Yet, neither GDP nor quality of life can be accurately
assessed without inclusion of the Unpaid "Love" Economy" of housewives
and other uncompensated providers of goods and services. This "hidden"
economy is a crucial factor in times of an economic depression or
currency crisis such as the one experienced in Argentina in 2001 and in
the U.S. during the Great Depression when banks collapsed and people
"remember that they can create their own local ‘scrip' currencies,
barter clubs, flea markets, and community credit-systems to keep local
exchange and production humming." (45)
It is at this point in
the book that we begin to catch the flavor of relocalization and the
transition from global to local that is pivotal in transforming the
current economic system into one that serves human beings and the
environment. For example, Henderson refers to Riane Eisler who believes
that "economics is basically about what we value, and we must value the
work of caring and care giving and develop caring policies." In the
current system of empire, the most effective milieu for accomplishing
this is at the local level.
Edgar Cahn, founder of the
Time Dollar Institute
which has devised a local system of time/work exchange, says that in
this system "You put in an hour, you get an hour's credit then you can
spend it to get help for yourself or your family or you can give that
time credit to someone else who needs it more." One result of this
arrangement is the rebuilding of a sense of extended family in the
communities where the system is utilized.
Ithaca Hours
is another scheme implemented in upstate New York. It is essentially a
barter program which is currency-based rather than time-based. At its
inception each person who wanted to participate received $20 worth of
money for free for joining and after that the Ithaca Hours newspaper
shopping directory of offerings grew slowly, but soon businesses began
accepting the program, and Ithaca Hours became a successful program
because it kept money in the community a little longer than other
money. The program helps build community by getting people talking to
each other and in some cases enables them to get interest-free loans,
mortgages, and healthcare. While traditional economists still disparage
bartering as "primitive", we now have the world's largest garage sale
online, ebay, which demonstrates how the mainstream economy can be
bypassed.
Another section of the book highlights green
building projects constructed with sustainable,
environmentally-friendly products, as well as the proliferation of
companies, such as the Fairmont Hotel chain, which uses organic
cleaning products instead of the usual toxic cleaning products and
encourages its Washington, D.C. employees by subsidizing their use of
public transportation rather than driving their cars to work.
In a chapter on investing in one's local community, the
Business Alliance For Local Living Economies
(BALLE) is highlighted as an example of how sustainable local economies
can be created and maintained. Countering the global economy, BALLE
works with local communities to provide products such as coffee and
chocolate which cannot normally be obtained locally. "...it's not about
buying everything local. It's about buying everything in a way that
supports a local community where that project originates; in other
words, paying fair trade prices." (77) TransFair USA is an organization
that certifies companies and products that meet the
international Fair Trade standards and audits the entire global supply chain. Henderson lists the principles of Sustainable World Trade as:
- Adherence to all United Nations principles, treaties
- A well-regulated transparent, democratic global financial architecture
- Ending corruption
- Ending relocation practices based on tax holidays
- Calculating all traded goods and negotiations in full-cost prices
- Truly level playing fields on subsidies
- Connecting GDP per capita based economic growth measures: Rio de Janeiro in Agenda 21 (1992)
- Correcting stock and bond markets evaluations (101)
Although fully acknowledging the reality of Peak Oil, Ethical
Markets, while offering a number of energy conservation guidelines,
does not mention the fact that no amount of conservation or
technological innovation can be implemented in time to avoid a massive
global energy crisis. Nor does Henderson mention the suppression of
alternative energy technology during the past 60 years or the fact that
globalization will be reversed by Peak Oil alongside the global
economic catastrophe whose storm clouds we now see gathering.
A fascinating chapter on the Transformation Of Work proposes practical
strategies for implementing ever-shorter work weeks which allow workers
to enjoy the arts, sports, self-improvement, learning new skills, and
having more time for travel and vacations, ultimately creating a whole
new economy. Three concepts make this possible: 1) A guaranteed minimum
income for all 2) guaranteed jobs, 3) employee stock ownership plans. A
genuine "ownership society", not the one proposed by George W. Bush, is
possible-a form of ownership benefiting the working and middle classes,
not the ruling elite.
