A New Ecological Civilization

based on
The Economics of
Kindness

1. A Glimpse of a New Ecological Civilization
2. Our Ocean of Troubles
3. What are the Fundamental Causes of our Troubles?
4. A New Economy based on the Economics of Kindness
5. Where COVID-19 Meets the New Ecological Civilization

C O U R A G E20
Let’s move from
COVID-19 to
Caring
Open-Hearted
United and
Resilient
All Together
on our one
Green
Earth

But first,
we must
understand…

Our Ocean of Trouble
Climate Emergency

Climate Emergency Biodiversity Emergency

Selfish Finance

Plutocratic Tax Havens
Selfish Finance

Plutocratic Tax Havens
Selfish Finance
Slowing Economic Growth

Dramatic Inequality Plutocratic Tax Havens
Selfish Finance

Ecological Overshoot
Selfish Finance

Selfish Finance
Huge Debt Overload

Selfish Finance
Huge Debt Overload
The Plutocratic Corruption of Democracy

Selfish Finance
Huge Debt Overload
Crude Nationalism & Racism

Selfish Finance
Violence and War
Huge Debt Overload

Selfish Finance
Violence and War
Affordable Housing Crisis
Huge Debt Overload

Selfish Finance
Violence and War
Crisis of Work
Huge Debt Overload

Selfish Finance
Violence and War
Collapsing Communities
Crisis of Work
Huge Debt Overload

Selfish Finance
Violence and War
Crisis of Work
Huge Debt Overload
Loss of Trust

Selfish Finance
Increasing Loneliness
Violence and War
Crisis of Work
Huge Debt Overload
Loss of Trust

Selfish Finance
Violence and War
Opioids, mental illness
Crisis of Work
Huge Debt Overload
Loss of Trust

Selfish Finance
Violence and War
Opioids, mental illness
Crisis of Work
Huge Debt Overload
Loss of Trust
Continuing Racial Oppression

Guy Dauncey 2013
www.earthfuture.com
Humans are motivated by dreams of life and wholeness,
not by nightmares of death and collapse.

Selfish Finance
Violence and War
Spiritual Collapse
Crisis of Work
Huge Debt Overload
Loss of Trust
Loss of Civilizational Purpose

David Korten Phil Clayton
Jeremy Lent Matthew Fox Vandana Shiva

What are the Fundamental Causes of
our Ocean of Trouble?

French National Assembly, 1789
LEFT RIGHT
Jacobins
Constitutional
Monarchists
Girondins

LEFT
Socialist
Based on Marx’s
dialectical materialism,
class struggle, and faith
in a workers’
revolution.

RIGHT
Capitalist
Based on the primacy
of rational self-interest,
following the so-called
‘laws’ of neoclassical
economics.

We are not subject to any supposed laws
of Marxist dialectical materialism
or of modern neoclassical economics.
We have consciousness, which gives us agency.
When we couple our agency with intelligence,
creativity, hard work, imagination,
research, teamwork, cooperation and love,
it enables us to do amazing things.
BOTH ARE WRONG
Both deny us free human agency

• Selfishness is enshrined as an economic law
• Kindness and cooperation are dismissed
• The free market with free trade will supposedly bring
all the progress we want
• The role of governments is minimized
• Nature is ignored. The climate emergency is ignored
• The realities of power and ownership are ignored
• The instinct of workers to cooperate is suppressed
• The realities of money, banking and debt are ignored
• All other realities of human existence are ignored
• Free trade rules - the need for resilience is ignored
• Neoclassical economics blesses all this with quasi-
religious mathematical zeal
What’s Wrong with Capitalism?

Neoliberalism, based on Neoclassical Economics
All based on faulty economic ideas
This Awful Struggle
Capitalism vs. Communism
Fascism
World War II, The Holocaust
The Cold War, Threat of Nuclear Holocaust

Capitalism is not an Economic System
It is a cultural system of selfish values
expressed in the economy
through the use of capital.
These values become locked into
systems of property, ownership and law,
but fundamentally it’s not the system
that’s the problem:
It’s the values.

