The Real Wealth of Nations, Creating a Caring Economics by Riane Eisler

Why, when we humans have such a great capacity for caring, consciousness, and creativity, has our world seen so much cruelty, insensitivity, and destructiveness? . . . . the economy should serve us rather than us serve the economy. How did we get to this place where things are kind of upside down in many ways ?

In the course of my quest I looked for answers in many areas, from psychology, history, and anthropology to education, economics, and politics. And again and again I came back to economics because I saw that we have to change present economic systems if we, our children, and future generations are to survive and thrive.

Present economic systems, both capitalist and socialist, aren’t solving our problems — from chronic poverty and environmental devastation, to the loss of good jobs in the US and the stress put on families by the absence of decent parental leave. We have to start with basics: that the real wealth of nations isn’t financial; it’s the contributions of people (in the work of caring for ourselves, others, and our Mother Earth) and nature (in it’s life-sustaining functions).

Our economic system is so blindly ineffective because it fails to recognize and incorporate the feminine contributions both women and men make on a daily basis in the caring sector – caring for family, the home environment, and the natural environment . . . . the fair wage for a typical stay-at-home parent would be $134, 471 per year, or a 1995 United Nations report that calculated the annual unpaid work by women at 11 trillion dollars.

I saw the need for an economics that, while preserving the best elements of current economic models, takes us beyond them to a way of living, and making a living, that truly meets human needs. I also saw that we need a much broader approach to economics: one that takes into account its larger social and natural context . . . . [that] introduces a new way of looking at technology that no longer throws everything, from can openers to nuclear bombs, into the same technological basket.

I realize that even putting economics and caring in the same sentence is alien to conventional thought. But this is no time for conventional thought . . . . This book goes beyond the market to reexamine economics from a larger perspective that includes the life-supporting activities of households, communities, and nature . . . . People don’t like to talk about gender, it makes them uncomfortable, but change only happens when we talk about what we find is uncomfortable . . . . We start from the basic premise that economic systems should promote human welfare and human happiness, a premise that seems to have been forgotten in much of today’s economic discourse . . . . As Amartya Sen notes, the ultimate goal of economic policy should not be the level of monetary income per person, but to develop the human capacities of each person.

Five foundations for a caring economics:

1. A full-spectrum economic map that includes the life-supporting activities of households, communities, and nature.
2. Cultural beliefs and institutions that value caring and caregiving (on the socio-economic categories of the partnership system and the domination system).
3. Caring economic rules, policies, and practices. (e.g. payed parental-leave, universal health care, universal early childhood education)
4. Inclusive and accurate economic indicators (e.g. the fair wage for a typical stay-at-home parent would be $134, 471 per year, or a 1995 United Nations report that calculated the annual unpaid work by women at 11 trillion dollars.)
5. Economic and social structures that support partnership rather than domination.

[tags]love, caring economics, caring, capitalism, socialism, people, planet, women, health, education, nature, domination, partnership, feminism, co-intelligence[/tags]

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Much of my life has been a quest. It was a quest for answers to a basic question: Why, when we humans have such a great capacity for caring, consciousness, and creativity, has our world seen so much cruelty, insensitivity, and destructiveness?

In the course of my quest I looked for answers in many areas, from psychology, history, and anthropology to education, economics, and politics. And again and again I came back to economics because I saw that we have to change present economic systems if we, our children, and future generations are to survive and thrive.

As I looked at my grandchildren, I couldn’t help thinking of the millions of children in our world, all born with a hunger for life, love, and joy, condemned to untimely deaths or lives of unnecessary suffering. As I reflected on the pristine beauty of our oceans and the grandeur of the coastal cities where so many of us live, I thought of the threats from climate changes caused by current economic rules and practices. As I took in the reality around me every day, I saw the stress of families vainly trying to find time for one another, and the pain of people displaced by new technologies that should have been used to improve our lives instead. And again I came back to economics.

I saw that in our inextricably interconnected world none of us has a secure future so long as hunger, extreme poverty, and violence continue unabated. I saw that present economic systems are despoiling and depleting our beautiful Earth. I saw that there is something fundamentally wrong with economic rules and practices that fail to adequately value the most essential human work: the work of caring for ourselves, others, and our Mother Earth.

Gradually, I began to explore economics from a new perspective. I saw the need for an economics that, while preserving the best elements of current economic models, takes us beyond them to a way of living, and making a living, that truly meets human needs. I also saw that we need a much broader approach to economics: one that takes into account its larger social and natural context.

