>X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Mon, 04 Oct 1999 18:27:48 -0400 >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >From: Bob Olsen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Cure for the cancer of capitalism (Korten) >Mime-Version: 1.0 > > > > David Korten says: > > "The relationship of capitalism to a market economy > is that of a cancer to a healthy body." > > He then explains that the cure is within our grasp. > > > Published quarterly > by the Positive Futures Network > by David C. Korten > > > Over the nearly 600 years since the onset of the Commercial Revolution, > we have as a species learned a great deal about the making of money and > we have created powerful institutions and technologies dedicated to its > accumulation. > > But in our quest for money, we forgot how to live. > > Now, on the threshold of the third millennium we find our planet beset > by growing climatic instability, disappearing species, collapsing > fisheries, shrinking forests, and eroding soils, while the institutions > of family, community, and the nation-state disintegrate around us and > the gap between rich and poor becomes more unconscionable by the day. > > Our obsession with money has led us to create an economic system that > values life only for its contribution to making money. With the > survival of civilization and perhaps even our species now at risk, we > have begun to awaken to the fact that our living planet is the source > of all real wealth and the foundation of our own existence. We must now > look to living systems as our teacher, for our survival depends on > discovering new ways of living -- and making our living -- that embody > life's wisdom. > > > Living Economies > > Since the dawn of the scientific revolution, we have been so busy > subduing nature that we have given little thought to the possibility > that living systems might embody wisdom essential to our own lives. > > This is beginning to change. Industrial ecology, for example, draws on > life as a model for the design of closed-loop production processes in > which all products and by-products are eventually used and reused, just > as they are in nature. Likewise, a number of organizations are drawing > from living systems models to enhance the creativity and effectiveness > of employees. However, aside from social Darwinists who use only a > narrow spectrum of natural processes to justify an ideology of > unrestrained economic competition, there have been few serious efforts > to distill principles from nature's economies for the design of human > economies as a whole. Since the economy's incentive systems and > feedback loops are so central in determining how we produce and for > whose benefit, and who pays the costs, this area clearly holds enormous > promise. > > All living systems, from individual cells to biological communities, > are complex self-organizing economies in which many individual entities > cooperate to sustain themselves and the life of the whole -- as when > plants produce food and oxygen needed by animals, which in turn produce > fertilizers and carbon dioxide that feed pllant life. As Willis Harman > and Elisabet Sahtouris write in Biology Revisioned, "Trees shelter birds > and insects, bees pollinate flowers, mammals package seeds in fertilizer > and distribute them, fungi and plants exchange materials, sapotrophs, > whether microbes or vultures, recycle, birds warn of predators, etc." > The species that survive and prosper are those that find a niche in > which they meet their own needs in ways that simultaneously serve > others. > > Life, then, consists of countless individuals self-organized into > "holarchies" -- nested sets of cells, multi-celled organisms, and > multi-species communities or ecosystems with ever greater complexity > and capacity. Each individual functions both as a whole and a part of > a greater whole. > > Take our own bodies as an example. Each of us is a composite of more > than 30 trillion individual living cells. Yet even these cells > constitute less than half of our dry weight. The remainder consists of > microorganisms, such as the enteric bacteria and yeasts of our gut that > manufacture vitamins and help metabolize our food. These symbiotic > creatures are as necessary to our survival and healthful function as our > own cells. Each cell and microorganism in our body is an individual, > self-directing entity, yet by joining together they are able as well to > function as a single being with abilities far beyond those of its parts. > > Throughout its life span, each organism constantly renews its physical > structures through cell death and replacement. Ninety-eight percent of > the atoms in our bodies are replaced each year. Yet the identity, > function, and coherence of the body and its individual organs are > self-maintained -- suggesting that each cell, organ, and body possesses > some degree of inner knowledge and awareness of both self and the > larger whole of which it is a part. > > > Life's Lessons > > Life creates economies for living. We, in contrast, have created an > economy for making money at life's expense. What if we were to retool > our economy according to the principles of a living economy? What > might be its major features? From our observations of living systems, > we may distill a number of principles helpful both in understanding > why our existing economy is destroying life and how we might redesign > it to serve life. > > Living systems are, for example: > > Self-Organizing and Cooperative - > - Though we once assumed that cells are centrally controlled by their > DNA and the body by the brain through the nervous systeem, science is > discovering that the body's control processes are actually highly > decentralized and involve a substantial element of self-regulation at > the cellular level. > > The regulatory