“Yes Sammy, the planet got destroyed.
But for a beautiful moment in time our fathers’ corporations
created a lot of value for their shareholders.”

The Economics of Kindness
is a cultural system of compassionate values
through the use of democracy.
Capitalism
is a cultural system of selfish values
through the use of capital.

What is the Second Fundamental
Cause of our Ocean of Trouble?

2. Our Ancient Impulse to Dominate

To understand how all this came
about, we need to go back …
… way back.

Humans and Chimps share 98% of our DNA

We have the same maternal impulse

The same aggressive impulse to dominate

The same hierarchical impulses
Fear - Submission – I’m Friendly

The same cooperative and altruistic impulses.
Caring for non-kin with no personal genetic
advantage. Group selection advantage.

David Sloan Wilson
Biologist &
anthropologist
“Selfishness beats altruism within groups.
Altruistic groups beat selfish groups.
Everything else is commentary.”

The same murderous impulse.
Non-alpha males resent domination,
and will sometimes even kill their leader.

When our ancestors invented bows and arrows
and spears, working together as a team
became all-important.
The alpha-males lost their physical advantage.

All across the world, hunter-gatherers are
egalitarian and cooperative.
They go out of their way to suppress upstarts and self-
importance. They lived by this code for 300,000 years.

To dominate or cooperate?
That is the question.

Our Primate Ancestors:
Six million years of life
in hierarchical, dominating cultures
with tough Alpha-Males

Our Hunter-Gatherer Ancestors:
300,000 years of
egalitarian, cooperative cultures,
suppressing domination

With the coming of agriculture and food surpluses,
egalitarian societies gave way to
‘achievement societies’

Over time, however, successful achievers obtained
inheritances for their children,
enabling the return of domination.

The return of domination brought war, conquest,
slavery, colonies and empire

And yet more war, conquest, slavery,
colonies and empire.
Centuries of it. Millennia of it.

Our Economies
For as long as 5,000 years,
almost all societies that were not
hunter-gatherer or achievement societies
have developed their economies
within a cultural landscape of
Domination

Domination by the wealthy and powerful:
Private property, private land ownership,
Private banks, private debts, debt-slavery

Domination by a Communist State:
State-owned and controlled property, land,
businesses, banks and debts.

China’s Tang Dynasty, 7th Century
The market is highly cooperative

The Silk Road
Most trade is highly cooperative

Primates
Dominating
Conquest
Ownership
Colonialism
Slavery
Empire
Capitalism
Neo-Liberalism

Cooperative
Hunter-Gatherers
Achievement Societies
Mutual Aid Societies
The Commons
The Market, Trade
Social Finance
Insurance
Cooperatives
Community Banks
Community Economics
Wellbeing Economics
Doughnut Economics

• Guided by self-interest
• Investors/CEO control
• Maximize shareholder returns
• Share buy-backs for owners
• Vulnerability to investors
• Labour union suppression
• Insecure work
• 900:1 wage ratio
• Flat wages since 1975
• Tax evasion
• Relocate to low wage countries
• Lobby for minimal workplace
and environmental regulations
Cooperative
Business
Dominating
Business
• Guided by social purpose
• Workers self-control
• Maximize overall success
• Workers become owners
• Self-financed through savings
• Labour unions full partners
• Secure long-term work
• 8:1 wage ratio
• Wages based on shared
productivity gains
• Taxes paid fairly
• Commitment to community
• Lobby for social and
environmental purpose

• Guided by self-interest
• Investors/CEO control
• Maximize shareholder returns
• Share buy-backs for owners
• Vulnerability to investors
• Labour union suppression
• Insecure work
• 900:1 wage ratio
• Flat wages since 1975
• Tax evasion
• Relocate to low wage countries
• Lobby for minimal workplace
and environmental regulations
Cooperative
Business
Dominating
Business
• Guided by social purpose
• Workers self-control
• Maximize overall success
• Workers become owners
• Self-financed through savings
• Labour unions full partners
• Secure long-term work
• 8:1 wage ratio
• Wages based on shared
productivity gains
• Taxes paid fairly
• Commitment to community
• Lobby for social and
environmental purpose
Operating
Principles of
Capitalism
Operating
Principles of
a New
Ecological
Civilization

What is the Third Fundamental Cause
of our Ocean of Trouble?

