I think I can assume that most readers of this post are feeling uneasy after the election results in the USA. For women and minorities in the US, for the people of Ukraine, Palestine and Lebanon, the feeling must be particularly acute. But all of us should worry about the impact the new US leadership will have on international efforts to reduce CO2 emissions. All of us should worry about the disturbing alliance being made between the wealthiest and most powerful people in the world, who are banking on AI to make them even wealthier and more powerful, and whose response to climate change is to make sure that they can escape to Mars when things get unbearable on Earth.
I was lucky enough to be in a basement seminar room in Rome when the inevitable became certain – attending a seminar about the MERGE Horizon project at the OECD World Forum on Wellbeing. Lucky, because I knew that everyone around me felt the same. But more importantly, I knew that some of the people who were at the conference at large are the very people who I look to in helping overcome this challenging and uncertain moment we are in.
The forum was the 7th edition of a series that began in 2004, initially with the aim of encouraging OECD countries to measure wellbeing more effectively. Since then, the Forum has made conscious efforts to steer the focus from wellbeing measurement to wellbeing policy. It’s an eclectic mix of stakeholders: politicians, policy-makers, statisticians, academics and civil society. This edition was particularly eclectic, given that it was hosted by the Italian Ministry of Finance, and the welcoming speech was made by the Minister of Economy and Finance, a member of Lega Nord.
But, when long-time wellbeing economy advocate Katherine Trebeck took the stage in the closing plenary, just a few hours after the results in the US had hit home, it seemed that everyone in the audience was on the same page. As she said, the far-right won’t be put back in its place until we change the economy, so that it produces better lives for anyone, until it puts a break on rising inequality, and until it stops frustrating people’s needs for relatedness, for a sense of competence and self-esteem, and a sense of autonomy and voice (the three psychological needs that are informing our work on measuring eudaimonic wellbeing).
But what’s the first step? And is there a first step that can be endorsed by a broad coalition– from degrowthers to the centre-left and even to the centre-right? I think there is, and it starts in conversation with ordinary people. Despite the disturbing election results, we should remember that 71% of people in G20 countries think that we need to take immediate major action to reduce carbon emissions and combat climate change. 67% believe that economic inequality is too high (same study). 75% of Americans are worried that AI will reduce the number of jobs available, whilst 77% don’t trust businesses to use it responsibly. In the US, however, it seems that not enough people were convinced that a real alternative was being presented, and it’s hard to blame them for that.
Cautious fearful politicians don’t seem capable of putting forward appealing and effective solutions. Dare they impose wealth taxes? Introduce universal basic services? Deploy interventions to make sustainable lifestyles the norm? They need the visible support of citizens. Elections and referenda seem incapable of providing this mandate, as they frame voting decisions as being about what is in individuals’ immediate self-interest, rather than being about the long-term common good. Referenda have been notoriously unsuccessful in advancing environmental agendas. Furthermore, as we have seen, disinformation is making a mockery of the ballot box.
That’s why, echoing many of the speeches made at the Forum, Hot or Cool is calling for Citizens’ Assemblies to address the big issues we are facing. Citizens’ Assemblies, where citizens deliberate on societal issues with a view to the collective and long-term interest, bringing together large numbers of people, with strong political mandates. On important topics, such as defining a new social contract, on the role of AI in our societies, and to inform the selection of indicators to define progress. Aside from providing legitimacy to bold policies, they would build trust between citizens and politicians, and could contribute to developing a more sophisticated understanding of the problems we face.
The elite beholden to the current status quo need to wake up and realise that they can’t hold back the rising tide of populism, nationalism and climate change nihilism without turning towards the people. Furthermore, they need to realise that the kind of inequality that the ultra-billionaires are creating is bad news for all but the most absurdly wealthy. Because even a millionaire will be small fry in a world where the most powerful men in the world have assets of over $100bn, make regular calls to world leaders, and control technology that is fast making humans redundant.
The task now is therefore to bring such millionaires and others together with environmental, labour and other movements with a positive vision for a sustainable and inclusive future. Real political change comes when new alliances are formed in society, and when new political ideas become reality. Let’s start trying to make those alliances now.
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Disclaimer: This blog is an opinion piece from a member of Hot or Cool staff and does not necessarily reflect the views of Hot or Cool as an organisation.