processes of biological communities are even more > radically self-organizing, with no functional equivalent of a > centralized planning or control system. > > Yet living economies do have mechanisms to control or eliminate rogue > elements that do not serve the whole. For example, our immune system is > comprised of cells that specialize in identifying and immobilizing or > destroying harmful cells and viruses that pose a threat to the whole. > In a cancer, when a genetic malfunction causes cells to forget they are > a part of the larger whole of the body and unleashes the pursuit of > their unlimited growth, the healthy cells attempt to destroy the > defective cells by cutting off their blood supply. > > This has potential implications for how we think about our human > economies. The global corporation, which is programmed by its internal > structures to respond to the incessant demand of financial markets to > seek its own unlimited growth, behaves much like a cancerous tumor. > Furthermore, the economy internal to a corporation is centrally planned > and directed by top management, not to serve the whole of the society > on which its existence depends, but rather to maximize the capture and > flow of money to its top managers and shareholders. These > characteristics -- growth at the expense of the whole and centralized > planning -- represent serious violations of the principle of > cooperative self-organization in the service of life. Given that the > econoomies internal to the largest corporations are larger than the > economies of most states, this is cause for serious concern. > > Many large corporations do organize their operations around smaller > operating units and worker teams. But because the rights and powers of > ownership flow downward from absentee shareholders whose only interests > in the firm are financial, the corporation's singular goal remains > profit, and any authority delegated to subordinate units can be > withdrawn at any time. > > A good first step in creating self-organizing economies that honor the > freedom and responsibility of the individual in economic as well as in > political life would be to sell off those decentralized units to their > stakeholders -- people such as workers, customers, suppliers, and > community members. Doing so would make managers accountable to those who > have a living interest in the firm and the health of the community and > natural setting in which it is located. > > > Localized and Adapted to Place - > - Each bio-community creates its home on a particular place on Earth. > Its members organize themselves into numerous, multi-sppecies > sub-communities where, through a process of progressive experimentation > and adaptation, they learn to optimize the capture, sharing, use, and > storage of the resources available. As each living community adapts > itself to the most intricate details of its particular physical locale, > it, in turn, modifies the physical landscape, creating soil and holding > it in place, holding and releasing water, creating micro-climates -- > creating the conditions for the further evolution of the eco-system. > > The global human economy likewise could be comprised of a holarchy of > self-reliant, place-based economies that each adapt to the conditions > of its physical place by becoming proficient at the collection and > conservation of energy and the recycling of materials. Each could be > organized to offer all who reside within its borders a means of > livelihood consistent with their full and free development. > > Our existing global economy, by contrast, is dominated by financial > markets and corporations programmed to reorient the purpose of local > economies from meeting local needs to meeting the financial interests > of distant institutions. They do this by imposing cultural and genetic > monocultures and by extracting as much wealth as possible while > contributing as little as possible in return. As corporate control over > markets, technology, land, and other resources becomes more pervasive, > people and communities become less able to adapt their local economies > to local needs and conditions. > > Humanity has a long history of achieving sustainable, long-term > relationship to place. A small farmer who knows the land and its > characteristics learns to adapt her crops and methods to local micro > environments to get high yields without chemicals, energy subsidies, > and wastage. So too an economy comprised of many decision makers can > adapt efficiently to the opportunities of a locality, and to the needs > and preferences of each of its members, in a way that is impossible > when critical decisions are made by distant corporate managers. > > Furthermore, the need to manage the business firm in service to more > than purely financial values becomes self-evident to decision makers > who must live with the social and environmental consequences of their > decisions. They are unlikely to sacrifice schools, the environment, > product safety, suppliers, employment security, wages, worker health, > and other aspects of a healthy community for short-term, shareholder > gain when they are the workers, customers, suppliers and community > members as well as the owners. > > > Bounded by Managed, Permeable Borders - > - To sustain itself, life must be open to exchange with its > environment. Yet to maintain its internal coherence, it must be able > to manage these exchanges. It thus depends on boundaries that are both > managed and permeable -- neither totally open nor totally closed. If > the cell had no wall, its matter and energy would mix with the matter > and energy of its environment and it would die. Multi-celled organisms > must have a skin or other protective covering. Bio-communities are > bounded by oceans, mountains, and climatic zones. Even our planet > isolates itself from