Wealth building and individualism cause more damage than society cares to admit. The sad truth is that we generally don’t realise it until it is too late in life.
The regrets we have when we are faced with later life or death rarely have anything to do with money, they are more associated with family, friendship, care and community.
We envy the rich and successful, yet they tend to lack true connection, care and community. Once they realise this, they envy those who are cared for and have a strong community around them.
In contrast, a wealth-building system based on community and therefore pluralism would look quite different: First of all, such a system would be designed to strengthen characteristics of cooperation, solidarity, justice and togetherness (or interdependence) as opposed to competition and “getting ahead”. And those who help the marginalized and cultivate a community spirit aren’t really becoming “leaders” but rather guardians or caretakers. Society wouldn’t envy those good at competing and winning, but those who are great at caring, supporting others, cultivating a community spirit, and helping everyone “win”. — Thomas Klaffke
(It’s worth reading the whole post from Thomas on community economies).
Personally, I believe these things can co-exist, at least to some extent. It is the balance that is currently out of whack. We have such an obsession with individualism and personal wealth without a focus on community wealth.
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