Ellen discusses 9 aspects of “Life’s Economic Survival Protocol” that continuously puts life into upward spiral in spite of the geologic history of crises that life has faced. Her analysis is insightful and fascinating.
Under the influence of a global economy that has gone viral, compromising the ability of human and natural communities to provide for, protect, defend and heal themselves, we are living beyond Earth’s means, creating a Critical Mass of economic, environmental, social and political crises that cannot be solved by doing more of the same. The largest complex economic system on Earth–the largest provider of goods and services necessary for survival–is not the global economy. It’s the biosphere, Life itself. Life rules, we don’t. Life has lasted for so long because it learned how to deal with overreaching species: It ruled them out. We can learn how to mitigate Critical Mass, how to survive it and how to avoid causing it again from the ultimate Critical Mass survivor: Life itself. We can learn and obey Life’s rules for economic survival, adopt lifeways that mimic Life’s ways, and by that means learn to live within Earth’s means.
Among the rules written into Life’s Economic Survival Protocol are local self-reliance, intercommunity and regional functional cooperation, non-carbon energy sourcing, resource conservation, sharing and recycling, and organically democratic methods of self-organization and governance. These rules have worked for Life for over two billion years. We can make them work for us, too.”
Interview and more information: http://p2pfoundation.net/Life%27s_Economic_Survival_Protocol