Regenerating America with Sustainable Economics

Chapter 12

Catalysts for Change and Improvement

There are a number of possible motivators for attending sustainable economics including: 1) The fact that our current economy is deteriorating from systemic deficiencies that lead to entropy and collapse, 2) visible indications ranging from climate disasters to widespread terrorism and government collapses, 3) dysfunction in the American government that distracts and undermines essential attention to economic sustainability and national security.

Taking these negatives and turning them into something positive isn’t difficult. Let’s set about the business of regenerating the American economy by rallying the self-determination among our fellow citizens to engage the process of defining our own sustainable future. Let’s introduce purpose that seems to have escaped our political leaders and guide them with focused direction from “We the People”.

In order to create a model for economic sustainability with broad and deep participation, certain activities must be performed as part of the modeling initiative.

Audit outcomes

• Examine outcomes that are driven by current laws and regulations

• Assess and determine their relative priority

• Identify current performance measures and metrics

Audit processes

• Examine how current outcomes are produced

• Determine their cost of production

• Determine the return on cost

Change and redefine outcomes for sustainability

• Identify all outcomes and attributes that are in conflict with sustainability

• Determine the activities and cost to change and improve to a sustainable state

• Produce a sustainable model for outcomes

Change and redefine processes for sustainability

• Identify major processes that are in conflict with producing sustainable results

• Define what must be changed or eliminated as processes

• Determine the cost of change and the estimated benefits from changing

Change and redefine performance measures and metrics for sustainability

• Audit all performance measures and metrics

• Redefine them such they represent a sustainable economy

• Produce primary sustainable measures and metrics for all outcomes and associated processes

Audit laws, regulations, and business rules

• All participants participate in this audit of constraints

• Identify constraints that are in conflict with producing sustainable outcomes

• Recommend changes and improvements including retiring unnecessary and obsolete constraints.

Change and redefine laws, regulations, and business rules

• Via the American political system and constitutional law, request that Congress address recommended improvements

• Anticipate timely legislative action

• Monitor the cost of change and improvement and the capacity for change and improvement to establish priorities and schedules for action

Eliminate counter sustainability constraints

• Enhance sustainability rewards

• Evaluate the balance of consequences

• Ensure that sustainable living is rewarded

• Ensure that deviations are discouraged

Strengthen anti sustainability discouragement

• Establish standards for recognizing outstanding sustainability leadership and citizenship

12.1 Make Living Sustainably an Honorable Way of Life

A modeling effort such as this that is the scope and scale of a major initiative will consume time and resources. It is an organizing initiative. Needed is a plan that requires timely deliverable production that should be as frequent as 3 month increments. The initiative to do all of this work might take a year to complete as one cycle through the activities. However, once in gear, it should be apparent that this is a continuous improvement process that should be used to direct less productive and more random behavior of our government institutions. This is a mechanism for people to engage the system and to keep their hands on the throttle.

Dr. John Ikerd proposed a “Bill of Rights for Sustainability” that we suggest be embraced as part of the control architecture for guiding the initiative to produce a sustainable economic model. Here they are.

“‘Bill of Rights for Sustainability’

These basic human rights shall not be denied or restrained, unless the exercise of these rights by one person denies or restrains the rights of another. Even in these cases, rights cannot be denied or restrained without due process of law, except in self-defense of one person’s rights against imminent unlawful threat of another.

The Right to Life: Every human being has the basic right to live and to grow--physically, mentally, and spiritually.

Political: he right to protect and defend oneself against any threat to life or against any physical restraint to one’s personal health and development

Economic: The right to have adequate food, clothing, shelter, education and health care needed for survival and full physical, mental, and spiritual development including the right to live in a safe and healthful natural environment

The Right of Individual Thought and Expression: Every human being has a basic right to think their own thoughts and to express those thoughts to others.

Political: The right to protect and defend oneself against the immediate repression of thought and expression -- including speech, writing, publishing, education, or other means of sharing information -- and the right to practice the religion of one’s choice

Economic: The right to obtain accurate and unbiased information to connect and commune with nature, and to protect against attempts by others to manipulate or subversively influence one’s thoughts for economic purposes.

The Right of Individual Action: Every human being has a basic right to independent action and freedom of movement.

Political: The right to protect and defend oneself against any restraint of action or movement of invasion of the privacy of one’s person, thoughts, or actions

Economic: The right to pursue economic and aesthetic opportunities of one’s choosing including access to wild and scenic places, and to be protected against oppressive, exploitative, or coercive economic actions of others

The Right of Interaction: Every human has the basic right to interact with other human beings. Political: The right to communicate; meet, congregate; form civil unions; have or not have children, organize for social, religious, or political purposes; and to formulate and conduct processes of self-government

Economic: The right of individuals to collaborate, organize, and pursue joint economic activities, but only to the extent that such organizations and associations contribute to the social and ecological well-being of society -- meaning that economic extraction from society and nature cannot exceed reinvestments in society and nature.”

He reports that presently the Constitution does not protect people from economic exploitation. That requires a Constitutional amendment.