In a previous post I argued that economic contraction is necessary and in fact underway.  Is this “Collapse” — that scary term that so many authors love to throw around?

I find the C word to be counterproductive.  Depending on where you are standing as the grand cascade of change ripples through, the ruthless C word might be how it all feels to you in the moment.  But the big scary C word disclaims all the brilliant aspects of the new, emerging economy.  It denies that there is anything positive going on.

Huh?

Take a step back for a moment.  Let’s take a look at the roots of what constitutes an economy.  At its precious essence, an economy is the sum total of transactions between people.

Conventional ideas of “economic transactions” can be confusing and daunting (and usually involve lots of paperwork).  They’re Important, with a capital “i” — Things like banking transactions.  The stock market.  Corporate jobs.  Government contracts.  Even buy/sell consumer transactions.

In a recent class I taught, I added visuals:  a brownpaper shopping bag from a major supermarket chain, with CONVENTIONAL ECONOMY written across it.  In turn, into the bag went bank statements, a W2 form, shiny gift bags from fashionable retail botiques.  The conventional Economy display looked quite substantial and formidable.

But transactions between people are far broader than that.  Transactions between people include a potluck supper.  Running an errand for a friend.  Exchanging homegrown vegetables.  Volunteering at a soup kitchen.

These are all noncash, and well outside the conventional Economy, but nonetheless, they are all valid transactions.

For my class visuals, out came a delicate basket — quaint Goldilocks style, in flagrant opposition to the starch techno aesthetic of the art school where the class was taking place.  Into the basket went homesaved seeds for heirloom vegetables.  A handknit sweater.  A book on herbal medicine.  A wooden toy, lovingly crafted by a grandfather.  A few wildflowers, to hand to a sick friend.  (It’s tough to stick hugs into a basket.) …

Writers such as Edgar Cahn, Charles Eisenstein, and Janelle Orsi call our attention to the cashfree economy.  Our society is dependent upon these transactions.

… Teaching your little brother to ride a bike.  Taking care of a hurt animal.  A mom diapering and feeding her baby.  My sister taking care of our 89 year old father. …  Without these vital exchanges, life grinds to a halt.

These are the backbone of our society, in fact the richness of our society.  Environmental economist Neva Goodwin has called noncash transactions the “core economy.”  It’s an apt term, because amany people would agree these type of transactions are the core of what it means to be human.

And cash free transactions are only one element in the panorama of the emerging new economy.

Along comes the down economy.  Things get really rough.

In my classroom performance I start stomping around the room.  The conventional Economy paperbag is conveniently in the middle of the floor.  Suddenly and noisily, it gets crushed and stomped over.  The conventional cconomy doesn’t look very strong anymore.  In fact it is now quite flattened.

But the Goldilocks basket is still sitting pretty: flowers and bread and colorful fabric.  It endures the ravages of the Descent.  It holds within its gentle embrace food, clothing, health care, child/elder care, education, beauty.

Throughout history, people have always found a way to survive.  Study the most desperate times.  You’ll hear of violin concerts in the ghettos, voices raised in song in prisons, poetry from the darkest depths.  It’s popular right now to circulate home ag and home ec posters from the 1930s, but do we listen to the deep survival message behind those stylized images?

Throughout tough times, people return to the basics.  In the tough times, it is the core economy that endures, and this is how people survive.

Right now cash-free economic transactions are scorned and discounted by the conventional Economy.  The conventional Economy uses a dismissive term — “alternative” — to label anything outside itself.  As in: there’s the real stuff, and then there are those alternatives.  But don’t place any trust in them because they are alternative, unsubstantial, not “the real deal.”

In its massive scorekeeping system, the conventional Economy doesn’t include cash-free economic transactions.  The message is powerful:  They don’t count.  We start to believe it.

A multitude of media soundbites convince us that to make things right, the conventional Economy has got to Grow.  Insidious media messages bore into our brain that we are nothing without the glossy trappings that are borne on conventional Economy bubbles.  A shiny car, the latest electronic device in our pocket, new carpets for a bigger house — these, it insists, are what is “real.”

When you think about it, all that bluster starts to sound a whole lot like the line from Wizard of Oz:  Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!  I am the great and powerful Oz!

What is real?  Our senses have been warped by too many decades of artificial opulence.

Real isn’t the stock market gains in the bubble times.  Real is the hug from your sticky-fingered two-year-old.  Real is that sun-warmed tomato, that you grew yourself, in your community garden plot.  Real is the joy you feel when you open the door to a circle of dear friends.  Real is when you turn that tomato into luscious sauce with your grandmother’s recipe, and share it with those friends.