I ask that, as you read on, you keep in mind what you most value and want in your own life.

In the pages that follow, we will look at economics through a wider lens that reveals the exciting possibilities of what I call caring economics. I realize that even putting economics and caring in the same sentence is alien to conventional thought. But this is no time for conventional thought. As expressed in popular cliches such as “thinking outside the box,” it is a time that urgently calls for unconventional thought.

With the accelerating speed of economic globalization.when corporations that control international financial and technological flows still play by uncaring rules.the need for a caring economics is more urgent than ever before. This book offers a new vision of what economics is and can be. It provides a starting point from which to rebuild economic structures, practices, and policies in ways that maximize our positive potentials and minimize our negative ones.

I have called this book The Real Wealth of Nations because it shows that our most important economic assets are not financial – that the real wealth of nations consists of the contributions of people and our natural environment. In my choice of this title, I don’t mean to imply that I have set out to write a technical treatise on economics such as Adam Smith’s classic The Wealth of Nations. To address the needs of our world today, we have to bring together knowledge from many areas. I therefore draw from many fields in addition to economics, including advances in both the social and natural sciences. I also propose practical steps for moving both economic and social systems in a positive direction.

The new perspective on economics I am introducing in this book grows out of my research over the past thirty years applying evolutionary systems science to social systems. During this time, I became involved with pioneers in chaos and complexity theory, and contributed to many books applying these revolutionary new approaches to the real-world problems of our time. In my own books, beginning with The Chalice and The Blade: Our History, Our Future, I introduced a new lens for understanding social systems and determining how we can build foundations for a more equitable and sustainable world.

This lens is the analytical framework running through all my books and journal papers: the partnership or mutual respect system and the domination or top-down control system. These social categories are integral to the cultural transformation theory I introduced in earlier books. They are also integral to understanding, and changing, dysfunctional economic structures, rules, and practices – which is the focus of this book.

When Adam Smith wrote The Wealth of Nations, his focus was on the market, or as he put it, on “the invisible hand of the market” as the best mechanism for producing and distributing the necessities of life. This book goes beyond the market to reexamine economics from a larger perspective that includes the life-supporting activities of households, communities, and nature.

Moreover, and this is one of its central themes, this book shows that to construct an economic system that can help us meet the enormous challenges we face, we must give visibility and value to the socially and economically essential work of caring for people and nature. Indeed, if we really think about it, it’s unrealistic to expect changes in uncaring economic policies and practices unless caring and caregiving are given greater value.

In the chapters that follow, we will see that moving to a more equitable and sustainable economic system requires attention to the interaction of economic and social systems. We will also see that for this movement to succeed we have to broaden the scope of what has traditionally been considered the domain of economics.

We start from the basic premise that economic systems should promote human welfare and human happiness, a premise that seems to have been forgotten in much of today’s economic discourse. Drawing from the work of advanced thinkers in economics and many other fields, we then explore exciting new frontiers for work, values, and life.

Chapter 1 takes us beyond the narrow band of economic relations taken into account by conventional models – whether capitalist, socialist, communist, or anarchist. It introduces the first of five foundations for a caring economics: a full-spectrum economic map that includes the life-supporting activities of households, communities, and nature.

Chapter 2 widens the lens through which we look at economics to include its larger cultural context. It takes us to the second foundation for a caring economics: cultural beliefs and institutions that value caring and caregiving. This chapter introduces the socio-economic categories of the partnership system and the domination system, revealing connections not previously considered. It proposes new standards and rules for what is or is not economically valuable. And it shows how all this directly affects our lives and the future of our children and our planet.

The next three chapters introduce three more foundations for a caring economic system: caring economic rules, policies, and practices; inclusive and accurate economic indicators; and economic and social structures that support partnership rather than domination.

These chapters continue to connect the dots between our daily lives, economics, and cultural values and norms. They show how problem solving, creativity, and entrepreneurship are supported by caring policies and practices, and how this greatly benefits business, people, and our natural environment. They provide a redefinition of productive work appropriate for the postindustrial economy, where the most important capital is what economists like to call human capital. They describe new measurements of productivity that take into account the life-sustaining activities of both households and nature. And they propose ways to protect what economists today call natural capital.