the rest of the universe -- its gravitational > field holds in place an atmosphere and ozone layer that control the > exchange of radiation with the largerr universe. > > Human economies similarly require permeable -- but managed -- borders > at each level of organization from the household and community to the > region and nation that allow tthem to maintain the integrity, > coherence, and resource efficiency of their internal processes and to > protect themselves from predators. > > Political and economic borders define a community of shared interests, > identity, and trust -- what we call social capital, which is a form of > embodied energy that makes a community far more than a collection of > individuals and physical structures. Without borders, this energy > dissipates, much as the cell's energy dissipates if its cell wall is > removed. On the other hand, impermeable boundaries result in stagnation > and a loss of opportunity for the exchange of useful information, > knowledge, and culture essential to continuing innovation. As with all > living beings, living economies need permeable and managed boundaries. > > The institutions of money have been using international trade and > investment agreements to remove the political borders essential to > maintaining the economic integrity of communities and nations. This > process leaves economic resources exposed to predatory extraction, > leading to a breakdown of the trust and cooperation essential to any > community. > > The real agenda of those promoting these trade agreements is not to > eliminate borders, but rather to redraw them so as to establish that > what once belonged to the community to be shared among its members now > belongs to private corporations for the benefit of their managers and > shareholders. Thus, in the name of property rights, corporations draw > heavily defended borders around their lands, factories, offices, > shopping centers, broadcast facilities, publications, technologies, > and intellectual property. With the protection of private guards and > lawyers backed by the publicีs police and military forces, they thus > assure that all uses of these assets benefit their private corporate > interest and they silence voices of protest. > > > Frugal and Sharing - > - Biological communities are highly efficient in energy capture and > recycling, living exemplars of the motto, "Waste not, want not." > Energy and materials are continuously recycled for use and reuse > within and between cells, organisms, and species with a minimum of > loss, as the wastes of one become the resources of another. Frugality > and sharing are the secret of life's rich abundance, a product of its > ability to capture, use, store, and share available material and > energy with extraordinary efficiency. > > Human economies can be similarly organized to contribute to life's > abundance through the conservation, frugal use, equitable sharing, and > continuous recycling of available energy, information, and material > resources to the end of meeting the needs of all that lives within > their borders. > > Our existing global economy creates islands of power and privilege in > a large sea of poverty. The fortunate hoard and squander resources on > frivolous consumption, while others are denied a basic means of living. > Furthermore, those who control the creation and allocation of money use > this power to generate speculative profits. These profits increase the > claims of the speculators to the wealth created through the labor and > creative effort of others -- while contributing nothing in return to > the wealth creation process. > [For elaboration of this argument see David C. Korten,, Money versus. > Wealth YES! Spring 1997. Or see "Money as a Social Disease," in the > PCDForum Website archives.] > > In our present economy unemployment, hoarding, and speculation are > endemic, resulting in a grossly inefficient use of life's resources. > In nature, unemployment and hoarding beyond one's own need are rare, > and there is no equivalent to financial speculation. > > > Diverse and Creative -- Life exhibits an extraordinary drive to > learn, innovate, and freely share knowledge toward the realization > of new potentialls. The result is a rich diversity of species and > cultures that give the bio-community resilience in times of crisis > and provide the building blocks for future innovation. > > History provides ample evidence that the same drive is inherent in > humans as well. Our most brilliant scientists, innovators, and > teachers have been those driven not by the promise of financial > rewards, but by an inner compulsion to learn, to know, and to share > their knowledge. > > In our present global economy, corporate controlled mass media create > monocultures of the mind that portray greed and exclusion as the > dominant human characteristics. Intellectual property rights are used > to preclude the free sharing of information, technology, and culture > essential to creative innovation in the community interest. > > We live at a time when our very survival depends on rapid innovation > toward the creation of living economies and societies. Such innovation > depends on vigorous community level experimentation supported by the > creative energies of individuals everywhere. It is far more likely to > come from diverse self-directed democratic communities that control > their economic resources and freely share information and technology > than from communities whose material and knowledge resources are > controlled by distant corporate bureaucracies intent on appropriating > wealth to enrich their shareholders. > > > From Global Capitalism to Mindful Markets > > In my newly released book, The Post-Corporate World: Life After > Capitalism, I call economies with these life-affirming > characteristics "mindful market economies," because they