For anyone curious and/or confused about why the world seems to be creaking at the edges while we’re also being told that everything is fine, you might enjoy Kate Raworth’s work.
The centrepiece is her doughnut: A starting point for an alternative framework for thinking about economics.
I really like it.
At it’s most basic, it sets out what we all know to be true, which is that the long-term viability of human life lies with a lifestyle somewhere between annihilating the planet, and devaluing human life.
Or to frame it in the positive: We need to find a way of living (and systems to support this way of life) that both acknowledges the value of all human life, and sustains all other life on the planet.
Raworth calls these the frames for our life the social foundation (from minimums social standards) and the planetary boundaries (beyond which we unacceptably degrade the planet). She says that:
Between social and planetary boundaries lies an environmentally safe and socially just space in which humanity can thrive.
And the space in between, looks like a doughnut. Check it out.
Tasty.