Doughnut Economics and Rebalancing Millennial Money Mindset
Chapter 11:
Enough. How much is Enough?
What gets Measured gets Managed
‘It always seems impossible until it’s done.’
Nelson Mandela (1918 – 2013)
Doughnut Economy Model by Kate Raworth
Author: Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth
From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository
As humanity wakes up and looks into the mirror, after taking off our pandemic masks and seeing through our wrinkles and scars from the past, we will realise how far we have come as a species. In most of history, humans have had to worry about hunger, wars, disease or pests destroying our crops.
As we wake up in 2020 stretch our limbs, rubs our eyes and wash our hands. We open our diary to check what needs to be done and realise that most of our previous problems have been solved. Clean water, infrastructure, education, vaccinations, medicine and irrigation for crops have all made huge improvements that could only be dreamed about by our ancestors. Today we are more likely to die from obesity than starvation, more people die from old age than from war. We can lift our eyes to the horizon and wonder what to do with our day. What needs to be top of our agenda? What is going to demand our attention?
In the 12th century, King Canute tried to stop the power of the oceans. As King of England, he thought he could control nature. He was wrong. Humans have invented some amazing things, however as King Canute found out the hard way, it’s impossible to defy nature.
Nature is unpredictable. You can do everything right at the moment and the results can go against you. You can choose how to set your sail, but you won’t know for sure which way the wind will blow.
If you had a 10% chance of a fatal car accident, you’d take the necessary precautions. If you had all your net worth in one single share and that has a chance of falling 10%, you’d re-evaluate your asset allocation. So when we know that the world is warming and there is a 10% chance that this might lead to a catastrophe beyond anything we could imagine, why aren’t we doing more about environmental destruction right now?
The Great Pacific Garbage patch is the largest landfill in the world. According to the book, ‘What’s Mine is Yours’ it is estimated to be twice the size of Texas and is 100 feet deep. This gigantic modern monument to our consumer society is in the Ocean dodged by sailors and shunned by fishermen, who call it a desert due to its lack of fish. These 3.5 million tonnes of rubbish are thought to contain 90% plastic, with everything from children's toys to toothbrushes and plastic bottles, which were likely used once and thrown away. ‘It has been estimated that since 1980 humans have consumed one-third of the planet's resources – forest, fish, natural minerals, metals and other raw material’
Back to Nature
For all our technical inventions humans remain at the mercy of the elements. Nature is the principle that unifies all things. Everything in nature is reflected in ourselves.
The breath of every human life of every minute of every day relies on nature. However, an area the size of the country of Greece (5% of the earth’s surface) is burned every year. The Amazon rainforest, the lungs of our planet are being burnt every day. The precious biodiversity of the old-growth forests is being cut down to be replaced by soy farms to feed cattle so we can eat a hamburger for dinner. There is so much that humans don’t know about the millions of different species on the planet. The depth and complexity of the natural biosphere are incredible. It is in our interest to protect the biodiversity of the planet. We create many of our modern medicines from nature, as just one example, 47% of cancer drugs come from natural sources. We won’t realise our full potential as a species unless we work with nature rather against it. We often forget that the most vital parts of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs such as air, water and food, are reliant on nature.
We have been trying to move away from nature rather than towards nature. The world needs a portfolio of long-term investments of natural capital. A bio-diversified world is much less risky than relying on only a few species. We need better management of the earth’s natural resources.
Humanity relies on only four grasses for the majority of our global food sources. These four kinds of grass are wheat, rice, corn, and millet. If any of these crops fail, then so does the large chunk of our population that is fed by them.
One type of banana makes up 95% of the global output. A pest or disease could easily eradicate this banana species showing how fragile our human progress is.
There are important benefits of nature on human health and wellbeing. Evidence suggests that nature and the natural setting can reduce stress and improve wellbeing. A study by Roger Ulrich showed that a hospital patient with a view of a natural environment had a reduced stay in hospital by a day, and required less pain medication and had fewer postsurgical complications than patients who instead could only see a brick wall during their stay.
Nature isn’t just beautiful, it is practical. The natural environment provides essential services which save millions of pounds every year. Nature prevents floods, filters water and cleans the air. The increase of carbon dioxide into the earth’s atmosphere caused by burning fossil fuels can be reduced by the humble tree.
Nature saves lives and communities in times of natural disasters. Engineers are increasingly turning to natural resources rather than concrete and machinery to prevent costly flooding. Acting sooner on environmental degradation makes it cheaper.
Rebalancing the Economy
Despite nature’s great importance to nature, we have become disconnected.
We have become disconnected from nature. We have lost our inner truth or essence. For all the progress we have made we need to remember where we come from. 1000s of years ago, our ancestors would look up at the stars each night, seeing how insignificant human beings are in this universe. Light pollution from streetlamps and 24-hour convenience stores in cities across the globe have meant when we look up into the night sky we no longer see the vast galaxies and planets, which connects us with our place in the universe.
Cities have been disconnected from the countryside and many areas that we consider to be the countryside are now human constructions that have lost their alignment with the cycles of nature.
Ancient forests were cut down and burned to provide wood to light fires to keep humans warm during winter. Coal was used to fuel engines of industrial growth, oil for people to drive cars to work and help grow our food on the dinner table. Today natural gas from fossils from the past heats our water and our homes.
The amazing self-balancing act of nature is increasingly becoming unbalanced. We need to question the idea of unlimited growth because the more people who consume the earth’s resources the less the capacity of the environment to withstand this change.
We often talk about a battle with nature, forgetting that if there was a fight then humans would be on the losing side. We often have an attitude towards nature that we don’t see ourselves as part of nature but an outside force looking to dominate or control it. We have the illusion of unlimited power and this illusion is fed by our scientific and technological advances.
Humans are the children of nature, not its master. We have to conform our actions to certain natural laws. The system of nature which humans are a part of tends to be self-cleaning, self-adjusting, self-balancing, If we do not Rebalance our economy then mother nature will do it for us.
If we do not change our behaviour then humans will also be on the extinction list alongside the Tasmanian Tiger, Falklands Island wolf and of course the Dodo.
As a bee gathering nectar does not harm or disturb the colour or smell of the flower, so businesses and individuals need to move through the world.
What gets measured gets managed
Human vices of greed and envy are systematically cultivated. Advertisers promote their products to teenagers intending to make it cool to consume. Our status in society’s pecking order is still linked to what we wear rather than what we do, what we consume rather than what we have achieved. What we buy rather than who we are.
‘Earth provides enough to satisfy every human need but not for every person’s greed’
Mahatma Gandhi (1869 –1948)
Our economy is focused on consumption rather than on the laws of nature. We need to understand the current continuous growth model is leading to environmental disaster and therefore economic catastrophe.
Nature is in us, humans. Whether we realise it or not. Nature is a part of us and not just its higher forms but all its wildness and all our grotesque habits. We need to work with nature, not against it.
‘You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough’
William Blake (1757 –1827)
Humans, nature and the universe all bear fruit, each in its season. All things are in a process of change, and all things are in the state of becoming. You are subject to constant alteration, and so is the world and the companies and business that provide goods and services.
this a special extract from the book Millennial Money Mindset
Neil Doig is the Founder of Money Tipps and author of Millennial Money Mindset: If you want the fruits you need the roots.
This was from chapter 11 of my book Millennial Money Mindset, which was shortlisted for the Financial Times writing prize. The chapter I was almost too scared to publish
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