A New Story of the Economy

by the Metta Center for Nonviolence

The economy is more than a series of transactions: It’s about relationships. A 3-minute animation by the Metta Center for Nonviolence shows how we can meet our human needs while protecting the climate. Prefer to read text? See the full transcript below the video player.

The “economy.” It’s a big word.

It describes a massive, globally entwined system involving over seven billion people all living on the same planet.

And it’s not working. Not for most of us. And certainly not for the planet.

How did we get into this mess? To understand our current economy, we’ve got to rewind the clock on human history.

Maybe not that far.

In the dawn of settled agriculture, our ancestors began accumulating food, tools, land, and other forms of wealth — sometimes for the benefit of the whole community; other times for personal gain and glory. Then, in pursuit of more, someone crossed the line between accumulating and stealing . . . and to make a long story short, conquest took off running.

After centuries of invasion, domination, colonization, extraction, exploitation, slavery, war, genocide, and industrialization, we’ve come to a moment of human history in which a very small elite has amassed astronomical fortunes while the rest of the world struggles to survive.

Today, climate change and environmental destruction are also teaching us that our economy needs to do more than simply take care of all the people.

It also has to respect the animals, plants, and ecosystems that keep us all alive.

The old story we’ve been telling ourselves about our economy — bigger is better, might makes right, take as much as you can — isn’t working any more.

We need a New Story of Economy, a story based on who we really are: not just physical bodies who need to consume ever more stuff but body, mind, and spirit, seeking loving and meaningful relationships with all around us.

Fortunately, people all around the world are already experimenting with economies rooted in compassion, connection, cooperation, and collaboration — economies based on need not greed. And they’re working!

We’re already “going local” and supporting shops, farms, and enterprises in our area. We’re:

• building worker cooperatives, buying cooperatives, tool coops, and more.
• moving our money out of big banks and into local credit unions; away from greedy, destructive businesses into ones that affirm life.
• sharing skills, tools, cars, resources, and time.
• rejecting consumer culture for ways of living that favor the natural world, creativity and the arts, local community, mentorship, contemplation, health, and relationships.

So what’s the New Story of Economy? One where our economic system satisfies human needs while respecting the ecosystems.

It’s a story of cooperation, collaboration, diversity, and inclusion. It’s a story of how we care for our communities and share our resources. It’s a story in which we live simply and meaningfully — one where we increasingly weave democracy and participation into our businesses and economic decisions. The New Story of Economy is one of prosperity and well-being for all, one that recognizes and honors the sanctity of all life.

As we shift from the old story to the New Story of Economy, we ourselves shift from being consumers, workers, or employers to who we truly are: human beings together, connected to one another and the Earth.

That’s the New Story of Economy. Join us!

For more on some of the resources mentioned in this video, see this PDF.

The Metta Center for Nonviolence, publisher of this magazine, provides educational resources on the safe and effective use of nonviolence, with the recognition that it’s not about putting the right person in power but awakening the right kind of power in people. We advance a higher image of humankind while empowering people to explore the question: How does nonviolence work, and how can I actively contribute to a happier, more peaceful society?

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