An Economy Other than Capitalism
I’m currently in Denmark at an economic conference so it seems only fitting to share this post I wrote in 2009. Many things are different – I no longer work for a magazine full-time or live in San Francisco – but my dreams remain the same. Enjoy.
This morning, I had a nightmare the magazine I work for folded. That created a ripple effect whereby I couldn’t pay my rent because I have pretty much zero savings. I woke up with my heart pounding, feeling scared and dissatisfied. Dissatisfied not for my own sake but for the way the world currently runs. Dissatisfied with unemployment, homelessness, and greed ravaging the world. Fed up with our entire economic system.
I’ve written about this before, but I’m tired of the “fend for yourself” and “rise and fall on your own” mentality. Why should my well-being rest squarely on my shoulders alone? Why should anyone go hungry? Why should anyone live on the streets? Why should anyone scrape by? Why can’t we as humans reach out to one another and support each other? Why can’t we know the true meaning of community?

Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash
As humans, each and every one of us has a right for our basic needs to be met. Every person should be guaranteed food, clothing, shelter, education, and medical care. This current economic system? It’s not working. If it did, we wouldn’t be facing the problems we are now.
I am not suggesting we pick up communism because clearly that doesn’t work so well either. The best economic theory I’ve come across thus far is Prout – the Progressive Utilization Theory. Prout says the basic necessities of life should be guaranteed for everyone. It values local businesses and local cultures. It says there should be three tiers of business: 1.) cooperatives 2.) private enterprise and 3.) government-owned industries. It recognizes resources are limited and should be treated as such.
What would it be like to live in a world where we KNEW beyond a shadow of a doubt that our needs would be met? Not because we have hope and faith but because the system itself is set up that way? What if there were zero unemployment? And people who truly cannot work were also taken care of? None of this, “I can’t afford to buy groceries until the first of the month,” business but really, truly taken care.
Under Prout, that’s what happens. Workers are not exploited. People are not commodities. Everyone, everywhere, is valued. Everyone is paid a living wage and there’s a wealth cap. Resources are evenly spread and necessities like water aren’t for profit. “Homelessness” fades from our lexicon because it is eradicated.
The environment is treated with respect rather than as a resource to pillage. We invest in local economies and let local people make decisions about how to run things for themselves. Is it a pipedream? Maybe, but in the words of Nelson Mandela, “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” I see sprouts of this growing everywhere – in cooperatives doing amazing work. In people turning to their hyperlocal communities for support. In folks waking up to the fact there’s a different way to do things. A new economy can be created. If we create it.
Another world is not only possible, it’s probable.