplace toward sustainable, non-polluting products and promote geographic re-localization. Economic synergism will give all the stakeholders a place at the table: labor, management, shareholders, customers, suppliers, community and, most especially, Earth’s ecosystems.
The current money-centered economy is not sustainable because it is dependent on infinite growth. Human exploitation, or overexploitation of Earth’s land, natural resources and biological productivity now approaches or exceeds many natural limits. By discounting the future in monetary terms our current system drives short-term extraction of resources at the expense of future generations.
However, an attractive alternative can develop from the grassroots in parallel with the current system and replace its worst aspects. This life-centered economic system emphasizes “quality of life” over “quantity of stuff.” It implies a more thoughtful use of our time for the things that are truly important, such as, fulfillment of our individual potentials, and our relationships with family, friends and our greater community.