A wellbeing economy is the only option
I recently attended a conference organised by WEALL ( Wellbeing Economy Alliance ) Aotearoa. WEALL defines 'economy' differently from the current neoliberal approach and that is simply 'the way that we produce and provide for one another'. Attending this conference made me even more aware of how far we have drifted away from what the core purpose of what an economy should be. A common definition of an economy, through a Google search, is: "A system that involves how people produce, trade and use goods and services". Early economies, and certainly those of most indigenous peoples, are essentially about ensuring that the resources and wealth generated within a community are equitably shared to support the wellbeing of that community. When the needs of that community were met, any surplus could then be traded with other communities for things that they were not able to produce. Prior to colonisation, the Māori economy was primarily based around hapu where l...