combine > mindful ethical cultures with self-organizing economic relationships > that bear a remarkable resemblance to the market economy described > more than 200 years ago by British moral philosopher Adam Smith in > The Wealth of Nations. Smith wrote about place-based economies > comprised of small, locally owned enterprises that function within a > community-supported ethical culture to engage people in producing for > the needs of the community and its members. The economy Smith > envisioned is nearly the mirror opposite of our existing global > economy, which is best described by the term capitalism. > > The term capitalism was coined by European philosophers of the > mid-1800s to describe an economic regime in which the benefits of > productive assets are monopolized by the few to the exclusion of the > many who through their labor make those assets productive. > > The relationship of capitalism to a market economy is that of a > cancer to a healthy body. Much as the cancer kills its host -- and > itself -- by expropriating and consuming the host's energy, the > institutions of capitalism are expropriating and consuming the living > energies of people, communities, and the planet. And like a cancer, > the institutions of capitalism lack the foresight to anticipate and > avoid the inevitable deathly outcome. > > We have a collective cancer, and our survival depends on depriving it > of its power by restructuring our economic rules and institutions to > end absentee ownership, rights without accountability, corporate > welfare, and financial speculation. Specific measures to these ends > are elaborated in The Post-Corporate World. > > At the same time, we can direct the energy we reclaim from the > institutions of capitalism toward the institutions of the mindful > market. These institutions exist today, quite likely in your > community. They include values-based family, community, and > worker-owned businesses, consumer cooperatives, community banks and > credit unions, organic farmers, independent health food shops, print > shops specializing in recycled papers and soy-based inks, farmers > markets, local restaurants featuring local organic produce, local > water and power utilities, holistic health practitioners, fair traded > coffee shops, and organic wineries. > > Mindful businesses are being matched by the mindful consumption choices > fostered by the rapidly growing voluntary simplicity movement. Tens of > thousands of socially responsible investors are making mindful > investment choices. > > These and countless other positive initiatives are creating the > outlines for self-organizing, life-sustaining economies that are: > > radically democratic > rooted in place > comprised of human-scale firms, owned by and accountable to people > with a stake in their function and impacts > frugal with energy and resources, allocating them efficiently to > meet needs, recycling the "wastes" > culturally, socially, and economically diverse, supportive of >> innovation and the free sharing of knowledge > mindful of responsibility to self and community > bounded by permeable borders, that allow democratic self-regulation. > > In such an economy, enterprises would be owned by community members who > work in them, depend on their products, and supply their inputs -- with > each entitled to a fair return to their labor and their investment. > > Community economies would be self-organized by community members > according to their self-determined priorities and mutually agreed > rules. They would have their own speculation-proof currencies to > facilitate local exchange. > > The Earth and its resources would be managed as the common property of > posterity, a sacred trust whose principal is to be maintained as its > product is equitably shared. > > The design of production-consumption processes would give high > priority to working in balance with the natural productive processes > of the ecosystem, using local renewable material and energy resources, > and generating zero waste. Each community economy would have its > distinctive features and culture reflecting its history, the > circumstances of its place, and the preferences of its members. All > would engage in mutually beneficial trade with their neighbors on > their own terms, while freely sharing useful information and > technology. > > If enough of us decide we value life more than money, we have the > means and the right to create an economy that nurtures life and > restores money to its proper role as life's servant. Moreover, the > actions involved are familiar and give expression to principles that > underlie millions of years of evolution, along with more recent human > values of democracy, community, and freedom. Curing a cancer is > rarely easy, but once we become clear that the task centers on > reclaiming our life energies to live fully and well, this cure might > actually be fun. > > This issue of YES! is filled with examples of positive initiatives > and ideas for what you can do to cure the cancer and nurture the > mindful market. > > ________________________________ > > David C. Korten is board chair of the Positive Futures Network, > president of the People-Centered Development Forum, and author of > When Corporations Rule the World. This article is based on his newly > released book The Post-Corporate World: Life After Capitalism, > co-published by Kumarian Press and Berrett-Koehler Publishers. The > author gratefully acknowledges Dr. Mae-Wan Ho and Elisabet Sahtouris > for their insights into living systems on which this article draws. > > The People-Centered Development Forum site maintained by the > International Institute for Sustainable Development, Winnipeg, Canada > > > > > > > ............................................. > Bob Olsen, Toronto [EMAIL PROTECTED] > ............................................. >
