What if we shifted to a “needs-based” economy? Part 1 - with Elisa Rathje, Appleturnover

Today I am in conversation with Elisa Rathje of Appleturnover to discuss "what if we shifted to a needs-based economy. I was keen to discuss the economy as it is a recurrent theme when researching root-causes of the climate crisis. Today we have a relaxed conversation covering the following topics: 

• a childhood book inspiring Elisa right now;
• the challenges inherent in climate activism; 
• the pros and cons of a “climate action roadmap”; 
• the importance of non-violent communication in climate activism; 
• what the term “climate crisis” actually encompasses - defining the problem; 
• the economy as a “root cause” of the climate crisis with reference to Manda Scott and Miki Kashtan's conversation on the Accidental Gods Podcast (link below); 
• Kate Raworth’s “Doughnut Economic Model”; 
• How to navigate fear and panic about the climate crises; 
• “Active Hope” online course by Joanna Macy & Chris Johnstone; 
• The role and impact of scarcity in economics; 
• How the economic system we have in place is an agreed upon story that can be re-written; 
• We synthesise how, in practice, we can challenge the scarcity mindset on individual and collective levels; 
• How universal basic services could be beneficial going forward; 
• The importance of making decisions that factor in the question “does this decision or action regenerate life?”; 
• Some classic band-aid solutions to the climate crisis to watch out for; 
• We sum up our “take-away” learnings from our discussion. 

Elisa Rathje lives, writes and films the small work at Appleturnover, a small farm on a small island. Tollow her new series on regenerative living, the journal of small work* at https://www.patreon.com/appleturnover in film form and in accompanying small works both written and audio. You can also find Elisa’s writing on Instagram @appleturnover and at appleturnover.tv

Show links: 

• Appleturnover Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYmUCs7dQxh61NeZQLsyJ2g 
• Accidental Gods Podcast Episode with Miki Kashtan - https://accidentalgods.life/miki-kashtan/ 
• Kate Raworth, Doughnut Economics - https://www.kateraworth.com/doughnut/ 
• Jason Hickel, Degrowth Economics - https://www.jasonhickel.org/less-is-more 
• Active Hope Online Course – Joanna Macy & Chris Johnstone - https://www.activehope.info/the-authors 
• Cover photo credit to @stasia.garraway @folklifemedia