I really hate the term prosperity — no one means the same thing when they say it, and a heck of a lot of people think it means “I’m gonna be a {million,billion,trillion}aire”.
Maybe it’s time for a new definition of prosperity:
- The ability find friends, make friends, see friends.
- Time to enjoy the changing of the seasons.
- The time and money required to have a hobby, or three.
- Time with your kids; the resources to have kids if you want them.
- The freedom to feel like a hobby is worth doing rather than a dereliction of your duty to the machine.
- Access to people who make you feel whole; access to community that makes you feel whole. Encouragement and support to grow our communities, and build bonds.
- Jobs with dignity, jobs without moral injury.
- The freedom and safety to explore different versions of yourself; intentionally low costs for decisions.
- The ability to stop feeling like the machine is grinding you down.
- The ability to become ill or disabled without fearing for your life falling down around you because you have become useless to the machine.
- The freedom to make art if that calls to you.
- The freedom to partake of art if that calls to you.
What does concrete policy look like that chases this kind of world? I don’t know that I have great answers. There’s a few things:
- 30 hour work weeks?
- Job Sharing?
- Community business support?
- Basic Income?
- Wealth taxation?
- No more billionaires? Wealth maximums?
That certainly feel aligned, but I can’t say I have all the answers.
I yearn for a politics that fights for these sorts of things. I yearn for a prosperity that focuses not on what you’ve got in your bank account, but the lives you’ve touched, the fun you’ve had, and the safety you’ve felt while doing it.