"Clean Food" is a chapter that
illuminates the machinations of agribusiness and its intention to own
and dominate world food supplies. Alternative food production and
education endeavors such as Rodale Press and Institute, Forestrade,
Inc., the Clif Bar company, and others are models for the creation of
non-toxic food products and supplements. Yet once again, because so
many formerly "healthy" food companies such as Ben and Jerry's, Horizon
Organics, and Boca Foods have been purchased by corporate giants, it is
relocalization and local food security programs that are more likely to
ensure the proliferation of clean food.
Especially helpful at
the end of the "Clean Food" chapter is Frances Moore Lappe's "Ten
Actions For Just Food And For A Just World":
- Enjoy food fresh from the [local] farm
- Vote your values with your dollar
- Eat a sustainable and whole-foods diet
- Support fair trade products and workers' rights
- Transform the buying power of your community, ie. Bringing fresh, local, organic foods into your schools, hospitals, etc.
- Create brand-free zones
- Get a diverse media diet
- Get involved with issues that matter to you
-
Host a teach-in, study group, or gathering in your area around any
cause you choose [But what about one that educates the citizens of your
area about food?]
- Vote [And to this I must add that the local level may
be the only venue where legitimate, non-fraudulent elections still
exist. I cannot concur with Lappe on the importance of voting in
federal elections where the likelihood of fraudulent, computerized
election tampering is rampant. See Bev Harris's documentary "Hacking Democracy".]
Fortunately, Ethical Markets is not a book for "white people".
Its pages are filled with stories of Hispanic, African American, Native
American, Asian, and Middle Eastern women and men who are working to
transform the global economy into more localized, community-based
endeavors that seek to expand and enhance genuine prosperity, produce
safe and healthy products and services, and remake the capitalist
system. In terms of ethical investment, the Calvert Group was the
leading mutual fund to divest from companies doing business with South
Africa during apartheid.
For those interested in socially responsible investing, Henderson
offers an entire chapter which along with Catherine Austin Fitts series
on "
Socially Responsible Investing" is an invaluable resource for individuals who are looking for profitable yet ethical investment opportunities.
In summary, Ethical Markets is a must-read for anyone committed to
relocalized powering down and creating sustainable economics.
Nevertheless, I must interject some concerns. The first is that
Henderson does not clearly or adequately address the levels of greed,
fraud, and corruption that pervade corporate America, nor does she
explain the corporatocracy-that is the enmeshment of government with
corporations which makes it virtually impossible to distinguish where
one ends and the other begins.
According to Mussolini,
this is the fundamental definition of fascism. Failure to do so may
foster hope where it is not fully warranted because when one
understands the symbiosis of government and corporations, not to
mention the legal precedent of "
corporate personhood"
which evolved from 1886 until the present, one can easily grasps that
the inevitable outcome is government being conducted as a criminal
enterprise in concert with organized crime. (See "
Godfather Government: A Way of Life Is Not A Scandal" which I wrote in 2007 and "
Godfather Government: The Sopranos Aren't Leaving" in 2006.)
And, as stated above, I believe that since all institutions are in a
state of collapse in juxtaposition with Peak Oil, global economic
meltdown, and climate chaos, activism which does not take into account
the conjunction of these phenomena alongside a government that has
morphed into a police state and continues to do so daily in front of
our very eyes-such activism can only operate myopically. Rather, I
believe that current events overwhelmingly indicate that an economic
catastrophe on the order of or exceeding the severity of the Great
Depression is unfolding rapidly which may result in the collapse of
many of the remarkable enterprises documented in Ethical Markets. At
the same time, the opportunity exists for all of those enterprises to
rebirth or re-invent themselves on a local level both in the throes of
collapse and post-collapse. The latter, in my opinion, is the ultimate
value of Ethical Markets-a blueprint of sorts for how we might survive
and create localized economic opportunity in a post-petroleum,
post-paper currency world.
For Hazel Henderson's commentary on current issues, see her September update.Ethical Markets TV, and the book may be ordered at Calvert-Henderson website.
Her articles may be downloaded at
Writings 
Just recently I learned of Hazel Henderson and her latest book, Ethical Markets: Growing The Green Economy as well as Henderson's 
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