Vol 89 Issue 2 APR–JUN 2018

2018 Special Edition Postcapitalism including: Dr Richard Denniss | Prof Steve Keen | Dr Amanda CahilL | Prof Katherine Gibson & more

Transcending Well-being to When the System Capitalism: Well-Living: Collapses: A Post-Growth Economy Rethinking quality of life Post-Capitalism How to subscribe Subscribe and pay online at www.aips.net.au/aq-magazine/subscribe The subscription period is based on the calendar year: January to December – 4 issues per annum. Back copies will be forwarded.

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10 22 35 lease see article placements P : S C R EDI T GE A IM

3 22 34 Transcending capitalism: Economic diversity in AQ Book Review Policies for a post-growth economy the energy sector: Dr Samuel Alexander Post-capitalism in the 35 here and now? From well-being to 10 Dr Amanda CaHill well-living: From lawn to lattes: Towards a post-capitalist The cult(ure) of consumption 28 understanding of quality of life Dr Richard Denniss Pre-empting Dr S. A. Hamed Hosseini Apocalypse? 14 Postcapitalism as an 40 When the system everyday politics References Dr Stephen Healy, Dr Joanne collapses: McNeill, Prof Jenny Cameron, A post-capitalist capitalism? Prof Katherine Gibson PROF Steve Keen

COVER IMAGE: © Gabriel Cunnett Illustration

APR–JUN 2018 AUSTRALIAN QUARTERLY 1 AQ a word Australian Quarterly f the many societal forces that affect us – family, community, government, technology etc. – the economic paradigm under which we live arguably has the most effect on our lives. Editor: Grant Mills It can make or break our employment options, it provides technological marvels that enable our creativity or aspirations, it underpins our ‘free’ healthcare and Assistant Editor: Oeducation. Embracing ‘The Free Market’ and the boom times of capitalism have maintained Camille Thomson Australia’s living standards as the envy of the world. Design and production: Art Graphic Design, Canberra The decision to open Australia up to such opportunities was a conscious choice by the reformist governments of the 70s and 80s. Likewise, the choice to re-evaluate and question the terms of Printing: these pacts should also be conscious decisions. Newstyle Printing, Adelaide Corporate Capitalism and the economy are not monoliths; yet when governments anthropo- Subscriptions: www.aips.net.au/aq-magazine/ morphise an economic mechanism – ‘The Market will not approve!’ – then you risk turning a subscribe system within our control into a deity, all-powerful and immutable. This zealous adherence to a paradigm helps no one. enquiries to: Camille Thomson, Our future is a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure – a theme that you’ll notice running through General Manager, this edition. There are many paths (and just as many diversions) we can take on the road to AIPS, a fair, equitable and prosperous future. In this Special Edition, AQ deconstructs our current PO Box M145, economic situation and lays out a range of possible paths for consideration. Missenden Road NSW 2050 Australia Phone: +61 (02) 9036 9995 Whether it’s evolving the misappropriated idea of ‘well-being’, or completely turning our Fax: +61 (02) 9036 9960 growth-obsessed models on their head, this edition offers incremental, as well as radical, Email: [email protected] possibilities from some of Australia’s most respected thinkers on social and economic theory. Website: www.aips.net.au/ aq-magazine/ We ask why loving ‘stuff’ is good for the planet; and why Australia’s energy policy is a microcosm Facebook: www.facebook.com/ for how the broader economy can work smarter; all this, and much more, inside. AQAustralianQuarterly None of these articles claim to be a manifesto for the future, but just like a Choose-Your-Own- ISSN 1443-3605 Adventure, the solution will zig-zag between many potential options on its way to a conclusion. AQ (Australian Quarterly) is published by the Australian Institute of Policy As such, we hope this important edition continues to drive the debate over what our country and Science. (and indeed the world) should be doing to prepare and position our societies for the next age This project is supported by the of economic development. Commonwealth Government Read it, share it, join the conversation! You can findAQ on Facebook (@AQAustralianQuarterly) through a grant-in-aid administered and Twitter (@AQjournal) by the Department of Finance and Grant Mills Deregulation. Editor-at-large ACN 000 025 507 The AIPS is an independent body Notes for Contributors which promotes discussion and AQ welcomes submissions of articles and manuscripts on contemporary economic, political, social and philosophical understanding of political, social and issues, especially where scientific insights have a bearing and where the issues impact on Australian and global scientific issues in Australia. 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The International Political Science Abstracts publishes abstracts of political science articles appearing Peter M McMahon in AQ. Copyright is owned by the Australian Institute of Policy and Science. Persons wishing to reproduce an article, or Sarah Meachem part thereof, must obtain the Institute’s permission. Contributions should be emailed to: The Editor at [email protected] Peter D Rathjen

2 AUSTRALIAN QUARTERLY APR–JUN 2018 ableman-Flickr aul S : © P ge a im Transcending capitalism Policies for a post-growth economy

The 1972 publication of the Limits to Growth ARTICLE BY: Dr Samuel Alexander report sparked a controversy that has yet to subside. This book argued that if population, resource use, and pollution kept increasing on n response to such arguments, most economists tend to insist our finite planet, eventually economies would that technological innovation, face environmental ‘limits to growth’ – with better design, and market potentially dire consequences. Although evidence mechanisms will mean that 1,2 economiesI can and should continue is mounting in support of this position, any growing indefinitely. suggestion that nations might have to give up The main political implication of the economic growth, or even embrace a ‘degrowth’ growth paradigm is that governments process of planned economic contraction, is shape policies and institutions with the aim of promoting economic growth, typically met with fierce resistance, especially giving society a ‘pro-growth’ structure. by mainstream economists. Just recall how tediously Prime Minister

APR–JUN 2018 AUSTRALIAN QUARTERLY 3 Transcending capitalism: Policies for a post-growth economy

of sustained economic growth, the global economy is being driven into gross ecological overshoot, with climate change being only one of a range of troubling environmental disturbances. Indeed, the metaphor of ‘Earth as a Petri dish’ has become worryingly apt, given that the dominant colony seems to be consuming all the available resources and is at risk of poisoning itself from its own wastes, raising ques- tions about whether humanity can muster the intelligence to avoid the fate of common bacteria. Techno-optimists and free marketeers promise ecological salvation via continuous ‘green growth’, all the while Earth is being destroyed as global capitalism marches resolutely on. To make matters more challenging still, lifting the poorest billions out of destitution is likely to place further burdens on an already overburdened ecosystem. This confluence of ecological and social justice impera- ‘Earth as a Petri dish’ has Turnbull repeated his ‘jobs and growth’ tives calls radically into question the mantra during the last election legitimacy of further economic become worryingly apt, campaign. expansion in the already high-impact, given that the dominant This vision is supported by consum- consumerist societies of the developed erist cultures that seek – and indeed world. Yet the idea of transcending the colony seems to be expect – ever-rising material living growth economy – and thus the capi- standards. On the flip side, any policies talist mode of production that depends consuming all the available and institutions that might inhibit on growth for stability – remains largely economic growth are presumptively unthinkable in mainstream economic resources and is at risk of rejected. and political discourse. poisoning itself from Nevertheless, as an expanding global This short article outlines a range of population continues to pursue ever- bold policy interventions that would its own wastes. rising material living standards by way be required to produce a stable and

image: © Medmyco-Wiki

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The question will not be whether a post-growth economy is required, but rather how to create one – by design rather than disaster.

flourishing post-growth economy. I measures of progress than GDP.3 What The quantitative ‘scale’ of our economies acknowledge that most people do not we measure, and how we measure it, is grossly overblown. It follows that recognise the need for a post-growth matters. It is now widely recognised any transition to a just and sustainable economy yet, and therefore would that GDP is a deeply flawed measure world requires the developed nations to reject these policy proposals as unac- of societal progress, yet it remains stop over-consuming the world’s scarce ceptable or unnecessary. But as the the dominant way to assess politico- resources and reduce resource and limits to growth tighten their grip on economic success. energy demands significantly. economies in the coming years and Accordingly, a politics and economics Although in theory, efficiency gains decades, the debate will inevitably ‘beyond growth’ must begin by in production provide one pathway evolve, and the question will not be explicitly adopting some post-growth to reduced demand, the reality is that whether a post-growth economy is measure of progress, such as the within a growth economy, efficiency required, but rather how to create one – Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI). gains tend to be reinvested in more by design rather than disaster. Although it is not a perfect metric, the growth and consumption, rather than A post-growth economy will require, GPI takes into account a wide range of among other things, developing social, economic, and environmental new macroeconomic policies and factors that GDP ignores, thus repre- Well-Being vs. Well-Living institutions, confronting the population senting a vast improvement over GDP. Want to find out what Post-Capitalist happiness challenge, and culturally embracing Public understanding of, and support look like? See Hamed Hosseini’s piece on p35 post-consumerist lifestyles of material for, such post-growth accounting sufficiency. The following proposals are systems would open up political space not intended to be comprehensive, and for political parties to defend policy and they are not presented as a blueprint institutional changes – such as those reducing impact. In order to contain that could be applied independent outlined below – that would genuinely this well documented phenomenon, a of context. Instead, the review simply improve social wellbeing and enhance post-growth economy would need to outlines a range of key issues that ecological conditions, even if these introduce diminishing resource caps – would need to be addressed in any would not maximise growth in GDP. If that is, well defined limits to resource ‘top down’ transition to a post-growth we do not measure progress accurately, consumption – to ensure that efficiency economy (even if the drivers for change we cannot expect to progress. gains are directed into reducing overall must come ‘from below’, at the grass- resource consumption, not directed roots level). Reduce overconsumption via into more growth. diminishing ‘resource caps’ Formulating a workable policy in Explicit adoption of post- this domain would require, among One of the defining problems other things, a highly sophisticated growth measures of progress with the growth paradigm is that the and detailed scientific accounting In order to transcend the growth developed nations now have resource of resource stocks and flows of the model, the first thing needed is to and energy demands that could not economy. But the first step is simply adopt better and more nuanced possibly be universalised to all nations. to recognise that, in the developed

If we do not measure progress accurately, we cannot expect to progress.

