Which brings me to the topic at
hand – Parking Meters and the Peaceful Economy. Tonight I will talk about how important it is to incorporate this
seemingly out-of-reach idea of a Peace Economy in all aspects of daily
life. Let’s start with the big picture.
The concept of a Peace Economy –
also referred to as the “New Economy” or as I will call it this evening, a
peaceful economy comes out of an
acknowledgement that we are currently operating in a war economy. The Peace Economy is a rejection of the
prevailing narrative that wars, and other forms of military spending are
worthy, exclusive economic stimulants.
The truth is a Peace Economy is a viable, practical and superior model
to a war economy.
Let me pause here to make a
somewhat obvious acknowledgement. Many people have done extensive thinking
about this idea of a peace economy and of how to put such a vision into
practice. In preparation for tonight’s
talk, I have studied David Korten of YES!
Magazine and co-chair of the New Economy Working Group; Frida Berrigan, who
writes for Foreign Policy in Focus
and In These Times; Amy Goodman of Democracy Now!; Senator Bernie Sanders
and more. This is a big topic and no 10
minute talk will do justice to the years of thinking that have gone into
it.
That said, here is what I hope to accomplish in the next few
minutes:
(1)
Establish the need for rethinking the current economy. This won’t take long – I suspect we’re all
near agreement on the fact that something has got to change.
(2)
Propose a vision for components of this New, Peaceful Economy.
(3)
Finally, I’d like to move us to a place of thinking about integrating
this vision into our daily lives. – i.e. how do parking meters and any number
of other issues fit into our work toward a peaceful economy
Read the remainder of Lily's talk by CLICKING HERE.
