The US economy depends on perpetual dissatisfaction -- the myth that if we buy just one more thing we'll feel complete.

So how can anyone, rich or poor, hope to be satisfied? How does the average person find happiness in a culture that calculates self-worth in dollars and cents? The answer, according to a group of people calling for an economic paradigm shift, is simple: we just do.

'Human beings and human workers can no longer serve as cogs in the machine of accumulation,' argues author Brian Milani, member of the Coalition for a Green Economy. 'Ecological development requires an unleashing of human development and an extension of democracy. Social and ecological transformation go hand in hand.'

Green Economics, according to Milani, demands a complete overhaul of the current economic system. This means substituting positive alternatives in all areas of life and every sector of the economy and building incentives for ecological merit into the new system.

The new and improved economic plan revolves around ten core principles. The first and most important being 'The Primacy of Use Value, Intrinsic Value and Quality:' that the function of a green economy is to satisfy real human and environmental needs. The list also includes highlights such as 'Following Natural Flows,' 'Diversity,' and 'Human Creativity and Development.'
-- Marca Bradt

Go there >>What is Green Economics?

Related Links:

• A Green Economy Cannot Be a Market Economy
• The Economics of Greening Cities

Related Links from the Utne Archive:

• True Cost Economics
• The Green M.B.A.($$)

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