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A post-growth economy would share the available work amongst

the working population, thereby minimising or eliminating

unemployment even in a non-growing or contracting economy. nations, diminishing resource caps be to systematically exchange super- Curious to change The nature are a necessary part of achieving the fluous consumption for increased free of labour and business? decline in resource consumption that is time, which would also bring environ- required for justice and sustainability. mental benefits. Then Healy et al have you covered on p28 Working hour reductions Rethink budget spending for a therefore require a significant revision of One obvious implication of dimin- post-growth transition government expenditure. ishing resource caps is that a lot less Governments are the most significant resource-intensive producing and player in any economy and have the Renewable energy consuming will take place in a post- most spending power. Accordingly, In anticipation of the foreseeable growth economy. That will almost if governments decide to take the stagnation and eventual decline of fossil certainly mean reduced GDP, although limits to growth seriously this will fuel supplies, and recognising the grave there is still great scope for qualitative require a fundamental rethink of how dangers presented by climate change, growth (technological innovation, public funds are invested and spent. a post-growth economy would need to efficiency improvements, and improved Broadly speaking, within a post-growth transition swiftly to renewable energy wellbeing). But what implications paradigm public spending would not and more efficient energy systems and will a contracting economy have for aim to facilitate sustained GDP growth practices. This provides a hugely prom- employment? but instead support the projects and ising space to meaningfully employ Growth in GDP is often defended on infrastructure needed to support a swift large segments of the population as the grounds that it is required to keep transition to a post-growth economy. the fossil fuel economy enters terminal unemployment at manageable levels. This would include huge divestment decline. If a nation gives up the pursuit of GDP, from the fossil fuel economy and a But, just as important as ‘greening’ the therefore, it must maintain employment co-relative reinvestment in renewable supply of energy, is the challenge (too via some other means. Restructuring energy systems. But it would also often neglected) of reducing energy the labour market is essential for the require huge investment in other forms demand. After all, it will be much easier stability of any post-growth economy. of ‘green’ infrastructure. Currently, many to transition to 100% renewable energy Could we work less but live better? people find themselves ‘locked in’ to if energy use is significantly reduced By reducing the average working high-impact lifestyles due to the struc- through behavioural changes, reduced week to, say, 28 hours, a post-growth tures within which they live their lives.5 production and consumption, and economy would share the available To provide one example: it is very more efficient appliances. work amongst the working population, difficult to stop driving a private motor The extremely tight and fast-dimin- thereby minimising or eliminating vehicle if there is poor public transport ishing carbon budget for a safe climate unemployment even in a non-growing and insufficient bike lanes. Change the now makes this ‘demand side’ response or contracting economy, while at the infrastructure, however, and new, low- a necessity,6,7 yet the significantly same time increasing social wellbeing impact lifestyles would be more easily reduced energy demand required for by reducing overwork.4 The aim would embraced. Greening infrastructure will a safe climate is incompatible with the

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growth model, because energy is what and in order to pay back that debt plus drives economic growth.8 the interest, this requires an expansion Accordingly, a post-growth politics of the money supply.9 Furthermore, would initiate a transition to 100% there is so much public and private renewable energy financed in part by debt today that the only way it could be a strong carbon tax, and undertake a paid back is via decades of continued public education campaign to facilitate GDP growth. reduced energy demand. This type of banking system requires growth for stability and yet limitless economic growth is the driving force Explore why energy policy behind the environmental crisis. In is a microcosm for change order to move toward a stable, post- Read Amanda Cahill's article on p22 growth economy, part of the institu- tional restructuring required involves deep reform of banking and finance systems. Banking and finance reform This is a complex transition that could take various forms, but at base it would Currently, our systems of banking require the state taking responsibility for and finance essentially have a ‘growth creating banking and finance systems imperative’ built into their structures. that do not require growth for stability, Money is loaned into existence by and strictly regulating these systems to private banks as interest-bearing debt, ensure equity.

Curious about the future of the banking economy? Currently, our systems See Steve Keen's article on p14 of banking and finance

essentially have a Population policies ‘growth imperative’ As population grows, more resources built into their are required to provide for the basic material needs of humanity (food, structures. clothing, shelter, etc.), increasing our

APR–JUN 2018 AUSTRALIAN QUARTERLY 7 Transcending capitalism: Policies for a post-growth economy

As Paul Ehrlich famously noted, ‘whatever problem you’re interested in, you’re not going to solve it unless you also solve the population problem.’

demands on an already overburdened Reimagining the good life billion people, let alone eleven billion, planet. It is absolutely imperative that beyond consumer culture could exist sustainably on Earth living nations around the world unite to consumerist lifestyles. confront the population challenge Despite the environmental necessity Globalising affluence, quite simply, directly, rather than just assuming that of population stabilisation and eventual would be ecologically catastrophic. the problem will be solved when the decline, the fact remains that currently Accordingly, members of the global there are 7.6 billion people on earth, all developing world gets rich. consumer class need to reimagine the of whom have the right to the material Population policies will inevitably be good life beyond consumer culture and conditions needed to live a full and controversial but the world needs bold develop new conceptions of human dignified human life. Nevertheless, if the and equitable leadership on this issue. flourishing based on sufficiency, moder- global economy is to raise the material Research suggests that the world is ation, frugality, and non-materialistic living standards of the great multitudes sources of meaning and satisfaction. facing a population of around 9.5 billion currently living in destitution, this is by mid-century and 11 billion by the likely to put further pressure on global 10 end of this century, which would be ecosystems. want to find a cure utterly catastrophic from both social Therefore, in order to leave some for AFfluenza? and environmental perspectives. As ‘ecological room’ for the poorest people Richard Denniss has the answers on p10 Paul Ehrlich famously noted, ‘whatever to develop their economic capacities problem you’re interested in, you’re not in some form, high-impact consumer going to solve it unless you also solve lifestyles must be swiftly transcended. the population problem.’ There is no conceivable way that seven Distributive justice Environmental concerns cannot be isolated from social justice concerns. The conventional path to poverty allevi- ation is via the strategy of GDP growth, on the assumption that ‘a rising tide will lift all boats’. Given that a post-growth economy deliberately seeks a non- growing economy – on the assumption that a rising tide will sink all boats – poverty alleviation must be achieved more directly, via redistribution, both nationally and internationally. In other words (and to change the metaphor), a post-growth economy would eliminate poverty and achieve distributive equity

image: © Kent Lins-Flickr

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AUTHOR: Dr Samuel Alexander is a lecturer with the Office for Environmental Programs and Research Fellow with the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute, University of Melbourne. He is also co-director of the Simplicity Institute. He has published ten books on themes related to degrowth, per- maculture, and voluntary simplicity, including Art Against Empire: Toward an Aesthetics of Degrowth (2017); Prosperous Descent: Crisis as Opportunity in an Age of Limits (2015); and Entropia: Life Beyond Industrial Civilisation (2013). In 2016 he also co-produced a documentary called A Simpler Way: Crisis as Opportunity. Most of his writing is available at www.samuelalexander.info not by baking an ever-larger economic pie but by slicing it differently. Any attempt to systemically redis- class system of entrenched wealth and should go without saying that any tribute wealth via taxation or property entrenched poverty. post-growth transition would require reform will be highly controversial, an array of other structural changes, especially in our neoliberal age, but including policies to create (or recreate) I contend that these policy platforms present concentrations of wealth a ‘free press’; policies to ensure that demand a political response. Research – all in need of detailed elaboration and campaign financing rules do not permit published this year shows that the discussion – should be the opening undue economic influence on the richest 8 men on the planet now own moves in a ‘top down’ transition to a democratic process; policies that ensure more than the poorest half of humanity. post-growth economy. To be employed affordable housing or access to land; Dwell on that for a moment. in concert, they clearly challenge and so forth. There is no single best policy for elim- the dominant macroeconomics of I do not pretend to have provided inating poverty or achieving a just distri- growth and would require far more a complete political agenda for a bution of wealth, but key policy options social control over the economy than post-growth economy. The proposals include: (i) a basic income or job neoliberal capitalism permits today. guarantee for all, Markets work above are merely key aspects of such which ensures that well in some a transition and a good place to begin every permanent circumstances, no thinking about how to structure a just resident has doubt, but leaving and sustainable, post-growth economy. a minimal, everything to As well as maintaining and updating living wage; (ii) the market and the critique of growth and detailing progressive tax thinking this will coherent policies for a post-growth policies (i.e. the magically advance economy, it is also important to develop more you earn, the common good sophisticated transition strategies that the higher the tax has been proven would maximise the chances of a post- rate) which could dangerously false. growth political campaign succeeding. culminate in a top The policies above Among other things, this would tax rate of 90% or also depend upon involve exploring the role grassroots more; (iii) wealth a society that sees social movements might have to play taxes, that system- the necessity and creating the cultural foundations for a atically transfer 3% of private wealth desirability of a post-growth economy, post-growth economy. As suggested from the richest to the poorest recog- hence the special importance of above, a clever and sustained ‘social nising the large social component in public education campaigns and the marketing’ campaign promoting a wealth production; and (iv) estate taxes emergence of a new, post-consumerist post-growth economy is critical here, in of 90% or more to ensure the laws of culture of consumption. order to weaken the hold the ideology inheritance and bequest do not create a Beyond these policy platforms, it of growth has on society. AQ

A post-growth economy would eliminate poverty and achieve distributive equity not by baking an ever-larger economic pie but by slicing it differently.

APR–JUN 2018 AUSTRALIAN QUARTERLY 9 From lawn to lattes~ The cult(ure) of consumption

Consumerism can mean the exact opposite of f people learned to love their stuff, really love it, then rather materialism. Where consumerism usually refers to the than spend their time and love of consuming, the love of purchasing, and the love of money on ‘retail therapy’ they acquiring the new, materialism refers to the love of the would willingly spend their timeI and money caring for their things, material objects themselves. And if you love something, maintaining them, repairing them, then the thought of throwing it away to replace it with a restoring them and, when they had new model would be a source of pain, not joy. no further use for them, finding those once-cherished objects a new home. But ‘consumer culture’ means that it ARTICLE BY: Dr Richard Denniss is now considered normal to believe that waste creates wealth. The idea that people would spend $10 per litre to

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‘Consumer culture’ means that it is now considered normal to believe that waste creates wealth.

buy bottled water and then throw the Lawn is the largest irrigated crop today millions of Australians queue to bottle away is not seen as ‘inefficient’ in the United States with three times pay $4 for a flat white, a product that in the world of economic rationalism, more land dedicated to the growing of didn’t even exist 30 years ago. What has rather, such unnecessary consumption grass than corn. This cultural preference become known as ‘cafe culture’ is now a of resources is usually seen as ‘good for for a manicured lawn has enormous major determinant of the shape of the the economy’. economic consequences and drives the Australian economy. Just as the ancient Egyptians used demand for lawn mowers, lawn seed, While economics students are their spare economic capacity to build lawn fertiliser, edge trimmers, sprinklers typically taught that it is the price of pyramids and the ancient Chinese built and even water consumption. If the lawnmowers, water or coffee that deter- walls, modern consumer capitalism same effort was put into growing fruit mines demand for lawnmowers, water builds mountains of unused appliances, and vegetables the US economy would or coffee, that claim is only true when unworn clothes and uneaten food. look radically different. used in conjunction with the statement Similarly, in countries like Australia, ‘all other things remaining equal’. And Life before lattes the current cultural preference for all else is rarely equal. Culture is a significant, but often buying coffee and breakfast has made Just as technological change has overlooked, driver of the shape and the cafe industry one of the nation’s transformed the camera industry, the measured size of economic activity. largest employers. movie rental industry and the entire All cultures are free to decide which 20 years ago most Australians were retail sector, cultural change rapidly and resources to waste and which monu- content to choose between Nescafé or regularly transforms large section of ments to build. Take lawn for example. Moccona when they felt like a coffee; national economies.

