“If our economy builds financial circulation into its DNA by continuing to adopt not-for-profit forms of business, we can ensure a fair distribution of our common wealth”.
Video and text originally posted in Sustainable Brands.
Donnie Maclurcan, Executive Director of the Post Growth Institute and co-author of How on Earth: The Future is Not for Profit, will unpack a pleasantly surprising and compelling vision for a world in which purpose and positive impact are at the heart of the global market. Prepare to have some of your core beliefs about not-for-profit organizations challenged, as Donnie shows how 21st century not-for-profits can be highly efficient, transparent, and self-funded. Learn how such developments build on the changing nature of the market, with growing competitive advantage for businesses that prioritize purpose ahead of profit. Explore how an economy built on not-for-profit enterprise offers a realistic antidote to both the failures of state socialism and the excesses of corporate capitalism.
Photo by Max Fridman
I think it’s good to bear in mind that not-for-profit forms of business have been around for a long time and they do profit, and are mostly unaffected by the inequitable distribution of their profit. It’s also helpful to keep in mind that the cause of inequitable distribution of wealth is primarily the low-price imperative in our marketplace, which rewards those whom avoid the added costs of caring for people and planet to achieve the most competitive price, and thus money flows into the pockets of the the most corrupt agencies. The next time you are seeking low prices as you choose your purchases at your local market, notice that the marketplace effectively launders the products and the money in your pocket, such that the most important information – about the care of resources – is made opaque; and be aware that we nevertheless have the option to forego the lowest prices and make all our purchases in a responsible manner, and yet more than 99% of the time we do not. And be aware that not-for-profit organizations compete for your earnings in this same marketplace and can only contribute to a fair economy to the degree that you do, exactly as for-profit businesses.
There are such possibilities for systemic change through greater understanding and take-up of the not-for-profit business model. So looking forward to the global launch of the book http://www.howonearth.us . Congrats to authors Donnie MacClurcan and Jennifer Hinton and the many others who have supported this project.