Abundance Economy
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An abundance economy implies, from the OSE standpoint, the most advanced state of civilization in which advanced technology, used appropriately, allows people to attain a high quality of life for all - based on ubiquitous local resources.
Abundance
When living inside of a modern economy it is easy to forget that it is possible for people to subsist for thousands of years on small areas of land by wisely using local resources. It is possible that the wise use of advanced technology and ready access to effective information can allow people to not only survive, but to thrive in unprecedented style using local resources. This implies that more people are makers - or more skilled than ever before to function as meaningful producers, thereby eliminating their dependence on the monopoly of centralized production and distribution economic systems, and freeing themselves from the compromises associated with such systems, such as externalized costs to increase perceived efficiency.
When people no longer need to 'work to make a living' at the mercy of a centralized economic system monopoly, this opens up time for other pursuits. Abundance makes the job obsolete, as people learn to produce all essential and frivolous needs within their communities. People can then focus on more meaningful pursuits rather than a 'job,' thereby contributing more to the advancement of civilization.
An abundance economy relies more on its own resources rather than uncontrollable global market forces. This promotes accountability and reduces the necessity of war.
Governance is related to resource distribution and power. When people can provide for themselves - on physical and non-physical levels, and when people can produce ample surplus, abundance - they become masters of their destiny. They have no reason to inflict conflict with others. Peace and harmony are a result. This is essentially why we promote open source economic development. We are interested in empowering - especially economically - to the highest extent possible - to eliminate all war, conflict, and suffering.
Scarcity
Today, most economic systems were based on the principle of scarcity: things are more valuable because they are rare or controlled. Scarcity is often an artificially created condition designed to maximize profits/power for those in control. [1] Access to information via the internet and the principles of open source have started to break down the controls imposed by a capitalist economic system.
How can an abundance economy be created?
The economics of the GVCS could lead to an abundance economy.
See the Economy in a Box presentation about an abundance economy.
This follows principles of:
- Jeffersonian democracy
- Gandhi's production by the masses
- Schumacher's seminal work - that small industry is the preferred means of production
- Piore's seminal work on flexible fabrication - [2]
- Bergmann's theories of New Work - which are based on:
- Modern production via digital fabrication.
- Right Livelihood
Links and Analysis
Doug Muder is the author of "The Weekly Sift", a political blog. This week he discusses a book called "Why Marx Was Right" by Terry Eagleton. The book and Muder's comments are related to the development of an economy based on abundance. See: [3] - worth reading.
Radical Abundance - Provocative thoughts by Douglas Rushkoff on currency, from a historical perspective. Discussion of abundance and scarcity.