Today millions of Australians queue to pay $4 for a flat white, a product that didn’t even exist 30 years ago.

Again, while economics students are taught that demand curves shift in response to ‘changing tastes and preferences’, little effort is usually put into understanding what changes those tastes and preferences. Or, to put it another way, determining how culture is shaped and reshaped.

Think culture is the cause? See how changing our concept of society can change our economics in Hamed Hosseini’s article on p35

APR–JUN 2018 AUSTRALIAN QUARTERLY 11 From Lawn to Lattes – The Cult(ure) of Consumption

It is now widely accepted that the disposal of perfectly functional food, clothes or appliances and replacing them with newly imported ones is ‘good for the economy’…It is a new and important cultural phenomenon.

A mythology of collapse newly imported ones is ‘good for the it is safe to assume that culture rather economy’. Such a belief is far more than relative prices has driven this trend. Those who want to transform significant than a personal preference But imagine if councils and capitalism can learn much from the for a specific kind of coffee or delivery commercial property owners were history of how cultural change has mechanism for water. It is a new and required to install drinking fountains driven economic change. The abolition important cultural phenomenon. in all buildings and the sale of bottled of slavery, the banning of asbestos and Indeed, only a few decades ago water was banned. What would the the end to commercial whaling were neoclassical economists were urging macroeconomic impact be? all cultural shifts that drove significant people to reduce their demand for The most plausible answer from economic shifts. But despite the impor- imported goods in order to reduce the orthodox economics would be tance of cultural change on the shape Current Account Deficit. approximately zero, as any reduction of the economy, economics lectures Therefore, the idea that a strong in spending on bottled water would and public debate usually ignore, or economy depends on the speed at be linked to an immediate increase downplay, the role of culture as a driver which a country imports things, throws in spending on other products or a of economic growth and change. them away, buries, and replaces them, is delayed increase in spending on other It is easy to see how individual as new as it is absurd. products. consumer trends such as our appetite And just because an idea makes no Banning bottled water would not for lawn, coffee or bottled water have sense does not mean that it has no shrink the economy, it would shape it. influenced the shape of the economy. power. On the contrary, the role of The result would be a much smaller But it can be more difficult to see how myths in a society has always had more bottled water industry and slightly consumer culture itself has significantly to do with the usefulness of a story to bigger other parts of the economy. reshaped Western economies. powerful groups than with the strength Now imagine that it was an entire In consumer capitalism it is now of the evidence on which the story was product class – rather than a single widely accepted that the disposal of based. product – for which demand collapsed perfectly functional food, clothes or Take the modern myth that ‘the in a short period of time. Would ‘the appliances and replacing them with economic system’ or ‘the economy’ will economy’ collapse if millions of people ‘collapse’ if people stopped wasting decided that they had enough clothes money buying things they didn’t need. in their wardrobes for the moment? Would it? Let’s return to the bottled Would the economy collapse if millions water example. of people decided to buy any clothes Australians consumed over 700 they needed from second hand clothes million litres of bottled water in 2015. stores? Or if they paid people to modify Like the preference for espresso coffee, or repair existing ones? the consumption of bottled water is a While the consequences for the new habit and, given that bottled water owners of the clothes stores would sells for around $10 per litre and similar be devastating, the macroeconomic products are freely available from taps, consequences would only be trivial, no

Richard Denniss’ new book Curing Affluenza: How to buy less stuff and save the world is available through www.blackinkbooks.com.au ‘A path-breaking book’ ~ Ross Gittins

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AUTHOR: Dr Richard Denniss is Chief Economist of independ- ent think tank, The Australia Institute. Richard contrib- utes columns to The Canberra Times and Australian Financial Review among others. His latest book is Curing Affluenza: How to buy less stuff and save the world. Follow him on Twitter @RDNS_TAI

more economically ‘problematic’ than have a significant shift on the shape of prospects for low and middle income the shift from street directories to GPS the economy and, most likely, lead to a earners are inextricably linked to the or the shift from steam trains to diesel. significant increase in employment. degree of wasteful consumption Yet this would have little impact on among the wealthy. It’s not the size that counts… the size of the economy due to the There is nothing inevitable about For those interested in the creation fact that some activities (like selling consumer culture, and in turn, there of jobs, the distribution of income or imported stuff) create far fewer jobs per is nothing inevitable about the link the impact of economic activity on the $1000 spent than activities such as food between the measured size of Gross natural environment, it is the shape preparation and repairs. Domestic Product and the extent of of economic activity, not its size that Just as the people who make harm to the natural environment. should be of utmost concern. the most money in a gold rush are Encouraging people to reject The rapid creation of a publicly- usually those that sell the shovels, consumer culture and to stop giving funded domestic renewable energy in the consumer’s endless search for enormous amounts of money to the manufacturing industry to support the happiness in the world’s shopping producers of unnecessary things, is not rapid rollout of wind and solar power centres, it is those people selling the enough to solve all of the problems capacity across Australia would, for useless stuff that wear the biggest associated with modern capitalism. example, likely lead to an increase in smiles. Even so, making the distinction the size of the economy. Yet, given the But while cultural critiques of between materialism and consumerism impact on the shape of the economy, consumer capitalism are common, – and driving a culture change that and the level of greenhouse gas emis- economic analysis of the consequences treasures, rather than tosses, their stuff sions, such economic growth would of shifting economic activity away from – would deliver significant social and likely cause little or no concern to consumer culture is far less common. environmental improvements. many who often oppose the pursuit of It is important to imagine better And for those of us who want to economic growth. systems, and useful to discuss alter- pursue more radical change, it is hard Similarly, a significant shift away native economic frameworks. Yet for to see how it could be problematic to from consumer spending on imported those people interested in actually encouraging billions of people to have clothes and new appliances and changing the system rather than greater faith in more distributed forms towards increased consumer spending simply understanding it, it is essential of production and to question the in cafes and on appliance repair would to debunk the idea that the economic cult(ure) of consumption. AQ When the system collapses: A post-capitalist capitalism?

Paul Mason’s popular 2015 book PostCapitalism begins with his depends on your the provocative claim that “for the developed world the best of definition of capitalism, capitalism is behind us, and for the rest it will be over in our and the term is so ideo- logically laden that some 1 lifetime”. Two undeniable crises drove his conviction: the Global proponents assert that Financial Crisis (GFC)2 that began in 2008, and the ecological capitalismT has always existed – because crisis of Global Warming. But are these the only existential there have always been markets – while challenges facing capitalism, and are they singly or collectively others argue that it has never existed – because there has always been sufficient to take us into a society which is, in a fundamental government. sense, post-Capitalist? Leaving aside both extremes of the Loony Right, in the context of this ARTICLE BY: Professor Steve Keen article I will define capitalism as a social,

image: © aisletwentytwo-Flickr

14 AUSTRALIAN QUARTERLY APR–JUN 2018 When the system collapses: A Post-Capitalist Capitalism?

Bank lending creates money, and the repayment of bank debt, or the failure to do so through bankruptcy, destroys money.

production and monetary system In their model, borrowing simply change in the money supply.6 where the profit motive is dominant, transfers spending power from saver to From this perspective, understanding whose ideology is pro-market (and borrower, without significantly altering private debt and credit is crucial to broadly anti-government), where most it in the aggregate. understanding capitalism, since credit of the means of production are owned This model, called “Loanable Funds”, is both a significant and highly volatile by individuals (capitalists) rather than pretends that banks do not originate component of aggregate demand. the State, where finance and money loans, but instead act as go-betweens Just as using your credit card increases creation are also predominantly private, between savers and borrowers, and what you can spend over and above where the power of capitalists and profit on the spread between loan and your income, at the level of the national financiers to manage their businesses deposit rates of interest (I parody this as economy, credit increases demand and personal affairs is only lightly the ‘Ashley Madison model of banking’). over and above what it would be if limited by the State (while also strongly The non-mainstream band of only existing money could be used for enforced by it), and where the non- economists to which I belong, have spending. capitalist majority of the population are been calling this out as nonsense for It is also much more volatile too: your dependent on working for capitalists for almost 40 years, to no avail – until the credit card debt can go up much faster a living. GFC. But since then, Central Banks than your income is likely to rise. And Given that definition, I agree with have started to proclaim that we are finally, just as your spending will drop Mason that there will be a post- in fact correct, and the conventional well below your income if you decide Capitalist society, because of these two model of lending is wrong: banks do you have to pay your credit card down, crises and one other: the near-elimi- originate loans, and these loans cause credit can turn negative at the level of nation, in the same foreseeable future, a precisely equal increase in the money the whole economy, reducing demand of the need to employ all but the most supply. Bank lending creates money, suddenly as it did back in 2008 in many highly skilled labour to produce goods, and the repayment of bank debt, or the countries struck by the GFC. Australia and almost all services. failure to do so only managed to avoid a crisis because through bank- it continued to ‘max out its credit card’, Strangled by debt ruptcy, destroys and it now has one of the three highest In Can we avoid another In macroeconomics, money.4,5 levels of household debt ever recorded financial crisis?3 I show that aggregate demand is I’ve taken (only Switzerland has more now, and (contrary to conventional the total demand for final this logic one only Denmark has ever had more economic thinking), credit goods and services in an step further to household debt compared to GDP than economy at a given time. is a significant component show that, since Switzerland). – from Wikipedia of aggregate demand, and people borrow Credit-based demand therefore has that a collapse in credit in in order to buy the drawback that it can increase the the USA, UK and much of both goods and debt burden on the economy as it Europe caused the GFC. services and simultaneously boosts current demand. Mainstream economists were caught assets, aggregate demand is the sum of Banks thus have enormous power completely unawares by this crisis, since the turnover of existing money, plus the in capitalism, but this power does not their macroeconomic model pretends change in bank debt, which is identical require any particular skill: their capacity that credit plays no role in demand. to – and causes – the credit-driven to create money is simply a by-product

APR–JUN 2018 AUSTRALIAN QUARTERLY 15 Article Heading

Australia only

managed to avoid

a crisis because it of both double-entry bookkeeping, and future income of the borrower—and a continued to ‘max out being granted a banking licence by the matching Liability (the deposit account State. of the borrower) simultaneously. This its credit card’, and it A non-bank financial institution (like allows it to create money (which today a credit union) can’t create money, overwhelmingly takes the form of bank now has one of the because it is only allowed to lend from deposits). a deposit account that it holds with a Calling this process ‘lending’ is a bank. Its lending thus shuffles deposits misnomer, since lending implies a three highest levels from one liability account of a bank transfer from one stash of cash to (its own deposit account) to another another. But there is no account from of household debt (the borrower’s at the credit union), which banks transfer ‘their’ money to without creating money. Any increase the borrower: instead they create the ever recorded. in aggregate demand that such a loan money and the debt simultaneously. generates is due simply to differences in To coin an acronym, bank ‘lending’ how fast the borrower spends relative is not lending, but ‘Bank Originated to the lender. Money and Debt’ (BOMD). A banking licence, on the other hand, A banking licence is thus a socially allows a bank to create an Asset on granted privilege, and it should be used its ledger—the debt of the borrower both wisely, and in the interests of the to the bank, and thus its claim on the body politic that granted it. Of course,

To coin an acronym, bank ‘lending’ is not lending, but ‘Bank Originated Money and Debt’ (BOMD).

