I mean yeah shit's toxic. How it's allowed in the regular food supply is beyond me.
Who said Gov is an inefficiency engine? That sounds more like neo-liberal dogma then actual peer reviewed work.
Then perhaps reforming the commons? Agricultural land & surplus are owned in common by the people who live in the area. Government pays for the production of those food stuffs and only gets a nominal % tax on the surplus.
The land barons of CA are no joke. They are a problem that we are going to have to deal with one way or another.
I agree the money is going to come from the monetary supply and government acting as buyer and distributor of goods would be incredibly problematic. A subsidy of some kind for domestic production + placing a max profit markup IMO would be a more effective method.
There is not much anyone can do TBH. Too much of the social/political/monetary systems we currently live in have exponential growth baked into their values. It's incredibly hard to turn that around. Now there is work being done on building a different economic system but its anyone's guess if the current system will bend itself into that direction or it just breaks and the new system fills the void. But either way capitalism is dying and there is no hope of saving it.
On what exactly? Also where do you store it? Like I am all for government activity to collectively stockpile and supply materials but what materials and for what purpose? Also should it be a federal project/state project/both? IDK sometimes its just easier to use price controls then it is to handle logistics.
As a born/raised/living Californian I can attest to the fact that its not California that is the problem. But as my ancestors would say it's "El Pinche Gringo's" that tend to be the problem.
Oh yeah in so many ways its a too little too late. The best time to have fixed this problem was 40 years ago, the second best time is now. Nothing will be perfect, and we are definitely going to get so many things wrong. All I am saying is that there is some hope for something better, just gotta keep focusing on that and try hard to not fall down the rabbit hole of existential dread.
I agree to an extent. I think governments or more accurately the civil servants in government are taking it seriously. I work with a local Doughnut Economics group and 2 years ago we couldn't even get the time of day, now the amount of calls and emails we have gotten from state, city & county officials is amazing. They want to take it seriously its just they don't know how. However in my experience I think they are starting to adequately freak out now, they are just keeping a straight face because "don't want the public to panic".
Welcome to Doughnut Economics
Hi everyone, apologies for not creating this welcome post sooner but welcome to the Doughnut Economics community on lemmy. This is a place to discuss concepts, tools, stories and work being done to build the Doughnut Economy of the 21'st century.
What is Doughnut Economics?
Doughnut Economics is an Economic framework developed by Prof. Kate Raworth in her book "Doughnut Economics: 7 Ways to Think like a 21's Century Economist". The goal of Doughnut Economics is to move the world away from pursuing GDP growth at all costs and to instead to "meet the needs of all within the limits of the earth" and "create a safe and just space for humanity". The key to that is the Doughnut
The Doughnut is a new goal for humanity. It comprises an inner ring of "Social Foundations" which are the basic needs every human being needs to live a decent life which are based on the U.N Sustainable Development goals. And an outer ring called the "Ecological Ceiling" which are based on the planetary boundaries framework created by The Stockholm Resilience Center.
The social foundations include:
- Water
- Food
- Health
- Education
- Income & Work
- Peace & Justice
- Political Voice
- Social Equity
- Gender Equity
- Housing
- Networks
- Energy
While the Ecological Ceiling include:
- Climate Change
- Ocean Acidification
- Chemical Pollution
- Nitrogen & Phosphorus Loading
- Freshwater Withdraws
- Land Conversion
- Biodiversity Loss
- Air Pollution
- Ozone Layer Depletion
The goal of the Doughnut is to provide enough resources to everyone to meet all the Social Foundations without blowing past the Ecological Ceiling.
Is this "Communism", "Socialism", "Marxism", "Capitalism", some other -ism?
Yes and No. Doughnut Economics attempts to redirect the economic conversation away from the economic concepts and ideas that ruled economic discourse during the 20th Century and instead have a new conversation on the goals and challenges for humanity in the 21'st century. The 20th century neo-liberal story about economics came with some axioms about the market and the people/players in them
- The Market, which is efficient - so give it free rein
- Business, which is innovative - so let it lead
- Finance, which is infallible - so trust in its ways
- Trade, which is win-win - so open your borders
- The State, which is incompetent - so don't let it meddle
- The Household, which is domestic - so leave it to the women
- The Commons, which are tragic - so sell them off
- Society, which is non-existent - so ignore it
- Earth, which is inexhaustible - so take all you want
These ideas and concepts drove economic policy and objectives during the 20th century. For humanity to survive in the 21'st century Doughnut Economics proposes a new story to be told
- Earth, which is life-giving - so respect its boundaries
- Society, which is foundational - so nurture its connections
- The Economy, which is diverse - so support all of its systems
- The Household, which is core - so value its contribution
- The Market, which is powerful - so embed it wisely
- The Commons, which are creative - so unleash their potential
- The State, which is essential - so make it accountable
- Finance, which is in service - so make it serve society
- Business, which is innovative - so give it purpose
- Trade, which is double-edged - so make it fair
- Power, which is pervasive - so check its abuse
With these axioms in mind Doughnut Economics requires us to do several things
- Change the goal from GDP growth to the Doughnut
- See the Big picture of how our economy works and how it must change
- Nurture Human Nature, not just human selfishness and greed but our kindness, creativity, caring and love for each other and the planet.
- Get Savvy with systems not just economic systems but planetary systems, social systems, legal systems. How they work and how they may be improved.
- Design to Distribute. Don't concentrate power/resources but work to evenly and equitably distribute it.
- Create to Regenerate. Don't just make things to be used and disposed of but built to be reused, repurposed or returned back to the earth in a way that regenerates the planet.
- Be Agnostic about Growth. GDP growth is good for helping countries & societies to meet their social foundations but it should not grow so much that it passes the ecological ceilings so be agnostic about it.
Additional Info
I hope we can all contribute, participate and debate in a healthy and respectful manner. For some additional resources on Doughnut Economics I have provided some links to resources from the Doughnut Economics Action Lab(DEAL).
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An economic system that is predicated on perpetual growth and resource extraction will eventually collapse as there is no more growth or resources to extract. Everyone is tapped out and there is nothing more you can squeeze. So it's not surprising that the people on the lower end of the economic pole are taking what they need to survive, if the economy can't provide for your basic needs then fuck the economy.