3. Ecological Ignorance and Abuse

Guy Dauncey 2013
www.earthfuture.com
GDP =
Gross
Depletion
of the
Planet

Guy Dauncey 2013
www.earthfuture.com
GDP =
Gross
Depletion
of the
Planet
YEA!
Rainforest
destruction
increases GDP

Guy Dauncey 2013
www.earthfuture.com
GDP =
Gross
Depletion
of the
Planet
YEA!
Rainforest
destruction
increases GDP
OOPS!
For economists,
the loss of the
rainforest itself is
an unfortunate
externality

CLIMATE CRISIS
Don’t you go worrying
yourself, my dear. It’s just
another externality.

The carbon cycle? Why do I
need to know what that is?

My gut microbiome? Why do I

Where all our waste goes?
Why do I need to know that?

The role of keystone species?

The ecological origin of pandemics?

The ecological origin of pandemics?
Hmm.
Maybe I do need
to know these
things.
COVID-19

IMPORTANT NOTICE
All students seeking entry
to any university in
Canada must first pass
Ecology 101
Solution #1: Could be done very quickly

Welcome to Canada
All businesses must operate
within Nature’s
resilience boundaries
Solution #2: A lot more complex

Look! We’re coming to
an economy that’s in
harmony with Nature

What is the Fourth Fundamental
Cause of our Ocean of Trouble?

4. The Loss of our Civilizational Story

We have a perennial need for a story
to tell us what’s really happening.
Where do we come from?
What are we? Where are we going?

We need to know
Yes, seriously,

Guy Dauncey 2013
www.earthfuture.com
Neo-Classical Economism

Throughout existence,
having a positive intention of a future outcome
has been a precondition for success

As we build our green cooperative economy,
we are also building our New Ecological Civilization

“Today’s economy is divisive and
degenerative by default.
Tomorrow’s economy must be
distributive and regenerative
by design.”
- Kate Raworth
Doughnut Economics: 7 Ways to Think Like a 21st Century Economist

The Nine Resilience Boundaries

Important
We do not inhabit one economy
We inhabit FOUR intertwined economies
Standard Model

Nature’s Economy
The Social
Economy

Nature’s Economy
The Social
Economy
The
Market
Economy

Nature’s Economy
The Social
Economy
The
Market
Economy
The Public
Economy

Cooperators Dominators
Kindness Status, Power

Business Banking
Energy Farming
Work Manufacturing
Taxation
Investments
Health Care Housing
Welfare
How Can We Build an Economics of Kindness?
Education
Wildlife
Fiscal Policy
Forestry
Income
Community
Monetary PolicyTrade Policy

Business Banking
Energy Farming
Work Manufacturing
Taxation
Investments
Health Care Housing
Welfare
Education
Wildlife
Fiscal Policy
Forestry
Income
Community
Monetary PolicyTrade Policy
We Need to Transform Each of These Realms

BUSINESSES & CORPORATIONS
Transition to a New Ecological Civilization
We need legislation that would apply to every
business above a certain size: that over a set
period of time, such as a Ten Year Transition,
every business must adopt a
Social Business Charter, embracing these
Ten Big Commitments

1. To state its larger purpose, including a legally
recognized commitment to consider the
interests of all stakeholders, and to pursue
social and ecological purpose in addition
to financial purpose.
Ten Big Commitments

2. To report annually on
progress, using Integrated
Reporting to track natural,
social and human capital as
well as financial capital.
Ten Big Commitments

3. To meet standards of social and
environmental performance
that increase each year,
as we make the transition to a
New Ecological Civilization.
Ten Big Commitments

4. To pledge not to lobby
for any toxic, fossil fuel
or tax-avoiding industry.
Ten Big Commitments

5. To engage in profit-sharing,
and to offer an equity stake in ownership of the
business to all employees who have worked with
the business for more than two years.
Ten Big Commitments