16 AUSTRALIAN QUARTERLY APR–JUN 2018 When the system collapses: A Post-Capitalist Capitalism?

The only escape from a debt crisis is to write off the debt. But...politicians have enforced creditors’ rights over debtors, leading to a stagnant global economy. the opposite has happened worldwide. highs. Countries which had a crisis then ratio up from 190% of GDP when the As Marx put it so evocatively over a suffered a serious downturn when GFC hit to a peak of 206% of GDP in century ago: credit turned negative. mid-2016. In the USA’s case, credit, which had Credit, though still positive, is now Talk about centralisation! The credit never been negative since 1950, went falling in Australia, and in many other system, which has its focus in the from plus 15% of GDP in 2008 to minus countries that continued borrowing so-called national banks and the 6% in 2010. This caused only a slight fall their way to apparent prosperity during big money-lenders and usurers in private debt, from a peak of 170% and after the GFC. They will have reces- surrounding them, constitutes of GDP in 2009, to 146% in 2014. It has sions when credit turns negative in the since started to rise again, and is now next few years, and when this happens, enormous centralisation, and gives 150% of GDP. of the order of 50% of the global this class of parasites the fabulous Countries that also had high levels economy will become what I have power, not only to periodically of debt and credit but avoided a crisis termed the “Walking Dead of Debt”. despoil industrial capitalists, but then (like Australia) did so by preventing As the US banker-turned-philan- also to interfere in actual production credit from turning negative. Credit in thropist Richard Vague has shown by Australia peaked at 24% of GDP in 2007, examining the roughly 150 credit crises in a most dangerous manner—and but did not turn negative (as it had back that have occurred over the last 1.5 this gang knows nothing about in 1992 during Keating’s “Recession we centuries, the only escape from a debt production and should have had to have”). Continued positive credit crisis is to write off the debt.8 But the nothing to do with it.7 drove Australia’s private debt to GDP political power of banks has instead Bank money creation has shifted from funding the working capital and investment needs of business and the large-item consumption needs of households, to financing asset specu- lation pure and simple. This speculation has in turn driven asset prices up in a positive-feedback loop, leading to vastly over-inflated asset prices, and a level of private debt which is unprecedented in the history of capitalism. The GFC was caused by a collapse in credit-based demand, at a time when the level of private debt (relative to GDP) was already at these historic

APR–JUN 2018 AUSTRALIAN QUARTERLY 17 When the system collapses: A Post-Capitalist Capitalism?

Labour without energy is a corpse; a machine without energy is a sculpture. The real source of the physical output human society generates is neither labour nor machinery, but energy. meant that politicians have enforced lifetimes of many of those alive today my area of academic expertise, but creditors’ rights over debtors, leading to – the level of CO2 in the atmosphere a more-than-layman’s interest in this a stagnant global economy. will have doubled compared to its pre- issue has made me aware that, on We therefore face two distinctly non- industrial norm of 280 parts per million. current trends, the likely increase in capitalist prospects: either permanent This trend could be ended by a large- temperature from sustained global economic impoverishment by debts scale switch to non-carbon-burning warming is perhaps three times the that, to quote Michael Hudson ‘can’t energy sources, and solar power is 2-degree increase that limp treaties like be repaid’ and therefore ‘won’t be rapidly becoming cost-competitive the Paris Accords portray as realistic; repaid. This would sap the economic with fossil-fuel power. But the odds of that we will also seriously deplete the dynamism that has been capitalism’s avoiding 500 ppm appear slight, and planet’s topsoil within 50 years; and that main bulwark against ideological we are still left with a residue of CO2 in we are effectively mining the planet’s criticism. the atmosphere that will take centuries capacity to support life, since at present The other option is a ‘Modern Debt to reduce by natural processes alone. human production and consumption Jubilee’, which could use the State’s While these bare bones are acknowl- alone uses 1.6 times the biosphere’s similar capacity to create money to edged by most people, I don’t believe capacity to regenerate itself (see the cancel private debt. that they comprehend the scale of the Human Ecological Footprint: My money, if you’ll pardon the pun, threat posed by the impact of human https://www.footprintnetwork.org/). is on the former outcome: our politi- production systems on the planet’s At some stage, ecological crises that cians will tolerate stagnation rather ecosystem. The actual threats are not even Trump and Abbott can’t deny – or than challenge the power of the banks. But I expect their hand will be forced by the second existential challenge to capitalism: the ecological damage that industrial society has wrought on the planet. Choked by Carbon Ecological Luddites like Trump and Tony Abbott aside, the majority of the population is at least aware that indus- trial production has drastically increased the level of CO2 in the atmosphere, and that this is driving an increase in the planet’s temperature. If the current trend in over-production of CO2 continues, then by 2075 – within the

18 AUSTRALIAN QUARTERLY APR–JUN 2018 When the system collapses: A Post-Capitalist Capitalism?

image: © By Strobridge & Co. Lith

blame on Russia or “Maaarxists” (to reproduce both Tony’s favourite bogey men, and his nasal 'drawl')– will force us to realise that we have to respond to global warming as Churchill once responded to the challenge of the Third Reich – by declaring WWIII on climate and biosphere destruction. When that day arrives, so will State- domination of both consumption and production: capitalism will give way to a State-directed economy as it did during WWII, financed by government money creation—as in WWII, when the this planet, then our post-Climate-War philosophy in fact contradicted the UK government’s spending exceeded society will face a third challenge: primary claim of this theory, that all 9,10 taxation by as much as 40% of GDP in managing the distribution of the fruits surplus arises from labour. But in the 1940. Rationing will limit consumption, of production in a world where not context of this essay, the main fallacy of and State-managed attempts to directly just the working class, but even the the LTV (and Neoclassical theory as well) is that it pretends that output can be reduce CO2 in the atmosphere and seas middle class, is no longer necessary for will replace market-directed capitalist production. produced by labour and capital alone. production. Put simply, this premise contra- Though Obsolescence dicts Laws of the Universe that private entrepre- of the cannot be disobeyed: the Laws of 11 neurs may well working class Thermodynamics. Nothing can be design and build produced without energy, and the very many of the One point where idea of labour and machinery without systems that will I strongly differ energy does not make sense: labour extract CO2 from from Mason is on without energy is a corpse; a machine the atmosphere, the role of labour in without energy is a sculpture. The real there will not be capitalism. Mason source of the physical output human a market-based champions the society generates is neither labour nor solution to our Labour Theory of machinery, but energy. over-exploitation Value (LTV) as the Labour and machinery are of course of the planet’s analytical means critical to exploiting this energy, biosphere. by which to under- but rather than being the source of If we survive that challenge and stand the evolution of capitalist society. value, they are the means by which live, as a species and a civilisation on I long ago argued that Marx’s dialectical we harness the energy we already

image: © Mike Licht-Flickr

APR–JUN 2018 AUSTRALIAN QUARTERLY 19 When the system collapses: A Post-Capitalist Capitalism?

A-Ha! the nature oF work and labour are key! If you agree, see Healy and Co’s article on p28

find in the universe (the First Law of capacity to produce output. Thermodynamics) to convert part of it But as our technology (itself the into useful work. Part is also converted product of human ingenuity) improved, into waste energy (and waste matter), the comparatively puny energy- and in the aggregate the increase in processing power of humans (the disorder (pollution and energy degra- average unskilled worker’s useful energy dation) must exceed the reduction in output is slightly less than that of a 100 disorder that turns raw materials into Watt incandescent light bulb) gave way finished goods (the Second Law of to the exponentially increasing energy Thermodynamics). processing capacity of our machinery. As a polymath, Marx was aware of the Labour’s role became controlling early work on Thermodynamics, and the machines, rather than directly acknowledged this in Capital: converting its own surplus calories into useful work. The source of the “Creation of value is transfor- increase in material prosperity over the mation of labour-power into labour. last quarter millennium has therefore Labour-power itself is energy been, not exploitation of labour, but the Material prosperity over transferred to a human organism exploitation of what Buckminster Fuller by means of nourishing matter.” 12 termed ‘energy slaves’. Now our production technology [Emphasis added] the last quarter millennium – which the inventiveness of human But he never considered the brains creates, but which only results in implication that machines also production once that inventiveness is has therefore been, not harness energy and convert this into embodied in machines – is developing useful work, thus contradicting a key machines with the capacity to manage component of the Labour Theory of themselves. exploitation of labour, Value, that machines only add to output The days of unskilled labour as what they lose in depreciation. necessary to production are severely Labour of course played a huge numbered, and even relatively high but the exploitation of and direct role in the conversion of level (though not truly innovative) energy into useful work in early human skilled labour can and will be replaced societies, and harnessing that energy by algorithms (even if we never do initially involved exploiting our fellow produce true AI). The vast majority what Buckminster Fuller humans (and domesticated animals) of the population will therefore not very directly in slavery. Then, the be needed to produce output, and caloric work capacity of labour was the labour’s capacity to bargain for a share termed ‘energy slaves’. dominant factor in determining the in output via the need for unskilled

Image: © @sagesolar-Instagram

20 AUSTRALIAN QUARTERLY APR–JUN 2018 When the system collapses: A Post-Capitalist Capitalism?

The great advantage of capitalism over all previous large scale social systems, is that it encourages innovation, far more effectively than did slave, feudal and socialist economies.

owned equally by individuals and the State, and finance and money creation will be both private and public. The power of capitalists and financiers to manage their businesses and personal affairs will be strongly limited by the State to prevent future ecological damage, and the non-capitalist majority of the population receive their income from the State via a Universal Basic Income. Such a society will clearly be This post-capitalist world will post-capitalist, but it will still be be a social, production and capitalist at the same time. The monetary system where the great advantage of capitalism and monetary and semi-skilled workers to control the profit motive is subservient to over all previous system where machines will disappear. large scale social There are two scenarios for such a the profit motive an ecological imperative. systems, is that world: a dysfunctional Hunger Games is subservient it encourages world in which a wealthy minority enjoy to an ecological innovation, far vast wealth while the rest live in poverty imperative more effectively if they live at all, or a hopefully less to restore the biosphere after the than did slave, feudal and socialist dysfunctional world where income for enormous damage we have done economies.14,15,16 13 the vast majority is not dependent on to it. The ideology will be Gaia first We need the inherent dynamism their contribution to output. A Universal and market second, and broadly that the profit motive gives capitalism Basic Income, rather than a wage, pro-government because of its role in but the days of unconstrained market would need to become the primary harnessing our resources to restore the ideology that allows capitalists to source of income for non-capitalists. biosphere. The means of production privatise their profits and socialise their and environmental regulation will be losses will be over. AQ A Post-Capitalist Capitalism If we survive these three existential threats, then this post-capitalist world will be a social, production AUTHOR: Steve Keen is a Professor of Economics at Kingston University and an Honorary Professor at University College London. read more from Prof Keen: www.debtdeflation.com directly support Prof Keen's research: www.patreon.com/profstevekeen

Image: © Eva k-Flickr

APR–JUN 2018 AUSTRALIAN QUARTERLY 21 Economic diversity in the energy sector: Post-capitalism in the here and now?

