Our present economic system predicated on continuous, exponential growth is driving all of us towards a precipice. The entire economy is based on money created from interest-bearing debt which compels society into a “grow or die” situation. If we continue to grow the economy, we must consume more and more resources at an exponential rate. This means exponential rates in natural resource consumption, waste generation, population growth, biodiversity loss. If we do not grow the economy, debts cannot be repaid, bankruptcies loom, and production grinds to a halt. These are the only two options with the current system, both of which are disasters for humankind. Furthermore, the trend of increasing automation of production displaces workers and upsets the labor-for-income game at the very heart of capitalistic society. We simply need fewer and fewer people to work to provide ever higher amounts of output. So we encourage people to consume for no better reason than for the health of “the economy”. This is absurd and I think most people know it. Put simply, we must evolve.

Any new economic system must be a form of steady-state economics, one that utilizes interest-free money so economies are not under a pressure to grow. Most likely, there will be many different kinds of economies in a gradual transition to a world based on access (instead of ownership). The sharing economy helps people recognizing the inherent inefficiencies in ownership by helping them to utilize their resources more efficiently. Gift economies embody our natural desire to give and help to route resources to real needs, not through a government redistribution scheme but by recognizing collectively that when we give, we also receive the gift of gratitude. Resource-based economies put the focus back on the most efficient use of resources given the sustainable yield of local ecosystems.

Sustainable economics is not limited to just these ideas. Indeed, we are in dire need of new ideas. Time banks, LETS systems, local currencies, transition towns, social dividends, shifting taxation from income to natural resources are all some of the ways to transition out of the highly consumptive society and into resilient, local communities based on foundations of trust and interconnection. Remember, the only thing that gives a system power is people believing in the system’s stories. If we no longer believe in the story of growth, we can, as Gandhi says, begin “to be the change we want to see in the world.”

This pillar explores many ideas related to sustainable economics, documents successes and failures, as well as ways to integrate them into our every day lives.

In our center left state, which has a proud history of progressivism, the Democratic party lost yet another election handily. Is it because the Democratic message is not accepted? of course not. If the republican message was one that the people wanted to hear, then they would not spend their time suppressing the vote and gerrymandering districts. They get that their hold on power is fleeting, and have rigged the system to delay that as long as possible. We can either whine about the system being rigged or do things to change it.

...

*Consistent Message!

Can anyone tell me the message that the Democratic Party and all of the elected officials stand for? Is there a line in the sand, written with sharpie, anywhere that has 100% support from the collective of the dems? I am not talking about the party platform, because no electeds follow that anyway and most people could not tell you what it said anyway. I am talking something even the most apathetic person in Wisconsin would answer when asked what the Democratic party stands for. Not only do we not stand for anything, we have a Gubernatorial candidate who pledges to not stand for anything.

..

* Keep Up With Technology:

Secondly, the DPW website is incredibly outdated. You go to it and you see a picture of SCOTT WALKER(who is not a democrat fyi). You had to search for unformation about Ms Coppola or Mr. Slezak. I know you can not focus on individuals usually, but when there are only two races you sure as hell can.

...

* Leadership.

If we are not willing to change course and change it soon we have no chance of winning next year. We can not be satisfied with just winning the dem safe seats and maybe winning a senate seat. We need to do better. If our current leadership is not up to changing their ways then we need new leadership. Time is of the essence! There are thousands of people who spent countless hours in the state collecting recall signatures, who are also not part of the party. We need to figure out a way to reach them and get them more active. We need to figure out a way to be much more successful at community and minority outreach!

Last week, yet another Department of Labor "Trade Adjustment Assistance" (TAA) certification was issued, following an application by laid-off Trek workers who said that "production has been shifted to China." This follows an unmistakable trend for Trek: between 1998 and 2011, Trek went from making 80% of their bikes in the United States to making less than one percent here.

In response to the TAA certification, Mary Burke's campaign spokesperson Joe Zapecki repeated the campaign's assertion that Trek's outsourcing was based purely on necessity, saying that U.S. trade policy needed to be changed to "level the playing field between the U.S. and its trading partners so that more family supporting manufacturing jobs are created right here in Wisconsin."

...

While it is true that bad trade deals have forced some U.S. corporations into outsourcing because their competitors were using outsourcing to sell products for less than it costs to produce in the United States, there is no evidence that this occurred at Trek.

In fact, between 1998 and 2011, Trek's sales tripled and they became the world's second largest manufacturer of bicycles and the dominant leader in the so-called "bike shop" sector. However, during the same time, Trek’s bike prices remained approximately the same. In other words, there wasn't the "price pressure" to outsource as there is in some sectors.