Training Videos
Objective
Perceive a fuller, more complex picture of a nonviolent world and its relationship to an economy.
Definition
Alternative Economy: an economic structure that is separate from, and operates largely independently of, the traditional economy.
The Skeptical Friend’s Opinions
Our current economic system allows for a fair distribution of resources: those who work get rewarded, while those who do not work don’t. Why change it?
We need money.
Money buys happiness.
Alternative economies are a nice idea because they save me money, but I don’t think they’re effective.
It’s human nature, not our economic model, that is responsible for violence in our world.
I can only participate in one form of economy.
Animation
We now recommend that you return to the top of the lesson and watch the video before continuing with the analysis below.
Analysis
Reflect: Describe the video’s main point and provide answers to the Skeptical Friend's opinions.
Brainstorm: Apply your new understandings about economy to a real-world situation. Imagine how the world would look like without competition for capital, or even without money. What might change about the way you relate to others, to nature, to yourself, to your purpose in life? If you didn’t have to earn money, how might you want to contribute toward the needs of a thriving society?
Prepare: Make a list of strategies to remind yourself of how you would like to change deep-rooted assumptions/behaviors from the Old Story that you noticed having and are unhappy about. For example, if you realize that you tend to evaluate your success in life based on your job or property size compared to that of other family members and friends, you could acknowledge the accomplishments that you personally find fulfilling to remind yourself of your worth, like having raised healthy children or having become a more compassionate person over the years.
Practice: Contemplate how the exchange of money interrupts the capacity to form deep relationships with other people. What judgments and/or assumptions have you been conditioned to accept about value, wealth, and money?
Process: See if you can identify how conditioning around value, wealth, and money has taken place in your life. Determine some concrete ways you can be aware of this conditioning without buying into it.
Invitation to Action
List all the services you currently pay for and could start receiving through service exchange with someone else. For example, instead of paying for babysitting, you could offer to teach computer skills to your neighbor in exchange of having them watch after your children.
Reflect on jobs/work that we undervalue as a society. How might investing in these services with our funds, time, and talent help to construct a healthy world?
Jot down the things you do already that are not based on money, and that you value.
Think of how different your community would function if value was assigned to objects and services outside the money metric.
Want to learn more on this topic? See the Economics section in the course Library.