We are at a crossroads. The tremendous structural changes needed to tackle climate change have presented us with a unique yet clear choice: strengthen the economic and political status quo, or invest in solutions that will not only transform our energy system, but our economic and political systems as well. Nowhere is this choice more evident as it is in the debates around the future of Australia’s energy system.

ARTICLE BY: Dr Amanda Cahill

apid developments While Germany produced 36% in renewable energy of its nation’s electricity needs from technology have made renewable energy in 20171 and Sweden the task of transitioning achieved its 2020 renewable energy Australia’s energy goal of 49% back in 2012,2 Australia systemR away from fossil fuels not only continues to debate its national possible, but economically feasible. Yet renewable energy targets, fuelling compared to other OECD countries, ongoing policy uncertainty. Australia has been slow to embrace In this challenging and constantly the transition, which is particularly shifting policy environment, three dis- striking given its vast renewable energy tinct economic models have emerged potential. to transition Australia’s electricity system

22 AUSTRALIAN QUARTERLY APR–JUN 2018 Economic Diversity in the Energy Sector

Sweden achieved its 2020 renewable energy goal of 49% back in 2012, Australia continues to debate its national renewable energy targets.

to one powered by renewable energy, Capitalism and the Status Quo (PARF) in 2016 to support the devel- each posing radically different economic opment of over 1 GW of large-scale and political possibilities. The first is for Since the 1990s, private companies renewable energy projects. privately owned corporations to con- have generated most of Australia’s elec- Senior AGL officials have been trans- tinue to leverage private investment and tricity. Despite the huge costs involved parent about the fact that their motiva- public subsidies to fund the switch to in transforming the entire energy tions do not stem from environmental renewable energy, effectively strength- system, there is significant support concerns alone, and that they consider ening the capitalist status quo. among private energy companies for moving investments away from coal At the other end of the economic policies designed to accelerate the and towards renewable energy good spectrum are a growing number of transition. This interest is not solely business sense. small-to-medium sized community- motivated by concerns about climate owned renewable energy (CORE) change. projects that exemplify a post-capitalist Australia’s current fleet of coal The economics are clear? alternative. The other alternative to fired electricity plants are ageing, with more than half of Australia’s Take a deep dive on the capitalism of credit capitalist models of production is with Steve Keen on p14 the publicly-owned model of coal-fired electricity plants electricity generation that was having operated for more responsible for establishing than 30 years.4 With the most of the energy cost of building new As AGL’s CEO Andrew Vesey stated infrastructure across renewable energy recently: "We just don't see new devel- the country until projects now opment of coal as economically rational privatisation in falling below even before factoring in a real carbon the 1990s.3 the cost of cost."6 During one discussion I attended, Each of building new a senior manager from AGL took this these models coal fired plants,5 sentiment one step further, suggesting can – and are the economics are that as an early investor in the inevitable already – transitioning clear. shift to renewable energy, combined Australia’s electricity system As the largest owner, with their existing infrastructure, AGL to one powered by renewable generator and developer of could be positioned to capture up to energy. The focus of this article renewable energy in Australia, 80% of Australia’s electricity market. is not the technical aspects of AGL is one of the biggest propo- AGL’s public commitment to this transition, but the potential of nents of investment in clean energy. renewable energy is crucial in catalysing each model to foster more equitable The company has adopted a goal to the changes needed for a rapidly economic systems, drawing on three retire all of its coal-fired power plants changing climate. As a large corpo- examples: AGL, Hepburn Wind, and the by 2050 and is already taking great ration, their ability to leverage vast Queensland Government’s proposed strides towards this goal, launching the financial and technological resources Clean Co. Powering Australian Renewables Fund could significantly accelerate emissions

With the cost of building new renewable energy projects now falling below the cost of building new coal fired plants, the economics are clear.

Image: © BlackRockSolar-Flickr

APR–JUN 2018 AUSTRALIAN QUARTERLY 23 Economic Diversity in the Energy Sector

image: © Eduardo M. C./Flickr

reductions. This is good news for the climate. From a social, economic and political perspective though, questions need to be asked about the desirability of a private company strengthening their hold over the energy market, particu- larly when they already control 30-40% of electricity production in some states.7 The potential expansion of capitalist control during the current period of transition could leave Australia increasingly vulnerable to the kinds of problems that have emerged around the world where neoliberal doctrines have presided relatively unchallenged. Where fewer and fewer private interests have been allowed to increas- ingly monopolise essential goods and services (e.g. energy, water, land and even food), issues such as higher costs and less reliable supply to remote, and socio-economically marginalised Community-Owned Renewable Energy groups have arisen, accompanied by growing rates of inequality. Some (CORE) argue that we are already seeing these impacts in Australia given the high While each project is different, they are generally motivated by similar goals and values such as: prices of electricity and an increasing number of blackouts.8 • Local ownership and democratising control of energy Regulations, subsidies and other • Profits to stay local so they can be re-invested in the community policy mechanisms already exist to • Local economic development and jobs ensure that energy is accessible and • Self-sufficiency, resilience and sustainability affordable to all, so in this sense, private • A desire to act on climate change companies in Australia do not operate in a purely capitalist market. Even so, it seems prudent to ask – how effective will these tools continue to be as we

24 AUSTRALIAN QUARTERLY APR–JUN 2018 Economic Diversity in the Energy Sector

There are currently more than 90 small-to- medium sized CORE projects around Australia.

navigate this messy transition, given the with over 2,000 member-investors. can effectively produce electricity in ever shrinking reach of government and The first community-owned affordable and reliable ways, but they the increasingly blurred lines between renewable wind farm in Australia, the produce it in ways that redistribute private and public control? primary motivation for the project wealth and power.14 In this way, they And given the potential of renewable was a frustration with government for exemplify a post-capitalist alternative energy technology to decentralise and not doing enough to combat climate that conceptualises energy not as democratise production and wealth change and a desire to take action to a commodity to be traded, but as a distribution, why would we want to reduce emissions in a meaningful way. fundamental right or essential service. further consolidate the wealth and Initial investment was generated By offering a different economic power of private corporations? What through a mix of sources: cooperative and governance model, CORE asks if we could harness the decentralised members contributed $9.8 million, with who should be making fundamental nature of the technology to foster more state government grants and a loan decisions about this essential service post-capitalist models of production, from the Bendigo Bank contributing and how profits should be used – to like those exemplified by Community- an additional $4.8 million.11 From this maximise the wealth of private (often Owned Renewable Energy projects? initial investment, the cooperative built foreign) shareholders, or channelled two turbines that generate a total of to support local communities to CORE: A Post-Capitalist 4.1MW capacity, equivalent to the elec- achieve self-sufficiency and economic Alternative tricity needs of around 2300 Victorian sovereignty? homes.12 At the other end of the economic With most of the cooperative spectrum, Community-Owned members local to the area, Hepburn They exemplify a post- Renewable Energy (CORE) projects Wind is designed to encourage wide- represent a post-capitalist alternative. spread community ownership and capitalist alternative that CORE refers to “projects where a engagement and to ensure that the conceptualises energy not as community group initiates, develops, project generates economic benefits a commodity to be traded, operates and benefits from a renewable for the region as a whole. It does this energy resource or energy efficiency by returning profits to members as but as a fundamental right. initiative. Community groups are dividends, but also by generating formed based on a common interest or local employment opportunities and geographical region such as a town or investing in local projects through a There are limitations to this model, 9 suburb.” community fund. The cooperative has in that it places significant demands There are currently more than 90 also invested significant resources into on the local community and users in small-to-medium sized CORE projects developing local capacity, leadership terms of resources, time, leadership, 10 around Australia, with the Hepburn and decision making processes, in line skills and community goodwill to Wind Farm one of the most well known with their goal to improve democratic develop and maintain the system. examples. Hepburn Wind was estab- participation.13 Not all communities have access to lished as a locally-owned cooperative CORE projects like Hepburn Wind the required resources and it raises

APR–JUN 2018 AUSTRALIAN QUARTERLY 25 Economic Diversity in the Energy Sector

Public resources are currently spent on subsidising the private sector when that money could be invested directly to produce revenues for the state.

an interesting ethical question as to through direct control. One such public interest, stating: “The market whether communities should have advocate is the Labor Environment does not best serve the public interests to take on the responsibility for such Action Network (LEAN) – a cross- when it comes to things we all need. an important service, or whether this factional branch of the Labor Party. Profit should not be the only driver in should instead fall fully under the In the lead up to the 2017 the delivery of key services.”16 purview of government. Queensland State Election, LEAN In this way, LEAN directly challenges campaigned for the establishment of a the dominance of capitalism and the Public Control: The LEAN new state-owned company that would idea that the role of government should Alternative build 1 GW of large-scale renewable be limited to that of regulator, asking energy infrastructure by 2025 to: why public resources are currently A second alternative to a capitalist spent on subsidising the private sector model of electricity production is public …ensure the management of the when that money could be invested ownership through government- energy industry delivers the supply directly to produce revenues for the owned corporations. Publicly owned of energy in the public interest, state. electricity companies are the second and to maximise the benefits of They instead propose that state- largest electricity generators in Australia, controlled energy production is the and the main producers in the states of public ownership, driven by the most direct way to ensure that the Queensland and Tasmania. goal of providing affordable, reliable benefits of the current transition reach While public companies now operate electricity to Queenslanders while everyone, by using profits to provide in ways that seem almost identical to reducing pollution.15 more affordable energy; ensure private corporations, some advocates access to low-income households for renewable energy have been calling In contrast to the way private corpo- and rural and remote communities; for an expansion of public control over rations conceptualise electricity as a cross-subsidise other public goods and electricity generation in the belief that commodity, LEAN considers energy a services; and deliver local, long-term job government-owned entities would be public good or essential service, and creation and training opportunities. able to ensure a smoother transition sees government ownership as in the While LEAN has been successful in © Feral78-Flickr : GE A IM

