Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future by Bill McKibben

We're in deep shit. There is no doubt about it. The national unemployment rate is crawling up to 10%, and in many areas it has surpassed that figure. Minorities and men are among the hardest hit, and in a country with pervasive job and wage discrimination, 2% of the employable workforce incarcerated, and divorce rates that hover around 50%, families are feeling the sprain -excuse me, strain.

What do we do now that we're in this deep shit? How do we wade out? Bill McKibben, author and scholar in residence at Vermont's Middlebury College, wants to explore a solution: Deep Economy. In contrast with the market-dominated, consumption-driven, growth-obsessed world we live in today, McKibben's solution is to slow down, look back, around us, and forward, and talk about what we can and should do within our own communities. The answers, he argues, lie in our human potential to work together in harmony with our compatriots and the environment to make solutions that aim for Better, not just More.

McKibben's 2007 book, which predates our current shit-ridden state, examines the costs and benefits of a market economy, and assesses its inherent weaknesses. As Americans, citizens of the wealthiest nation on Earth, we are uniquely poised to compare ourselves to the rest of the world: one of the highest per capita incomes, yes, but a disproportionately low rating on The Economist's "happiness index." Massive trade deficits, skyrocketing energy consumption, and pandemic depression are only some of the most visible symptoms of failing policies that are on track to destroy the planet by century's end. Hold up, you cry, I wanted to read about the economy, not the environment, you dirty-footed hippie! Turns out the two are intrinsically intertwined. Who knew? And to paraphrase McKibben, our economic model assumes -or rather, requires- infinite growth in a finite world.

I strongly encourage everyone to read Deep Economy to find out more about Bill McKibben's vision for the future. In troubled times like ours, where desperate times call for desperate measures, will we seek to return to our old lifestyles, driven by consumption, hyper-individualism, and material accumulation? Or will we reflect and recognize that failure is a chance to learn from our mistakes and move forward with viable plans for a sustainable future? Will we look and listen to each other and what we need as a community, or will we cry out en masse to be bailed out as individuals? Only time will tell, but my hope, especially after reading Deep Economy, is that we will seek to strike a balance between the mentalities of our current and immediate past with that of a healthy, happy future, that we will be able to enjoy for generations to come.

Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future by Bill McKibben was published by Times Books in 2007, and you should check one out of a library, borrow one from a progressive friend, or visit a local book cooperative ASAP to begin plotting your role in a green future.