Mustardseed Trust enables an economy of care which is build on partnerships and regeneration. A care economy is not a blueprint for a society, but a vision of visions, systems, ways in which this ‘care’ can manifest itself. Political scientist Joan Tronto mentions: ‘Care is everything we do to maintain, continue and repair our world so that we can live in it as well as possible. That world includes our bodies, ourselves, our environment, all of which we seek to interweave in a complex, life-sustaining web.’
Mustardseed Trust is reimagining how our society is organized in a more sustainable and compassionate way. It involves placing a greater emphasis on nurturing, sustaining, and regenerating relationships between people and the planet, as opposed to focusing solely on economic growth and domination. This means moving towards a system that prioritizes wellbeing, cooperation, respect, and care for all living beings, and away from one that is extractive and exploitative. A caring economy also includes a network of decentralized, pluralistic, and participatory economies, as well as institutions and policies that support these values. Overall, the care economy is about creating a more equitable, compassionate, and sustainable world
In a care economy, we are able to care for oneself, the community and for the ecosystem in a balanced way. We learn what it means to care for the earth and each other. Self-centred patterns of domination will make way for an inclusive mechanisms of partnership and collaboration; Moving from ‘me’ to ‘we’.
Any person has the choice, freedom, and time to care for themselves, the community and restore and regenerate the earth.
We will have seen a shift from growth, debt-based, entropic economic systems managed by large, centralised institutions, to a regenerative network of decentralised, transparent, and mutually sustaining economies in services of humanity to live in dignity.
We move away from centralized to decentralized, from monoculture to polyculture.
The care economy supports markets that fully respect and account for ecosystem functioning. It also mutually respects and accounts for all types of labour and caring activities.
It encourages a transition from access to capital for the few to access to essential capital for all. It transforms closed systems of knowledge to transparent systems of shared knowledge and wisdom, offering the healthiest, most sustainable option for the planet and for society.
Mustardseed considers the care economy coming into being by achieving these outcomes:
1. People that care for the earth
2. Nature is nurtured as a source of wealth
3. Livelihoods (incomes and profits) are generated to enable well-being.
The characteristics of care economies include systems of production, resource allocation and distribution of goods and services that:
1. ensure that everyone can live decently and reach their full potential
2. enable collaboration and partnerships based on the values of dignity, fairness and compassion for all rather than competition, domination and growth for maximum profits,
3. promote sustainability rather than growth for its own sake,
4. has compassion at every level in caring for ourselves, our families, our communities and our planet,
5. has systems that are regenerative and distributive rather than growth-based or debt-based.
6. ensures people have the capacity to understand and act responsibly (agency),
7. plans and decisions made reflect a visionary life orientation rather than a problem-solving life orientation,
8. has open systems of knowledge that is accessible to all,
9. has monetary systems that serve equality without going beyond the ecological ceiling.
(video credits to https://www.economy-is-care.com by https://www.inapraetorius.ch )