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their campaign to win a commitment from the Queensland Labor Government to create a ‘Clean Co’,17 AUTHOR: time will tell whether it can disrupt the Dr Amanda Cahill is the director of The Centre for Social Change, board status quo and move past the politics member of the New Economy Network of Australia and founder of the that have plagued reform in the energy recently established The Next Economy. Originally trained in Anthropology, sector so far. Amanda has a PhD in Human Geography from the Australian National Queensland already has two University and an adjunct position at the University of Queensland. government-owned generators, but ongoing ties to coal and gas extraction – whether through State revenues or electricity generation – will probably the electricity system by decentralising individual wellbeing depends, as well mean that action to catalyse large-scale ownership, redistributing profits and as society’s ability to function? And shifts to renewable energy will continue ensuring financial and other benefits is access to electricity a human right, to depend on which way the political flow to the local community. In this a public good or a commodity to be winds blow. way, CORE challenges the capitalist traded? status quo and holds the potential to These are big questions that not only Implications for a Post-Capitalist undermine the ability of large private hold serious ramifications for our ability Future or public corporations to monopolise to mitigate the impacts of climate access to an essential service. change, but for democracy itself. These three case studies not only The LEAN model differs again, in that Underpinning them is the fundamental represent different ways to generate it advocates that control rest with the issue of whether we want to further and distribute electricity, but three State, which captures and reinvests consolidate the very same capitalist contrasting economic models that profits into services for the public good, relations of production that have driven engender distinct economic and relying on the ballot box as a means for climate change and that continue to political possibilities. ensuring energy democracy. exacerbate growing levels of socio- The privatised model represented All three examples can transition economic inequality. by AGL points to a strengthening of Australia to 100% renewable energy Post-capitalist alternatives that the capitalist status quo in that, as production. All three share financial redistribute wealth and power already a corporate entity, it is designed to and other benefits with the broader exist. But not all alternatives are equal. trade a commodity competitively to community. But as we navigate this Whether or not they will deliver on their maximise profits, expand its market time of transition, there are still many potential to challenge the capitalist share and minimise the impacts of questions yet to explore: What do status quo to create a more equitable regulation. these different systems mean for how and resilient future is not a question of In contrast, CORE exemplifies a power and wealth are concentrated technology, but of politics. post-capitalist model of production, or distributed? Who do we want Where do we go from here? Well, holding the potential to democratise controlling a resource on which that’s up to us. AQ

Is access to electricity a human right, a public good or a commodity to be traded?

APR–JUN 2018 AUSTRALIAN QUARTERLY 27 Pre-empting Apocalypse?

Postcapitalism as an everyday politics

In the decade that has followed the Global Financial Crisis, he term ‘postcapitalism’ the term ‘postcapitalism’ is enjoying wide circulation in signals the possibility that capitalism, both as an popular culture and political discourse, as well as academic economic and geopolitical settings. There is a growing recognition that business as organisational form, might usual cannot continue and an increasing interest in the soonT end. Or perhaps even that it has idea that there are better ways of organising economies, already ended and we are just now becoming cognisant of its demise. politics and society. What is significant is that attachments to postcapitalism are occurring across

ARTICLE BY: Dr Stephen Healy, Dr Joanne McNeill, the political spectrum. On the left, the Professor Jenny Cameron, Professor Katherine Gibson seeds of possibility were sewn in the

28 AUSTRALIAN QUARTERLY APR–JUN 2018 Pre-empting Apocalypse? Postcapitalism as an Everyday Politics

Militant nationalism is on the rise, a ‘me first’ mentality that may or may not imperil the capitalist class, but will certainly make it harder to respond to the 21st century’s many challenges.

early part of this century at the World If the GFC set the stage for this wider coming to an end as a consequence of Social Forum, as documented by Gerda circulation of a postcapitalist imagi- internal contradiction. The most appar- Roelvink in Building Dignified Worlds. nation, and the hope for something ent symptom of capitalism’s failure is Here social and solidarity economy better that sustains it, in our view it is the increase in inequality. This concern movements showcased experiments the ecological consequences of what is not only prevalent in a series of recent with non-capitalist forms of economic Will Steffen and colleagues name “the publications (including Thomas Piketty’s organisation of all great acceleration” Capital in the Twenty-First Century and sorts and at all scales. that compels us. Joseph Stiglitz’s Globalization and Its At the other Three generations Discontents Revisited) but also features end of politics, the The fear is of business as on the agenda of international institu- ‘right wing electoral usual following tions such as the International Monetary mutiny’ from Brexit that increasing WWII have caused Fund. The fear is that increasing inequal- to Trump repre- inequality is slowing life-imperilling ity is slowing economic growth and sents a rebuke to damage to the unravelling the very basis of capitalism. forms of capitalist economic growth biotic and abiotic Wolfgang Streeck in his recent series globalisation that and unravelling systems critical to of essays entitled How will Capitalism do not serve the Earth's ecology. A End? takes a decidedly dark view of interests of ordinary the very basis of new politics cannot the global economic situation. In his people. A kind of capitalism. ignore this chal- analyses we have already reached the militant nationalism lenge to survival. limits to economic growth as the global is on the rise, a ‘me Our feminist economy is over-supplied by more than first’ mentality that poststructuralist eighty industrialised countries, as well may or may not imperil the capitalist take on postcapitalism is wary of the as very productive primary and tertiary class, but will certainly make it harder apocalyptic tones of more recent sectors. Sluggish global growth, even to respond to the 21st century’s many conversations converging around the in the context of economic recovery, social and ecological challenges. idea of postcapitalism. We juxtapose means that we have little chance of As founder of Democracy at Work, our everyday politics of postcapitalist integrating the bottom billions into the Rick Wolff observes, this is the most praxis with the deferred action space of formal economy. exciting moment in two generations two recent visions of postcapitalism. Streeck argues that attempts in for those of us interested in a world the US and many other countries beyond capitalism. However, given the Postcapitalism 1: The Bloated to manage this contradiction will volatile and reactionary political climate Corpse exacerbate inequality. For example, in many countries it is also an incredibly Mr Trumps’s strategy of lowering dangerous time. What this means is Perhaps the most familiar vision of corporate tax rates to attract or retain we need to take care in how we both postcapitalism is a macro-economic industry means the US will have fewer understand and pursue the devel- analysis that sees the kind of global capi- resources to pay for social entitlements. opment of a postcapitalist politics. talism we associate with neoliberalism, Citizens will have to ‘choose’ between

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All of humanity should benefit from the fruits of an automated utopia rather than just a few.

Streeck’s assessment, capitalism is not moribund, but dead. Its bloated corpse is like a giant dead whale that we are unable to shift out of the way in order to get to a different future. Postcapitalism 2: A Fully Automated Luxury World The technology that features in Streeck’s grim assessment is at the heart of the second vision of postcapitalism. In PostCapitalism: A Guide to Our Future, Paul Mason sees the emergence of new forms of automation and new algo- rithm-fed forms of artificial intelligence not as a threat but as an opportunity that sets the stage for a fully automated luxury world. In Inventing the Future: Postcapitalism and a World Without Work, Nick Srnicek and Alex Williams follow a similar line of reasoning and insist that the political task before us is one of figuring out how to accelerate the process of change being ushered in by this latest round of automation. Like Mason, Srnicek and Williams see permanent austerity, rising levels of demand. Most high income and many this as a prime political opportunity public debt, or some combination of middle-income countries are already to revitalise a politics around universal the two. experiencing an increasing demand for basic income, the idea of a rightful Like a contagion, this approach services as rapidly ageing populations share paid to each citizen as work will likely spread. In Australia, Prime exit the labour force. in the formal sector disappears. This Minister Turnbull’s government has Finally, for Streeck new forms of vision is compelled by the real-politik already signalled that it intends to automation will likely further reduce of the need to keep up present levels follow suit. The irony, from Streeck’s labour market participation as whole of consumption, and morally justified perspective, is that public resources will categories of employment are by the idea that all of humanity should dry up precisely in a context of growing eliminated in the coming decade. In benefit from the fruits of an automated

Image: © Guido van Nispen-Flickr

30 AUSTRALIAN QUARTERLY APR–JUN 2018 Pre-empting Apocalypse? Postcapitalism as an Everyday Politics

utopia rather than just a few. write contracts, diagnose Lest we think this is a work of illness and treat condi- Is it the size or shape [of the economy] speculative fiction, consider that James tions for consumers. that matters? Ferguson’s Give a Man a Fish charts the Debate established economic theory with Richard Denniss’ on p10 rise of various forms of basic income Two Apocalyptic in so called ‘developing’ countries – Postcapitalisms where distributions of the common wealth are seen both as more efficient What these two post- than the development of northern- capitalisms share is that they are located Or things could go hemisphere style welfare-states and as in a ‘not quite yet’ temporality. The much darker than a political necessity in countries where changes they describe are just around there never has been and never will be the corner. This temporality is part of anticipated – instead anything close to full employment in what gives them their affective-political of a fully automated the formal sector. Various developing charge. They lure us into a realm of countries from Brazil, to India, Lesotho, possibility and radical change with luxury world, all of Namibia and South Africa have all the promise that if we can adequately us will be fitted with trialled (and are rolling out) versions of anticipate their arrival and if we are basic income grants, as well as parts prepared politically we might get the subcutaneous pagers of the so-called developed world outcome we want – a basic income and that will buzz when including Finland and Quebec Province a sky box view of luxury when it arrives. in Canada. This sense of expectancy cuts both there’s an opportunity Australia, like other developed coun- ways. It’s entirely possible that the on Airtasker. tries, is spooked by predictions of an economy as we know it will continue to enormous shrinking in the size of the grow, the Dow will reach the vaunted labour market in the coming decades. 30,000 and enough of us will profit from The now famous study, Australia’s this to keep things as they are. Or things years ago – alternately hopeful, fearful, Future Workforce, by the Committee for could go much darker than anticipated desperate, but most of all stuck in the Economic Development of Australia, – instead of a fully automated luxury same old place. predicts that in 10 to 20 years up to 40% world, all of us will be fitted with subcu- of Australia’s current workforce could be taneous pagers that will buzz when Postcapitalism 3: An Everyday replaced by automation. there’s an opportunity on Airtasker or Politics In this vision, automation already TaskRabbit to fetch a latte for a young- occurring in areas such as agriculture, tech overlord. A third vision of postcapitalism manufacturing and mining will spread Where does this leave us? In our view, has been put forward by J.K. Gibson- into other sectors. Even white collar a familiar place where we are, once Graham, beginning with the publi- and professional jobs may not escape again, “waiting for the revolution” as J.K. cation of The End of Capitalism (As We the chop as algorithm-fed bots ‘learn’ to Gibson Graham put it more than twenty Knew It), followed a decade later by A

APR–JUN 2018 AUSTRALIAN QUARTERLY 31 Pre-empting Apocalypse? Postcapitalism as an Everyday Politics

Manufacturers of products ranging from mattresses to dairy products, carpets to chassis, are putting an ethic of care for others (both people and environment) at the centre of their operations.