6. To strive to have at least
50% women and racial diversity
on the board of directors.
Ten Big Commitments

7. To encourage workplace democracy,
allowing workers in larger companies to form a
union and enabling them to elect
40% of the company directors.
Ten Big Commitments

8. In the event of sale, closure or impending
bankruptcy, to grant first right of refusal to
workers or community organizations
who may wish to buy the business.
Ten Big Commitments

9. To pay taxes fairly,
and not engage in transfer pricing,
offshore banking,
or any use of tax havens.
Ten Big Commitments

10. For larger corporations,
to appoint a public board of trustees
who would be accountable
to the larger public good.
Ten Big Commitments

As soon as a business signs the new
Social Purpose Charter
it would pay lower taxes,
and get priority treatment in bids on
government contracts.
Ten Big Commitments

After the agreed period of time,
every business that has not signed the
Social Purpose Charter
would be denied a license to operate.
Ten Big Commitments

FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
We need similar legislation that would apply to
every Financial Institution (FI) above a certain
size: That over a set period of time, such as a
Ten Year Transition, every FI must become
socially responsible, embracing similar
Ten Big Commitments

Ten Big Commitments
As soon as a Financial Institution signs
the new Social Purpose Charter
it would pay lower taxes,
and get priority treatment in bids on
government contracts.

After the agreed period,
every Financial Institution that has
not signed the Social Purpose Charter
would lose its
$100,000 customer deposit insurance
and any future support from the Central Bank.
Ten Big Commitments

FARMING
We need legislation that would apply to every farm
above a certain size: that over a set period of time,
every farm must become
socially and environmentally responsible,
embracing similar big commitments, including…

FARMING
1. To phase out all chemical pesticides and fertilizers
2. To develop and activate a wildlife regeneration plan
3. To develop and activate a soil regeneration plan
4. To secure a non-hybrid open-pollinated seed supply

FARMING
We also need
to grow much
more local
food

ENERGY
We need federal and
provincial legislation to
1. Set a target for 100%
renewable energy by 2040
for all purposes – electricity,
heat, transportation.
2. Embrace the 164 practical
policies and programs in
Climate Emergency: A 26-
Week Transition Program for
Canada.

ENERGY

It was fossil fuels
that launched the Industrial Age
and the modern world.

It is fossil fuels
that have made advanced engineering,
solar PV and electric vehicles possible.

More solar energy reaches Earth in an hour
than humans use in a year.

With every passing year,
solar technology gets
better and cheaper.

The Age of Fossil Fuels is the
LAUNCH RAMP
for a New Ecological Civilization
300,000 years
Solar Firewood

LAUNCH RAMP
300,000 years
Solar Firewood
300 years
Solar Fossil Fuels
1740-2040

LAUNCH RAMP
300,000 years
Solar Firewood
300 years
Solar Fossil Fuels
1740-2040
Two billion years
Solar Electricity
2,000 – Far Future

Farewell and Thank You, Fossil Fuels

A transition to a world powered by 80% wind, water and solar
energy by 2030 (100% by 2050) is possible for 143 countries.
Globally, the use of renewables would:
• Reduce global energy demand by 57% due to the inherent
efficiencies of electric vehicles and heat pumps.
• Reduce private energy costs from $17.7 to $6.8 trillion a year.
• Reduce the full social cost (private + healthcare/mortality +
climate) by 91%, from $76 to $6.8 trillion a year.
• Create 28.6 million more long-term full-time new jobs than are
lost in the transition.
• Use only 0.65% of the available land in the 143 countries
Stanford University Solutions Project

• Climate Action Bonds issued by the Government, bought by the
Bank of Canada using Green Quantitative Easing: $8.3 billion
per year
• 5% Green Bonds, equivalent to War Bonds, issued by the
government, guaranteed by the Bank of Canada as buyer of last
resort. For purchase by the public. $13.8 billion per year
• Interest-Free Loans issued by a network of Public Banks,
guaranteed by the Bank of Canada. $7 billion per year
• Pay-As-You-Save (PAYS) Utility Loans and Property-Assessed
Clean Energy (PACE) Municipal Loans, guaranteed by the Bank
of Canada. $19.5 billion per year
• Fossil Fuel Subsidy Transfers. $10 billion per year
No increase in taxation. No increase in government debt.
Carbon tax rising to $280/tonne by 2030, 100% revenue-neutral,
returned to families as a January cheque in the mail.
How Can We Finance the Transition?

