Co-opportunity: join up for a sustainable, resilient, prosperous world

This book is about is about a new movement rising to tackle this crisis. It uses consumerism in the broad sense of voting, consuming media, exchanging to collective ends. John Grant calls this movement co-operism. It is happening spontaneously and it is getting results. Co-operism has the potential to quite substantially reduce the overshoot of our ecosystem (the carrying capacity of the world). We simply need to turn consumerism on its head making it into a massco-operative movement, aiming at building a liveable world. This is how it works: It is immediately within our sphere of control what we buy, who we buy from, and how we use the things we buy. As a result, substantial changes are possible fast; reductions of our impact on the world by 25%, 50% even 75% are possible, especially when we work together. The same changes could if we get on with it leave us with a happier, less lonely, more meaningful and democratic society. From lift sharing to carrot-mobbing, we can make the difference. Peopleare very happy to make these sorts of changes if they understand the absolutenecessity (they need to be truly informed) and if systems are put in place tosupport them, to enable them to see many doing the same. Consumerism already secretly runs the world. 70% of growth in the US economy in 2007 was from consumerism. Because of the power of consumerism, business leaders and politiciansare terrified of disturbing consumers. They wont tell them anything that might upset them, like they need to make sacrifices or substantially change behaviour. Within a decade or so, as we follow the current trajectory, we could end up with centralization of power, tyranny and a state of emergency. If we decide to turn consumerism to a good end, the results will speak for themselves. Sowhy Co-oportunity and Co-operism? Specifically, it is about co-operative principles being applied in consumerism. This book suggests a shift: not just in values (eg: a move from selfish individualism to collectivism), but a new paradigm, beyond Capitalism. The key shift is towards co-operative systems (which have sustainable goals). We need people to adopt a new kind of common sense, one which sits with their existing ordinary decent values (and allows for considerable diversity on political, religious and ethnic background). For instance,if we all agree that no child goes hungry, and actually followed this throughwe would see a radical shift in global food politics. We need to be educated for this change. We need to truly understand how the world works now, and the necessity for change. We face a range of options ahead but one of them certainly is not more of the same. We need to know what options are available to us and how, through co-operation, we can make a collective difference. This book endeavours to take a lead on these requirements. This is not a call for panic or fear. Its not just a case of individually reducing our impacts. Turning downyour thermostat or cycling to work is good but there are much bigger things we can do collectively. Its about finding systematic ways to act together, to change the bigger systems too. The opportunity in co-opportunity is that in theprocess of change we might end up with a better world. Co-operism could lead to a better life. Co-opportunity is not just wishful thinking. Its already happening and its gathering pace. Some, like FairTrade, or the Carbon Disclosure Project, or Make Poverty History are already huge. The potential of these examples is not so much their direct effect, but the lessons we get from the experience of our collective power as a force for change. If a few thousand or million of us can change one policy, or market, or corporate leadership why not all the others? If you already agree with all this the biggest thing you can do today is to persuade others.

• ISBN: 978-0-470-68436-8
• Editorial: John Wiley & Sons
• Encuadernacion: Cartoné
• Páginas: 352
• Fecha Publicación: 29/01/2010
• Nº Volúmenes: 1
• Idioma: Inglés