Postcapitalist Politics and more recently constructing an economy in which our Take Back the Economy: An Ethical Guide own needs are balanced against the for Transforming Our Communities with needs of others, including the needs of It is possible Jenny Cameron and Stephen Healy. life-giving planetary ecologies. Fundamental to this understanding If we no longer understand capitalism For us, the “end of capitalism” means of postcapitalism are two interrelated as a systematic-totality, then capitalist the end of capitalism as a synonym propositions. enterprises become one part of a First, drawing on insights from diverse economic landscape, even for economy, an end to the idea that particular strands of feminist and potentially of community economies. economies are organised around Marxian political economy, economic Our current research project in Australia singular imperatives – such as the drive geography, sociology and anthro- has driven this point home. The project to accumulate. pology, the economy is understood uses an inductive approach to examine as a site of substantive difference. a dozen different Australian manu- In the early 1990s, carpet tile Every economy is a mix of paid and facturing enterprises that are demon- manufacturer, Interface unpaid labour, market and non-market strating not just that there is a future for (http://www.interface.com/) exchange, and capitalist and non-capi- manufacturing in this country but that committed to “Mission Zero” and talist forms of economic organisation. manufacturing can play a pivotal role in began the process of re-engineering What follows from this world of helping Australia respond to pressing their enterprise to use zero virgin economic difference is a second social and ecological challenges. proposition: that capitalism’s continued The manufacturers were deliberately petrochemical inputs through the dominance is partially a function of chosen to reflect differences within the reconditioning or recycle and reuse of how we think about the economy. What sector in terms of their longevity, size, carpet tiles. Gibson-Graham calls “capitalocentrism” and organisational form – included in As outlined in Paul Hawkins latest is a process whereby currently existing the sample are cooperatives and social economic difference is marginalised, enterprises, as well as ‘conventional’ book, Drawdown, Interface has now rendered unintelligible by a perspective capitalist firms that embrace a social or taken the next step, with a new mission that insists on equating capitalism with ecological ethic. Climate Take Back and has begun to economy. Our findings to date show that devise ways of taking carbon out of What this enables is a different manufacturers of products ranging damaged ecologies – for example by approach to thinking about what a from mattresses to dairy products, using nylon ghost nets as a input into postcapitalist politics might be – encap- carpets to chassis, are putting an ethic of care for others (both people and carpet manufacture and repurposing sulated in the concept of ‘community economy’. Community does not refer environment) at the centre of their this deadly refuse. Interface may be a here to a particular scale of interaction operations. To some extent this is unsur- global capitalist corporation but in our or shared interests. It simply signals the prising for manufacturers that are social view its ethos is a recognisable feature recognition and foregrounding of our enterprises and cooperatives. However, of a postcapitalist world. shared existence as a precondition for in our sample there are examples of

32 AUSTRALIAN QUARTERLY APR–JUN 2018 Pre-empting Apocalypse? Postcapitalism as an Everyday Politics

AUTHORS

Stephen Healy is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Culture & Society. His research has concentrated on the relationship between economy, subjectivity and economic transformation in the context of health care reform policy, cooperative and regional development, and social movements. capitalist manufacturers who share this ethic of care and are innovating with Joanne McNeill is a Research Project Manager and Senior Research their employment practices and use of Associate with the Institute for Culture & Society, Western Sydney University; and a Visiting Fellow with UNSW, School of Law. She has technology to address inequality and a long history of involvement with social enterprise practice and environmental disrepair. research in Australia and beyond. Joanne was awarded a Churchill In a diverse economy, no single enter- Fellowship in 2008. prise type has a monopoly on care. The wellbeing of people and the planet is a matter of concern to which the Jenny Cameron is an Associate Professor in the Geography and diverse manufacturers are turning their Environmental Studies at the University of Newcastle, Australia. renowned ability for problem-solving. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of Beanstalk Organic The innovations that result are not Food Co-operative based in Newcastle. just limited to the single firm; what we find is that manufacturers are cooper- ating across enterprise types to develop Professor Katherine Gibson is internationally known for her strategies along the supply chain that research on rethinking economies as sites of ethical action. She multiply their impact and make it more trained as a human geographer with expertise in political economy difficult for other firms to operate in and, with her collaborator for over 30 years, the late Professor Julie Graham, developed a distinctive approach to economic geography unjust and unsustainable ways. drawing on feminism, post-structuralism and action research. The examples from our research are not limited to small-scale and local instances. The manufacturers are national and international in scale, the importance of shifts in the macro- might be experimentally crafted and and in some cases they are shifting economy or technological change, for enacted at a variety of scales – perhaps how entire product lines are being us the term postcapitalism signals a especially those arrangements that produced, and in so doing are shifting political opportunity to do economy might enable us to attend to wounded presumed business ‘common sense’. In differently, to create relationships, prac- societies and damaged ecologies. this way, postcapitalist manufacturing tices and institutions that prioritise care In our view, a postcapitalist politics is becoming embedded in everyday for both people and planet. does not require a pivotal event, an practices and politics. The end of capitalism is, in the first apocalyptic change or revolution – nor As much as anything, this postcapi- instance, the end of totalising under- should we wait for one. Instead, what it talist present that is being practiced standings that conflate capitalism with does require is a willingness to engage on shop-floors, testing chambers and economy as such. In other words, the in embodied and material experiments, meeting rooms, needs to be supported end of unduly according to capitalism a a communication of efforts, and a by a shift in thinking that divorces a coherence, purpose or trajectory. In turn willingness to learn from mistakes and vision of economy from that of a capi- this end is the beginning of a politics of to share our results in enacting post- talist economy. While we don’t discount ethical deliberation in which economies capitalist worlds. AQ

The end of capitalism is…the end of totalising understandings that conflate capitalism with economy.

APR–JUN 2018 AUSTRALIAN QUARTERLY 33 AQ Book Review

Degrowth: A Vocabulary for a New Era A World of Three Zeroes Edited by: Giacomo D'Alisa, Federico Demaria and Giorgos Muhammad Yunus | Review by: The Editor Kallis | Text: Edition blurb

Degrowth is a rejection of the illusion Zero Poverty, Zero of growth and a call to repoliticise the Unemployment, Zero Carbon public debate colonised by the idiom of Emissions – For Nobel Peace economism. It is a project advocating the Prize winner, Muhammad democratically-led shrinking of production Yunus, the problems facing and consumption with the aim of achieving the world are intertwined. To social justice and ecological sustainability. his mind, the current mode of capitalism is broken, with This overview of degrowth offers a the profit motive shutting comprehensive coverage of the main topics down all discussion of and major challenges of degrowth in a alternative methods of succinct, simple and accessible manner. In doing business. addition, it offers a set of keywords useful for intervening in current political debates and for bringing about concrete degrowth- For decades Prof Yunus has inspired proposals at different levels – local, national and global. been quietly challenging accepted economic The result is the most comprehensive coverage of the topic of degrowth in English principles and offering and serves as the definitive international reference. hope to millions of people https://vocabulary.degrowth.org/ shunned by mainstream economic paradigms. A World of Three Zeroes brings together these experiences with numerous real-world examples that he has seen grow out of the initiatives of his Democratic Eco-Socialism as a Real Grameen organisations. Utopia: Transitioning to an Alternative The book clearly and accessibly draws together the threads of many modern crises World System to create a premise that change is as simple as a shift in how we think about the businesses that we build. Social Business – for-profit organisations with positive Hans Baer | Text: Edition Blurb social outcomes baked into their business model – are the key to tackling global challenges. From the local, global change becomes possible. As global economic and population growth continues to skyrocket, increasingly strained This is a book about revolution, but very much a Yunus-style revolution, one of resources have made one thing clear: individual empowerment and community spirit, of simple changes with huge the desperate need for an alternative to implications. capitalism. In Democratic Eco-Socialism as a Real Utopia, Hans Baer outlines the urgent Underpinning the book is a constant sense of optimism, a tone at odds with modern need to re-evaluate historical definitions conversations on economic reform. And it is easy to mistake this optimism for naïve of socialism, commit to social equality simplicity – except that the book constantly asks the silent question: ‘Why not?’ and justice, and prioritise environmental – Why do we teach our kids that their role in life is as a job slave, not a job creator? sustainability. – Why don’t governments create opportunities for social enterprises rather than for- profit companies? And why is it so hard to imagine business with social, rather than Democratic eco-socialism, as he terms it, is a financial, dividends? system capable of mobilising people around the world, albeit in different ways, to prevent on-going human socio-economic and His vision is utopic but his optimism is infectious. environmental degradation, and anthropogenic climate change. A World of Three Zeroes is available through http://www.berghahnbooks.com/ https://scribepublications.com.au

34 AUSTRALIAN QUARTERLY APR–JUN 2018 From well-being to well-living: Towards a post-capitalist understanding of quality of life

Australians are told that they live in one of the top 10 richest countries in the world in terms of GDP per capita, and that they enjoy a level of ‘well-being’ or ‘quality-of- life’ higher than many other advanced societies. Australia is ranked third after Norway and Denmark on the OECD Better Life Index, a new index developed to measure nations’ wellbeing more inclusively than the older methods that focused on wealth or income. This index includes non-monetary aspects of social life such as employment, environment and education.

ARTICLE BY: Dr S. A. Hamed Hosseini

lthough such shifts in our understanding of wellbeing must be welcomed, the concept of wellbeing hasn’t beenA liberated from its underlying hegemonic political agendas, and has become even more complicated by an increasing public, state and corporate interest.

APR–JUN 2018 AUSTRALIAN QUARTERLY 35 From Well-being to Well-living

The question of how to realise a good life and/or to evaluate what a good life ‘achieves’ is an ancient one. So are the disagreements

lead us to living well and happy. wellbeing gained greater momentum In contrast, the eudemonists equated over its eudemonic rival. The new ruling wellbeing with the actualisation of class recognised how the individual’s human potentials and positive func- endless craving for pleasure and tioning in the community. According comfort can be a great source of profit to them, wellbeing is more than just and be leveraged by a system that For many people, happiness is increas- happiness – in fact happiness might assumes natural resources are infinitely ingly evaluated by digital tools that not even be present in situations exploitable. constantly monitor a wide range of vari- associated with wellbeing, given that The arrival of the holy dollar coin- ables – daily step targets, calorie intake, self-fulfilment is normally associated cided in with the waning power of the stress level, spending habits, etc. – pro- with hard work and pain. religious authorities in Europe, and viding an incredible source of income The historical quarrel has centred on numerous secular and rationalist ideo- to the towering ‘happiness industry’.1 the question of which path humanity logical machineries were set up to deal Tracking our personal health and ‘life should pursue, and if these two ways with the task of redefining happiness goals’ has become a normalised and – of understanding wellbeing are incom- and wellbeing. New schools of thought sometimes obsessive – phenomenon. patible after all. emerged to provide the modern secular A popular intellectual project, with a Pre-capitalist dominant discourses politics with a moral framework to strong technocratic tone, seems now to answered this question by advocating define what human success looked like. be at work to constantly assess, compare the eudemonic way of life for the • Contractualists, like Hobbes and and promote people’s happiness. masses and recommending a relatively Rousseau, based their moral Yet the question of how to realise self-contained hedonic approach for framework on principles everyone a good life as a ‘state of being’ and/or the rulers, in order for the rulers to not would agree to in ideal situations and to evaluate what a good life ‘achieves’ overspend their popular legitimacy placed happiness as the standalone (either subjectively or objectively) is an budget. plan for this life within the framework ancient one. So are the disagreements Virtual notions of wellbeing, manufac- of social contracts. – especially for elite thinkers in both the tured through communitarian cultures • Liberal psychology held the individual Western and Eastern antiquities. These and religious authorities, argued that responsible for finding the balance elites were divided by a profound ambi- it is merely through the individual’s between reality and expectation guity known as the dualism of hedonic submission to the pre-established (happiness = reality – expectation); vs. eudemonic traditions. rules, norms, traditions and values that lower your expectation if reality is not The changing face of happiness the ultimate flourishing of self and the on your side. purpose of life can be achieved. The • Utilitarianists went even further Hedonists defined happiness as formula was/is that good faith = good by turning wellbeing into a moral obtaining pleasure and avoiding pain. A fate, as if what counts as ‘flourishing’ is criterion, an ultimate aim of this life, modern version of this approach argues fixed for all time. a rightness of actions that cannot that ‘being financially well-off’ (as an With the Western expansion of colo- be questioned. Utilitarian wellbeing individual or a nation) would inevitably nialist capitalism, the idea of hedonic (pleasure – pain = wellbeing) had a