WORK AND INCOME

WORK AND INCOME
Which will it be?

WORK AND INCOME
Workers’ Cooperatives
Employee Share-Owning Programs
Trade Union Rights
Flexicurity, as in Denmark
Workers’ Representation on the Board

WORK AND INCOME
Workers’ Cooperatives
Study Circles, Incubators,
Financing, and Support

WORK AND INCOME
Fair Taxation
A Wealth Tax
Inheritance taxes
End all use of Tax Havens
A Social Wealth Fund
Ecological Restoration Taxes

ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION

• A nationwide shift to organic regenerative farming,
phasing out the pesticides and fertilizers that do so
much harm to insects, birds and wildlife.
• Local ecological restoration maps
• Plans for how each critical area can be restored
over the next several years.

A Nature Restoration Corps
Jobs for 50,000 young people a year

FORESTRY

FORESTRY
• A nationwide shift to ecosystem-
based forestry, phasing out the use
of clearcutting.
• The phasing out of timber for pulp
and paper, substituting alternative
and recycled fibres
• The permanent protection of all
remaining ancient forests

COMMUNITY

20th Century 21st Century
Personal Wealth Community Wealth

Affordable
Housing
COMMUNITY WEALTH

Affordable
Housing
Great Public
Transport
COMMUNITY WEALTH

Affordable
Childcare
Affordable
Housing
Great Public
Transport
COMMUNITY WEALTH

Affordable
Childcare
Affordable
Housing
Great Public
Transport
Safe Bike Lanes
COMMUNITY WEALTH

Affordable
Childcare
Urban Food
Affordable
Housing
Great Public
Transport
Safe Bike Lanes
COMMUNITY WEALTH

Great Schools
Affordable
Childcare
Urban Food
Affordable
Housing
Great Public
Transport
Safe Bike Lanes
COMMUNITY WEALTH

Great Schools
Affordable
Childcare
Urban Food
Work-sharing
Affordable
Housing
Great Public
Transport
Safe Bike Lanes
COMMUNITY WEALTH

Great Schools
Affordable
Childcare
A Sharing
Economy
Urban Food
Work-sharing
Affordable
Housing
Great Public
Transport
Safe Bike Lanes
COMMUNITY WEALTH

Lots of
Green Space
Great Schools
Affordable
Childcare
A Sharing
Economy
Urban Food
Work-sharing
Affordable
Housing
Great Public
Transport
Safe Bike Lanes
COMMUNITY WEALTH

Lots of
Green Space
Great Schools
Affordable
Childcare
Solar Energy
A Sharing
Economy
Urban Food
Work-sharing
Affordable
Housing
Great Public
Transport
Safe Bike Lanes
COMMUNITY WEALTH

Lots of
Green Space
Great Schools
Great Urban
Spaces
Affordable
Childcare
Solar Energy
A Sharing
Economy
Urban Food
Work-sharing
Affordable
Housing
Great Public
Transport
Safe Bike Lanes
COMMUNITY WEALTH

Lots of
Green Space
Great Schools
Great Urban
Spaces
Affordable
Childcare
Solar Energy
A Sharing
Economy
Urban Food
Work-sharing
Affordable
Housing
Great Public
Transport
Safe Bike Lanes
Community
currencies
COMMUNITY WEALTH

Lots of
Green Space
Great Schools
Great Urban
Spaces
Affordable
Childcare
Solar Energy
A Sharing
Economy
Urban Food
Work-sharing
Basic Income
Affordable
Housing
Great Public
Transport
Safe Bike Lanes
Community
currencies
COMMUNITY WEALTH