These chapters also take us on a journey into our past. They reassess unhealthy myths and values we inherited. They expose the hidden gender double standard that is our heritage from earlier, more unjust and economically inefficient times. They show that this has led to an economic double standard that lies behind unsustainable ways of living and working. And they explore how we can develop healthier alternatives.

Then, in chapter 6, we see the enormous personal, social, financial, and environmental costs of old economic and political systems and their inability to adapt to the challenges we face. In chapter 7, we look at how we can develop a caring economics. This chapter briefly traces the development of modern economic theories in the context of the times out of which they came, and proposes basic principles for the construction of a new conceptual framework that includes the best elements of both capitalism and socialism but goes beyond both.

Chapter 8 looks at postmodern technological breakthroughs such as robotics, biotechnology, and nanotechnology and how they affect both work and life. It introduces a new way of looking at technology that no longer throws everything, from can openers to nuclear bombs, into the same technological basket. It shows that rapid technological change makes a caring economics even more essential in the epochal transition to the postindustrial age.

Chapter 9 then takes us to where we are and where we can go from here. Drawing from arresting new findings from neuroscience, it shows that a caring economics supports the capacities that in the course of evolution made us uniquely human. Finally, chapter 10 proposes practical steps each of us can take to accelerate the move to a more humane, environmentally sustainable, and economically effective future.

I have written this book to invite discussion and action. It is a book for everyone who wants a better life and a better world, and is looking for practical tools to realize these goals. I am confident that together we can build a new economic system that promotes creativity and generosity rather than greed and destructiveness. Indeed, I am convinced that this is the only viable option at this critical juncture in our cultural and planetary evolution.

From the Introduction chapter of the book

“My work has been moving more and more toward practical solutions,” said Eisler. “Present economic systems, both capitalist and socialist, aren’t solving our problems — from chronic poverty and environmental devastation, to the loss of good jobs in the US and the stress put on families by the absence of decent parental leave. We have to start with basics: that the real wealth of nations isn’t financial; it’s the contributions of people and nature.”

“The Real Wealth of Nations” details a new strategy for an economic system that gives visibility and value to the most essential human work: the life-sustaining work of caring and caregiving whether it’s done in the home or the workplace.

Eisler cites powerful statistics regarding the real value of the unpaid work in households. A 2004 Swiss government survey reported the value of this work at 162 billion Euros or 190 billion dollars (US) — 70 percent of Switzerland’s reported gross domestic product. Salary.com estimated that a fair wage for a typical stay-at-home parent would be $134,471 (US) a year.

But while this is compelling, Eisler says that there is much more that we have to pay attention to. In “The Real Wealth of Nations,” Eisler provides examples of how the current economic system in the US is achieving negative results: In its 2004 Global Competitiveness Report, the World Economic Forum found that the US trailed the much smaller Finland in economic competitiveness, which Eisler shows is largely due to the fact that Nordic nations, where women have higher status, invest in their human capital, starting in early childhood and the US does not. According to a 2006 CIA report, the US ranked 42nd in child mortality, behind Cuba and many other poorer nations because money is allocated for prisons, weapons, and wars, and not healthcare, childcare, and other caring activities.

Eisler provides in her book a structure for business leaders and politicians to transform our economic system into one that values human effort and nature and leads to improved levels of health and education among people of all socioeconomic strata, reduced employee turnover and absenteeism, environmental health, and greater productivity for businesses and our country. She provides hard evidence to show that companies with caring policies achieve a higher return on their investment for shareholders. For example, one study showed that offering employees childcare yielded a return on investment of 521 percent in four years.

~From http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release_html_b1?release_id=239043

It was accessible and legible, and interesting, and even inspiring. It was historical, thought provoking, and if what she proposes is true, life changing.

It was around the third chapter that I had eased into my couch and her statistics started to resonate with me – stats like the fair wage for a typical stay-at-home parent would be $134, 471 per year, or a 1995 United Nations report that calculated the annual unpaid work by women at 11 trillion dollars.

I had to stop and think when she cited a report that found that $1 in the hands of a woman has the same effect on child survival as $18 in the hands of a man. Or another study that reported that an additional $11.40 per month given to a mother in Guatemala would achieve the same weight gain in a young child as an additional $166 earned by the father.

What we are all affected by is a deeper gender discrimination. A global sickness that is systemic in our system of values. Inequitable budgets and misallocated resources. The sorry state of our schools filled with children who sometimes aren’t even taught basic reading skills. The disgusting gap between the rich and the poor in this country that continues to grow as our protected natural environment diminishes. It isn’t about better policy – it is about what we value as a society.

