It’s Time for the Essential Economy
by Jia Lok Pratt
“We must thoroughly understand the problem and begin to see the possibility of evolving a new lifestyle, with new methods of production and new patterns of consumption: a lifestyle designed for permanence.”
Humanity is locked in a struggle against COVID-19, an enemy that knows no borders and from which no one can hide. The coronavirus is forcing a values-based alignment of our way of living, calling into question what is truly essential versus that which is not. Sporting events, concerts, conferences, parties, and vacations have been cancelled. Schools and non-essential businesses are closed. Strict shelter-in-place and social distancing orders have been issued. These common sense measures are critical and will save lives. Yet, the greatest devastation from COVID-19 that most will experience will stem not from the virus itself, but from the underlying fact that the global economy is not structured to support that which is essential. It is not programmed to value and sustain life. Instead, its function is to drive conspicuous consumption of a consumer-driven culture in an effort to maximize profit. This is why a foreseeable, albeit unpredictable, event such as the COVID-19 pandemic is unraveling the global economy.
We are witness to the dramatic effects of an irrational, single bottom line economy that has functioned for decades without regard to people or the planet and, thus, is wholly ill-equipped to function in a time of crisis. Our economy operates under a logic structure that is short-term, degenerative, and extractive. As such, it is unable to preemptively acknowledge or proactively address crises because preventative measures, like securing local reserves of personal protective and medical equipment, do not make “economic” sense (i.e., profit). Thus, here we are.
In search of the cheapest labor and materials, we have devalued and outsourced the production of the most essential elements of life. We have neither the regional or national systems in place to support people and businesses impacted by the collapse of non-essential industries, nor the means to maintain essential industries capable of sustaining life locally. We do not grow the food we eat. We do not manufacture the appliances, equipment, medicine, and tools we rely upon.
Instead, we consume... and we are left with a service-oriented economy and a growing chasm between those served and those who serve. The very essence of daily living - growing food, grocery shopping, cooking, child and elder care, and home maintenance - has been outsourced near and far to those marginalized by this economic model. The jobs created, despite the essentiality of their nature, are the lowest paid, most insecure, and rarely offer benefits or paid leave. COVID-19 is shining a light on the true value of their labor and highlighting the essentiality of the labor of those whose jobs we must now fill on our own - teachers, day care providers, and domestic workers.
The fundamental flaws of a single bottom line economy that render both humans and nature as expendable are now in plain sight, forcing a much-needed reassessment of our values. In what has been a time of worldwide political upheaval, rife with division and social disruption, we find ourselves intimately united in a fight to sustain life, both physically and economically. We have before us a rare moment - a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as individuals and a never-before-experienced chance as a species - to change course. If we choose wisely, this crisis will become a catalyst to establish a new economic model, an Essential Economy rooted in that which matters most - sustaining life.
The Essential Economy
The Essential Economy operates with a triple bottom line that recognizes people, planet, and profit. It employs regenerative and resourceful practices and is accountable not only to those amongst us today, but to seven generations into the future. The Essential Economy shortens the supply chain of essential goods and services, decreasing the human and environmental impact of the current global economy. It restores local manufacturing and production while carefully preserving and promoting technological advances that enhance the lives of workers. Most importantly, the Essential Economy restores our connection to that which is essential in our daily lives - building, caring for others, growing food, making art, and engaging in community and culture. It restructures and realigns our education systems to ensure the wisdom and know-how of essential practices are passed on and that academic resources (e.g., research, technology) are used to develop solutions not products.
The Essential Economy grounds us by making visible and tangible the labor and environmental toll that our current system so masterfully has hidden from view. It has deep roots inspired and informed by the wisdom of elders, Indigenous peoples, and the writings of Boggs, Douglass, Friere, Gorz, and Schumacher. The Essential Economy is emergent and flexible, able to prepare us for both impending crises (e.g., the climate crisis) and those unknown.
Sweet Water Foundation - the Essential Economy in Practice
In a community nestled at the nexus of the Englewood and Washington Park neighborhoods on Chicago’s South side, we are already demonstrating what the Essential Economy looks like in an urban setting. Here, the Humans of Sweet Water Foundation have been cultivating a hyperlocal, Essential Economy for more than 5 years. Our vision is simple - Every community contains the seeds of its own regeneration, able to cultivate stable, healthy, and happy families - and our work demonstrates how cities might begin to reconstruct urban life in a manner that sustains life.
Through agriculture, art, carpentry, education, and outreach, we have built a dynamic site that contains the essential elements of life - art, culture, food, housing, and wellness. This place, known as The Commonwealth, spans four city blocks and includes more than three acres of urban farm land, open community gardens, a carpentry workshop, two formerly foreclosed homes transformed into live-work-learn spaces, and a hand-raised, timber frame barn that serves a visual and performing arts, reflection, and community gathering space. Here, we design and build furniture, craft home goods, and construct community structures from reclaimed wood destined for landfills. We reclaim vacant spaces, grow healthy food, and engage an intergenerational audience in programming that reconnects us to one another and our shared environment - from beekeeping-to-yogurt making-to-canning-to-local historic preservation. At The Commonwealth, we have reconstructed a community left blighted by decades of disinvestment. Our work has filled the void of food deserts, closed schools, and economic marginalization through an approach that is eco-logical, accessible, and inclusive.
Today, in the midst of a global pandemic, as the rest of the world turns indoors, Sweet Water Foundation’s work continues. Our education and outreach programming, events, artists talks, and community workshops are on hold, but we continue to GROW the neighborhood with greater resolve each day. Although the core of our work expands well beyond urban agriculture, the essentiality and sacredness of growing food locally is more important than ever before. The seeds sown amidst the fear and uncertainty pervading these delicate weeks of our new normal will reap produce capable of feeding 1,000’s. Our team has already seeded more than 7,000 plants, is caring for 1,000s of seedlings, and seeding more each day. We are equipped to support the local community by growing and producing that which is essential.
2020 - 20/20 - Clarity of Vision
Sweet Water began this year proclaiming 2020 as the year of “Clarity of Vision - 20/20” with concentrated focus on continuing to cultivate the Essential Economy. We knew not what was in store and could have never foresaw the events that have unfolded. Yet, the proclamation of 2020 ringing in a new clarity of vision is more profound than ever.
As we look to the future, beyond COVID-19, and begin to reconstruct our global and local economies, we carry with us a fresh perspective and profound understanding of that which is essential. In the days and weeks ahead, we have a choice. Do we continue to bolster existing economic structures that value profit over people and the planet? Or, do we chart a new way forward towards an Essential Economy that sustains life and returns our capacity to provide for ourselves that which is essential.
The future is ours to create. Let us establish a new way of living in which every community contains the seeds of its own regeneration. There GROWS the neighborhood.