Lots of
Green Space
Great Schools
Great Urban
Squares
Affordable
Childcare
Solar Energy
A Sharing
Economy
Urban Food
Work-sharing
Basic Income
Affordable
Housing
Free College
Education
Great Public
Transport
Safe Bike Lanes
Community
currencies
COMMUNITY WEALTH

Lots of
Green Space
Great Schools
Great Urban
Squares
Affordable
Childcare
Solar Energy
A Sharing
Economy
Urban Food
Work-sharing
Basic Income
Affordable
Housing
Free College
Education
Great Public
Transport
Social Purpose
Businesses,
Banks & Coops
Safe Bike Lanes
Community
currencies
COMMUNITY WEALTH

Lots of
Green Space
Great Schools
Great Urban
Squares
Affordable
Childcare
Solar Energy
A Sharing
Economy
Urban Food
Work-sharing
Basic Income
Affordable
Housing
Free College
Education
Great Public
Transport
Social Purpose
Businesses,
Banks & Coops
Safe Bike Lanes
Community
currencies
Social
Enterprises
& Non-Profits
COMMUNITY WEALTH

Lots of
Green Space
Great Schools
Great Urban
Squares
Affordable
Childcare
Solar Energy
A Sharing
Economy
Urban Food
Work-sharing
Basic Income
Affordable
Housing
Free College
Education
Great Public
Transport
Social Purpose
Businesses,
Banks & Coops
A Cooperative Local Economy
Safe Bike Lanes
Community
currencies
Social
Enterprises
& Non-Profits
COMMUNITY WEALTH

COMMUNITY WEALTH
Cooperative Public Renewal (CPR)

GLOBAL TRADE

GLOBAL TRADE
Free Trade Zones
• Reduced trade tariffs
• Open competition
• Race to the regulatory
bottom
• Trade tribunals to
protect capital, not
Nature, countries or
workers

GLOBAL TRADE
Free Trade Zones
• Reduced trade tariffs
• Open competition
• Race to the regulatory
bottom
• Trade tribunals to
protect capital, not
Nature, countries or
workers
Ethical Trade Zones
• Trade tariffs based on
compliance with human
rights, labor rights,
climate protection, etc
• Race to the regulatory top
• Trade tribunals to protect
Nature, countries and
workers, as well as capital

CONFLICT AND WAR

CONFLICT AND WAR
In 2015, violence and war drained $13.6 trillion from the global
economy: $150 a month for everyone on the planet.
45% for military expenditure, 26% for internal security,
the rest for financial losses due to conflict and violence.
We currently spend 100x more on war than we do on peace.

Where COVID-19 Meets the Emerging
New Ecological Civilization

Now is the time to be working out the
practical details of a Rapid Transition
to a New Ecological Civilization

A Green/Just COVID Recovery Plan
A Green New Deal
Corporate Bail-out Clauses
A Debt Jubilee

If Transition Projects are not
Shovel-Ready, the COVID-19 Economic
Recovery will revert to Business-As-Usual

Companies which pay out dividends to shareholders,
buy back own shares or are registered in tax havens
won’t be eligible for any of Denmark’s aid programs

Continuing compassion
for the most vulnerable

Stronger public healthcare

Much greater local resilience

More locally-grown food

Progress for kindness
and wellbeing,
not just more money

Ecological restoration
and wellbeing,
not just more money

Strong caring neighbourhoods
and wellbeing,
not just more money

Affordable housing for all
and wellbeing,
not just more money

A permanent end to homelessness
and wellbeing,
not just more money

Community wealth
and wellbeing,
not just more money

Community wealth
100% renewable energy
and wellbeing,
not just more money

Ethical trade
Community wealth
and wellbeing,
not just more money

An end to war
Ethical trade
Community wealth
and wellbeing,
not just more money

An end to war
Ethical trade
Community wealth
One world
working together
and wellbeing,
not just more money

Let’s build
ourselves a
new ecological
civilization

Let’s build
ourselves a
new ecological
civilization
And thank YOU

Guy Dauncey
www.thepracticalutopian.ca

A New Ecological Civilization

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