The big guys desperately don’t want you to know it, but Real can happen completely without any products from Monsanto, Apple, Hunts, or Ragu.  Real can happen quite nicely with next-to-no cash.  Real can happen even without W2 income.  (Read the tales of Foxfire, and see how it is done.)  Real is heartwarming, can be belly-filling, and can in fact lead us in the direction of what many people would call “the good life.”  It promises to be a much more satisfying and connected life.

Our stomp Monster, the Economic Descent, is still blustering around the room.  If your life is all tied up in the conventional Economy, the stomp Monster is truly terrifying.  It is coming, and it will crush and wipe out all the glitter.  It will mow down all the hollow transactions that seemed so very important and solid at the time.

But the stomp Monster is surprisingly impotent when it comes to Real.

8 Comments on "Collapse? Maybe not."

Northwest Resident on Wed, 15th Jan 2014 6:01 pm 



We’ve all been conditioned to measure our happiness and “success” in this American economy by how much we possess, how much money we earn — he who dies with the most toys wins.

We are “under pressure” to conform to the happy marketing images that we are daily bombarded with. But what we have been conditioned to believe is actually an artificial and false premise for true happiness and contentment.

“If your life is all tied up in the conventional Economy, the stomp Monster is truly terrifying. It is coming, and it will crush and wipe out all the glitter. It will mow down all the hollow transactions that seemed so very important and solid at the time.”

Yep.

Dave Thompson on Wed, 15th Jan 2014 6:08 pm 



Economists must always shroud their explanations in complicated formulas and predictions in order to justify University education. People, we must understand the simple equation; plus or minus energy inputs = the economy. Forget money, interest,stock market bubbles and the list goes on. The economy = energy inputs plus or minus.

J-Gav on Wed, 15th Jan 2014 6:29 pm 



I for one do recognize all the positive things that are going on at the moment. That must continue for there to be any chance of smoothing the Great Transition. I also recognize that the scale of such actions, while it has moved out of the ‘totally pathetic’ category, is still in the ‘pitiful’ range. So, call it a ‘major contraction’ and dump ‘collapse’ if that makes you feel better. That might also have the advantage of scaring fewer people away from seeing the kinds of life-style changes they’re faced with. Still, the harsh reality is … that the new reality is going to be even harsher. More power to those who manage to build enough community-scale solidarity, efficiency, mutual aid and respect – they’ll certainly fare better than most.

rollin on Thu, 16th Jan 2014 12:46 am 



Thoughtfulness, kindness, love, they are priceless. But they are not economic transactions. A transaction means that that act of kindness or thoughtfulness has a price and must be repaid. Every favor is added up and must be returned. By helping a neighbor you then own that neighbor to a small degree if these are economic transactions.
I have met people like that, they appear to be giving and helpful, but immediately feel they are owed, even though that was never made clear.
I prefer to keep the good things in life free and freely given. It may all work out in the end but the acts are so much more precious if they are not given as economic transactions or debts to be paid. Be of service, don’t be an accountant.

Makati1 on Thu, 16th Jan 2014 1:22 am 



The Western mind is ‘me and mine’. We have all be indoctrinated from birth to want more. ALL of us. Only a few will ever escape that indoctrination because most cannot see it or deny they are that way. It is the religion of Capitalism.

My step-father sold his farm about 50 years ago and invested in the Stock Market. He claims to be worth a million dollars on paper. The crash in 2008 hit him hard. When the next one comes (soon) it will probably kill him. He is 89. Money is his life. How many other Westerners feel the same way? I don’t.

‘Transition’ is not possible for these people. It also sounds like some on here are in his shoes. Too invested in the paper world to want to believe that it will disappear into the real world soon. I think that all of these ‘transition’ people should make the effort to change their governments and buying habits instead of hoping that a few neighbors will save them. The neighborhood idea is a good one, but woefully short of changing anything.

action on Thu, 16th Jan 2014 1:32 am 



Obviously the vast number of people inhabiting the planet and the resulting barren landscape and lack of natural ecosystems is an enormous hurdle for transition. I honestly would want to try and live off the wild with some friends if we had landscapes of a few hundred years ago, now’s there’s nothing left. We’re burning the proverbial candle at both ends and are options are pretty much down to one, and it ain’t pretty.

RICHARD RALPH ROEHL on Thu, 16th Jan 2014 6:10 am 



Joanne Poyourow happy-lie writes about a $ports car that leaves the road at 200 mph… and barely misses an oak tree.

“Hooray! Hooray! We missed the tree!” she shouts… as the fast-ass $ports car travels across a weedy field… headed for a cliff.

Economists are not known for prescience and common sense.

simonr on Thu, 16th Jan 2014 9:01 am 



The Western mind is ‘me and mine’.

Which country embodies any different rules to ‘me and mine’ I would hazard that this is not a western mind, this is the human condition