Principles of True Economy
April 2020 / Revised August 2023
The first version of this article was written at the start of the COVID pandemic. Since then, the notion of humanity’s Great Transition has become increasingly real. There is a rising impulse in humanity to create new systems, including economic systems, that work for all. Many people I know have been receiving visions in meditation with a new level of clarity, and these “downloads” offer clues that can help us to navigate this turbulent moment in history.
Here are two of the powerful questions that I have been meditating on:
- What is a true economy, and what are its principles?
- What is money, and how does it support a true economy?
Our answers to these questions, and our often-unconscious beliefs about money and economy, greatly influence how we relate to one another, to other life forms, and to life. The time is right to reconsider our foundational assumptions, definitions, and beliefs about value and how society is organized. The next few years are a golden opportunity to source different answers to the above questions by listening to the wisdom that exists within us. The responses we receive can provide a roadmap for thriving in a transitioning world. As we listen deeply and upgrade our notions of money and economy, we can co-create new economic and governance models that are better suited for life in the 21st century and beyond.
What follows is a set of interconnected understandings that came to me as I sat in silence and invited the fully awakened version of humanity to be revealed through the lens of economy and money.
What Is a True Economy?
The most successful economy is an awakened economy, in which businesses and individuals interact with unprecedented levels of consciousness and love in ways that support the well-being of every being. One possible name for such an economy is “true economy.” When I contemplate the nature of a true economy, I can see and feel that it has certain characteristics:
- Activities that benefit all and harm none are naturally supported.
- People and communities have immense freedom to develop their creativity.
- Human communities and ecosystems are uplifted by economic activity.
- Businesses prosper without compromising the web of life.
- People are supported in realizing their true nature.
11 Principles of True Economy
In addition to the characteristics of a true economy, a set of 11 principles for co-creating such an economy rose into awareness.
1. Anchor Assets: The foundation of economy for each community, and each bioregion, is the health of its ecosystems. Healthy ecosystems attract and sustain life.
2. Leveling Out: A true economy keeps value flowing, eliminates unhealthy inequalities, and ensures that everyone’s basic needs are met ongoingly.
3. Generosity: The participants in a true economy always give more of themselves than the minimum because it feels good and right to do so. This quality of interacting increases the well-being of all.
4. Value Yourself: When you appreciate your own immense value within the web of life, you can more readily appreciate the value of others and the value of their contributions.
5. Do What You Love: In a healthy ecosystem, there is abundant energy available to create everything you need by doing what you love to do and sharing the results.
6. Life = Value = Life: Life is the source of value and life experiences are a primary form of value. There are countless forms of life-aligned value, and they all contribute to increasing the quality of life.
7. Measure Health: By continually measuring, tracking, and improving the health of nature, people, and communities, it is possible to incentivize human activities that increase true wealth.
8. Money Spirals: The circulation of money through webs of reciprocity and beneficial exchange stimulates people’s creativity, adds life energy to the economy, and lifts everyone with each iteration.
9. Cultivate Wealth (in a deep sense): Grow and nurture assets, intentionally, that rise in worth as the well-being of people and nature increases. Harvest the wealth consciously, distribute it fairly, and continue the cycle.
10. Protect People and Ecosystems: Conserve, enhance, and celebrate the upward spiral of healthy interactions amongst the natural environment, the built environment, and humans.
11. Mutually Assured Thriving: The structures of a true economy strongly favor activities and interactions that benefit all and harm no one. The thriving of one requires the thriving of all, and a healthy whole requires healthy individuals.
What Is Money, and How Does It Support a True Economy?
In response to the question “What is money, and how does it support a true economy?”, the following points emerged:
- A true money system is an expression of our ultimate interrelatedness.
- Money is an agreement amongst all beings to care for one another and life.
- The nature of money is unenclosable. Money always finds ways around borders and other limitations.
- Money channels unlimited creative energy into manifestation.
- Money is the relational consciousness of the planetary superorganism, and every other level of life.
Acknowledgement
The articulation of the 11 principles has been greatly inspired by LOVE TO, a group of companies that are pioneering the implementation of new regenerative economies. Special thanks to Tim Bennett, who is a co-founder of LOVE TO, for his co-creative assistance.
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Photo from PxHere