A Way Out of Capitalism, Without Violence (We Hope)

Ursula K. Le Guin gave us a calm, wise-voiced quote to call upon in anxious times:

"We live in capitalism, its power seems inescapable – but then, so did the divine right of kings.'

Bam.

"Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings," she went on. "Resistance and change often begin in art. Very often in our art, the art of words."

Using the art of words, then, how do we begin to emerge out of capitalism?

The walk out does depend on clear sight of the suffering and pollution capitalism has caused on this planet - and a clear sense of what changes in behavior we must commit to, as well as a clear desire for the tools at hand already, to make the changes stick.

An Englishman named Dil Green (see his page here) has been working on the problem of developing alternative currencies since 1994. He has been an architect and a co-founder of Sustenance Partners for local food economies. In 2019 he published his Transcender Manifesto for a World Beyond Capitalism.

"We seek not to destroy capitalism, nor to reform it, but to transcend it – to consciously and rapidly evolve past it," Green states up front.  "We will enact and intensify social relations that produce a human culture which supports the abundance of the biosphere, in confidence that this will require human flourishing that transcends what is considered possible under capitalism.

But Green isn't out to make an "ism" of his insights. "There is no transcendism, there are no transcenders; this manifesto can only be enacted by groups coming together; designing, seeding and developing networks of transcendent social relations."

We have to depend on each other, in other words.

"We choose transcendence rather than revolution or reform for a simple reason – where revolutions are about dislodging the current elite through violence, and reforms are about preserving the existing system through adaptation, transcendence is about system transformation," Green writes.

Take time to read through the Transcender Manifesto. It's pragmatic, and wise without being judgmental.

"Transcending a global culture of deep complexity and diversity is not a singular project, but can only be the outcome of an enormous multitude of projects, each individual, specific, appropriate to time, place and desire, at all scales. Diversity and multiplicity of approach are not failings but necessities," Green asserts.

A nice way of saying, Don't mind the mess, we're transcending capitalism!

##Civica #governance #finance #cooperatives #mutualaid #concepts #imagination