Plenitude: The Emerging New Economy

Ecological decline is staring us in the face. With ever finite resources and an ever voracious appetite for them, the stress on this “pale blue dot” as Carl Sagan called earth is simply too much. Something has to give. The business as usual model is a prescription for widespread misery and destruction. The U.S. with much of its population pursuing what is called the good life of endless consumption is probably the biggest culprit but other countries are not that far behind. To begin with the attitude toward nature has to radically change. The pattern of plundering and extraction is a dead end. Humankind should be in partnership with nature not in an adversarial relationship. People are figuring this out. There are many initiatives to turn things around and create a new economy rooted in common sense and environmental sustainability.

 

Juliet Schor is Professor of Sociology at Boston College. Before joining Boston College, she taught at Harvard in the Department of Economics. She is author of many books including “The Overworked American,” “Do Americans Shop Too Much?” and “Plenitude:  The New Economics of True Wealth.” 

Recorded in Northampton, MA on July 28, 2012

 

 

 


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