36 AUSTRALIAN QUARTERLY APR–JUN 2018 From Well-being to Well-living

strong social dimension (maximum pleasure for maximum number of people) but its definitions of pain and pleasure remained highly subjective, too demanding to be feasible and the efforts to quantify it through universal indexes turned out to be impractical to many critics, including the Critical Social Sciences. Critical Social Sciences have raised the question of the distribution of wellbeing and the diversity of contexts, and highlighted the politics behind this intellectual project. Despite the existing disputes and diversities, many of the competing Western approaches, whether orthodox or heterodox, share a number of underlying assumptions, and almost all tend to be based on dominant rationalist Western/Northern perspectives.2 With the demise of the ‘welfare state’, after the free market revolution in the 1980s, the idea of improving individual’s ‘wellbeing’ was sold to the public as the ultimate goal of the so-called ‘caring corporate capitalism’. This sentiment continues today, with ‘social welfare’ increasingly seen as a burden too heavy for the state to carry alone in this age of lower taxes for the rich. In a cunning twist, a promising new image of ‘wellbeing’ has emerged, one that fully devolves responsibility for an individual’s wellbeing onto the individual while creating new faith in the magic of market and capital. This

The formula was/is that good faith = good fate, as if what counts as ‘flourishing’ is fixed for all time.

APR–JUN 2018 AUSTRALIAN QUARTERLY 37 From Well-being to Well-living

independent consumer model of well- psychologists, to the fitness industry, to Suma qumaña being further reduces the role of the alternative medicine, to the giant debt Transformative movements against state to simply a provider of institutional industry that encourages consumers neoliberal globalism, mostly from the support for the market in its mission to spend even in an age of fewer state global South, have questioned the well- to maximise wellbeing for all. Both the safety nets and economic stagnation. being discourse since the early 2000s, centre right and the centre left political The more the public sector is by highlighting cultural specificities, forces in the West share a great deal of colonised by the corporate sector – the centrality of communal life, and the interest in this project. through privatisation or controlled criticality of ecological environments.4 Ironically, the eruption of the global by managerialist technocrats from These are all issues that can hardly be financial crisis (GFC) in 2008 did not within – the more the acquirement of measured, let alone be addressed, by weaken the modern wellbeing dis- ‘wellbeing’ (as a process or outcome) the mainstream Eurocentric approaches course. Rather, it helped the discourse will primarily become the responsibility to wellbeing. to become even more sophisticated by of the individual. bringing elements of the eudemonic In the early 2000s, as one example This de-politicisation of own personal among many, the augmenting indig- tradition back in the form of shared suf- wellbeing and health clearly serves fering for the communal good. enous movements in post-neoliberal the interest of the ruling class and Whereas economics has histori- Latin America (Ecuador and Bolivia) their policy makers, by blaming the indi- cally been defined as the science of – drawing on the legacy of their pre- viduals for their so-called bad choices. managing scarce resources, post-GFC capitalist living epistemes and post/ Societies however progressive revisionists are shifting the colonial experiences – have not been focus from ‘measuring’ production to raised the idea of buen apathetic towards the ‘measuring’ quality-of-life; “the goal of vivir, sumak kawsay, or economics is [now] to enhance our commodification of The core idea is that suma qamaña (‘living well-being”.3 wellbeing (i.e. treating nature, community well together’) and wellbeing and health struggled to translate This move has also played well in the and individuals hands of economic conservatives. If as commodity). it into government wellbeing is more than happiness, and Reclaiming the all share the same policies or legislative require sacrifices and pain to achieve commons, the state, metaphysical or reforms. a higher status of self-flourishing and and public spaces Despite the inbuilt maximum pleasure for the majority, where the ‘quality of spiritual dimension. tensions within the then economic austerity can be morally life’ is mainly deter- discourse and the justified. mined, has been one political complica- Yet the more people are delinked of the major demands tions, the core idea is that nature, from the state’s protection under of many recent progressive movements. community and individuals all share austerity regimes, the more they Such movements have inspired many of the same metaphysical or spiritual become dependent on non-state forces their actors to rethink the mainstream dimension.5 Therefore, achieving and to pursue happiness: from positive notions of wellbeing. maintaining a psycho-spiritual state

The more people are delinked from the state’s protection under austerity regimes, the more they become dependent on non-state forces to pursue happiness.

38 AUSTRALIAN QUARTERLY APR–JUN 2018 From Well-being to Well-living

Well-living is about enhancing the capacity of Channel the capacity of individuals to care for and to promote the wellbeing the Communal! of their communities and their environment in the Are Capitalism and Community antagonistic? most collaborative way possible. See Cahill's article on p22 of harmony within the self (among ‘me’ to obtain more pleasure and avoid cannot be achieved when there its different functions like reasoning pain (according to the hedonic views) are many forces of disharmony, like and emotions) and between selves or even to fulfil ‘my’ true self (according capitalism and consumerism, at work. and nature, is a virtuous and thereby a to the self-oriented eudemonic This therefore inevitably becomes a self-fulfilling way of life that needs to be perspectives). Well-living, at the societal grassroots political project – partly pursued at all levels from the personal level, is not just a sum or average of a political demand from below for a to the political. individuals’ wellbeings. non-reformism reform of the state In response to the paradoxes and Well-living, as a general framework and economy, and partly a collective inadequacies of mainstream wellbeing rather than a fixed notion, is about (1) practice that can be exercised through discourses, and inspired by such radical enabling the Self and Others, (2) diversi- community building wherever possible. transformative voices in the global fying experiences, (3) promoting equality Can well-living coexist with capital- South that advocate for post-neoliberal and self-sufficiency, (4) promoting ism? Well-living cannot be universally futures,6 I aim to initiate an argument reciprocity and conviviality, and (5) a defined or determined. Rather it needs for both the plausibility and indispen- peaceful coexistence. I would like to to be defined contextually according to sability of a profound shift in our under- warn, from the outset, that such an idea cultural systems that give meaning and standing of people’s wellbeing. must not be turned into another reified purpose to life and create social bond- ‘Well-living’ (a term I coin and notion (even with a dissenting gesture). ages, given that they are subject to open advocate for here) can function at least Well-living can only be realised in deliberations within public spheres. as a dialogical potential, to represent a society where all individuals have Therefore, the complexities of every a transition in how we understand equal access to the opportunities and given context will be taken into account what quality of life is without creating resources necessary to meet their basic when operationalising well-living as an contradictions between the individual needs, achieve sustainable comfort and abstract notion into a praxis. Moreover, and the communal, the material and refinement without compromising the it is not the level of access to the means the subjective. Well-living is about planet’s ecological capacity to sustain of production and subsistence that enhancing the capacity of individuals to itself and life, and to achieve a persisting determine well-living but more how care for and to promote the wellbeing harmony with nature (now the most democratically the access and control is of their communities and their envi- oppressed, voiceless entity in human determined. ronment in the most collaborative way history). Such a non-capitalist notion of ‘quality possible, through genuinely democratic Well-living is therefore about the of life’ is needed to become the center or consensual mechanisms. creation of harmony within the of our transformative grassroots projects The question here is not primarily individual, between the individuals when imagining or planning alterna- about how far ‘my’ ecological and and between the culture and nature. tive modes of livelihood and sociability communal conditions are suitable to This state of harmony however beyond, carbon, capital and growth. AQ

AUTHOR: Dr S. A. Hamed Hosseini is a Senior Lecturer at The University of Newcastle, Australia. He is the founding member and chief editor of the Common Alternatives network (http://thecommonalts.com/), a leading interna- tional team engaged in studying alternative modes of livelihood beyond carbon, capital, commodity and growth. Hosseini's main field of research is shaped around the social impacts of capitalist globalisation and the con- temporary progressive and populist responses to global crises.

<< APR–JUN 2018 AUSTRALIAN QUARTERLY 39 References

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40 AUSTRALIAN QUARTERLY APR–JUN 2018

From lawn to lattes – The cult(ure) of consumption Consumerism can mean the exact opposite of materialism. Our modern culture of consumerism usually refers to the love of consuming, the love of acquiring the new; whereas materialism refers to the love of the material objects themselves. And if you love something, then the thought of throwing it away to replace it with a new model would be a source of pain, not joy. Culture is a significant, but often overlooked, driver of the shape and measured size of economic activity – and it can change. Richard Denniss

When the system collapses: A post-capitalist capitalism? The best days of Capitalism are behind it. Environmental decline, economic uncertainty, growing global inequality – an array of potential crises are revealing the cracks in the system. Mainstream financial institutions are now trumpeting warnings that non-orthodox economists have been declaring for years. From the activities of the banking systems, to record debt levels, to the system’s inflexibility in the face of an automated future – What are the threads that led us to this situation and what can we do about it? Steve Keen

Transcending capitalism: Policies for a post-growth economy Jobs and Growth: the infamous two Turnbull pillars for a prosperous Australia. But why is constant, perpetual growth necessary for our economic system to be considered successful? We live in a finite world, but our economics are underpinned by a theory of infinite resources. To live within our means, and avert a financial and ecological crisis, Australia needs to plan for a ‘degrowth’ process of controlled economic contraction. Here’s how we can start… Samuel Alexander

Pre-empting Apocalypse? Postcapitalism as an everyday politics There is a growing recognition that economic business-as-usual cannot continue and an increasing interest in better ways of organising economies, politics and society. Yet already there are businesses and manufacturers around the world that are implementing post-capitalist ideals into their business models, to great success.

lease see article placements Capitalism and Post-Capitalism are not mutually exclusive, they exist as a continuum, P : S able to be influenced at the most grassroots level. Post-Capitalism need not be

C R EDI T apocalyptic, it is already a part of our everyday. GE A

IM Stephen Healy, Jenny Cameron, Katherine Gibson, Joanne McNeill