Some ideas to keep our head above the water in this late-stage capitalistic economy. I concentrated a lot of my reading on post-capitalism lately and came across several interesting writers and social media people. I recommend Tim Jackson 'Post-Growth', published in 2021.
These ideas in particular are inspired by Laura Oldaine’s work.
1. We start by recognising that the lifestyle we have has already been designed for us
Capitalism expects us to be trapped in this hamster wheel of earn-spend-repeat. We changed our social norms to think that this is acceptable and even desirable.
2. We want to learn to use our time and attention wisely
Money is not the only capital we have, there is also time and attention. Valuing and using these sensisbly can really boost our life satisfaction.
Social media corporations realised that taking advantage of our time and attention is highly profitable, so we need to pull ourselves away from this game. How can we redirect our attention and time towards something that benefits ourselves, rather than big corporations?
3. Redefine wealth
Our society has created a very distorted concept of ‘wealth’, which includes posh cars, mansions and luxury brands. However, what we really want from money is the sense of control and empowerment we have when we can choose how to spend our time.
We need to redefine what wealth means for us and start from there.
4. Engage less in the capitalistic economy
This is not about recycling, it’s about consuming less. Reducing our consume needs means we stop buying things we don’t need. Reduce our consumptions and embrace degrowth.
It can also feel empowering to meet our needs without using money. We can feel more resourced and proud of our achievements.
5. Protect our physical and mental health, as well as our creativity.
Capitalism kills initiative and freedom of expression. Capitalism is the enemy of creative thinking.
The less creative we are, the more we end up blind-following capitalistic norms. Spending money to satisfy our needs can only create a profit for big corporations; leaving us empy and uninspired. To boost our creativity, we need to move away from conformity.
6. Prioritise social capital
This can also help us to reduce our impact by borrowing rather than buying.
Connections make us more resilient and resourced. Let’s support ech other and share ideas and resources.