“People don’t like to talk about gender,” Dr. Eisler told me as I interviewed her over the phone. “It makes them uncomfortable, but change only happens when we talk about what we find is uncomfortable.”

Our economic system is so blindly ineffective because it fails to recognize and incorporate the feminine contributions both women and men make on a daily basis in the caring sector\caring for family, the home environment, and the natural environment. This gendered economic system is why there always seems to be money available for prisons, weapons, and wars, but not for the stereotypically “feminine” responsibilities like caring for children and people’s health, or for nonviolence and peace.

In nations like the Norway, Sweden, and Finland, women make up half the legislatures. In those countries, universal health care, universal early childhood education, and generous paid parental leave are all part of a robust economy.

In the U.S., we do not have any coherent policy for investing in human capital. Money set aside for health, education, and welfare are reduced every fiscal year. I was stunned by a statistic in the book that only exemplifies the depth of our ignorance. American children are not only more likely to be poor, perform poorly on international math and science tests in adolescence, and have babies as teenagers than their counterparts in other rich Western countries, but American children are more likely to die than children in nations with lower GDP, such as Cuba, Malta, Andorra, Macau, and Aruba.

Maybe the solution doesn’t lie in my commitment every four years to elect “better” presidents. Success could not be found in a campaign promise to improve our schools and allocate more funds to programs that protect our neediest. Freedom would never be delivered in another book or blog about the injustice of it all. I learned from Dr. Eisler that what was essential was something systemic\something right in front of us that we’ve never wanted to look at, but until we do, our values and priorities can never change.

~From “Riane Eisler Helps Us Get to the Point!” by Kate Daniels at www.thewip.net

Is it fair to say that the economy should serve us rather than us serve the economy ? How did we get to this place where things are kind of upside down in many ways ?

We have, really, inherited an economic system, whether it is capitalist or socialist that is upside down. Where basically the most esssential work, I mean the title is the real wealth of nation, and that is not financial, that consist of the contribution of people and nature. So we need an economic system, economic indicators, economic policies, business policies, practices that care for people and for nature.

But you know, if we look at our economic indicators, it is really bizzare. I mean, you look at GDP, not only it includes activities that actually harm and even take life like making cigarettes, health bills, funeral bills, but it fails to include the activities that without which there would be no economy, no work for us, nothing. Namely, the life sustaining activities, first of all, in households, in the so called women’s work of care and care giving, the volunteer economy, and the natural economy.

So what the real wealth of nation does is to start with proposing that we need to go beyond socialism and capitalism, maintain the good elements of both, but move towards what I call a caring economic, that at long last gives visibility and value to the life sustaining work.

We’ve got to change the economic rule of the game. So that, for example, those companies that are more caring really can do it and rewarded for it (e.g. companies that gives generous payed parental-leave).

Talk about, for example, people’s life-work balance. Again, something that people are really suffering from.

~From a telephone interview with Riane Eisler on The Real Wealth of Nations at EcoTalk (April 05, 2007)

She writes, “There’s a common denominator underlying our mounting personal social and environmental problems: lack of caring. We need an economic system that takes us beyond communism, capitalism, and other old isms. We need economic models that support caring for ourselves, others, and our Mother Earth” and “It’s not realistic to expect changes in uncaring economic policies and practices unless caring and caregiving are given greater value.” When one consider that it is the very actions of caring and being cared for that make our life possible, it is beyond comprehension that they are systematically devalued–in this warped dominator view of what counts and what doesn’t.

“Neither capitalist nor socialist theory recognized what is becoming evident as we move into the postindustrial information economy: that a healthy economy and society require an economic system that supports optimal human development. By contrast, partnerism recognizes that the development of high-quality human capital — that is, of human capacities — is (in addition to a healthy ecosystem) the most valuable component of a successful economy. As Amartya Sen notes, the ultimate goal of economic policy should not be the level of monetary income per person, but to develop the human capacities of each person.” (p. 148)

With this book,” she explains, “I have set out to apply this research to economics, completing the cycle of reexamining sex, power, and money, which are said to make the world go round”.

~From reviews of the the book at Amazon.com

The Real Wealth of Nations, Creating a Caring Economics by Riane Eisler at Amazon.com

Keywords : love, caring economics, caring, capitalism, socialism, people, planet, women, health, education, nature, domination, partnership, feminism, co-intelligence
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