Why the good society needs a wellbeing economy

For centuries, great thinkers have been exploring the question of what constitutes the good society. Humanistic psychologist Abram Maslow had a grand vision for what such a society should look like. In his Eupsychian Theory, he argued that a society is good when it “creates happy, and fully developed humans.” To Maslow, the value and function of society is “coming to fulfillment of the people in the society.” This means that the good society has the moral obligation to meet the basic needs of all people, to provide them with a safe base from which to pursue their unique passions and develop their full potential.

All this progress, however, has come with a price we are now paying for — a price not paid in cash, but with the loss of habitats and cultures; with the degradation of social and environmental systems; with our own inner wellbeing. If we apply Maslow’s conception of the good society to today’s context, we are failing miserably.

Extreme poverty has fallen significantly in the last 50 years, and more people than ever before have their basic physical needs met. However, billions’ fundamental psychological needs remain unfulfilled — we are lonelier and more disconnected from each other and from nature, and many still lack the freedom to express their true inner selves for fear of judgment or prosecution. Systemic injustices and power imbalances are hurting our collective potential to build the inclusive and thriving societies that Maslow envisioned. How did we get to this point, and more importantly, how do we go forward?

Although these issues are inherently complex, part of the explanation can be found in our lost sense of interconnection, and an economic system that has detached itself from the social and environmental context in which it operates. Every economy is embedded in social and environmental systems, such as a society and an ecosystem, and it is precisely on these systems that an economy’s health and preservation depend. Conversely, no society can survive without an economy that, at the very least, meets the basic needs of the individuals and communities participating in it.

Activists, businesses, and governments globally are working towards an economy that recognizes and appreciates the interconnection between the health of an economy and the wellbeing of society and the environment. They gather under the vision that an economy, first and foremost, ought to serve people and the planet — an economy that enables individuals and communities to flourish and realize their unique potential, with respect to and in harmony with the natural world. This is the vision for a wellbeing economy.

The shift to a wellbeing economy requires a shift in values — away from the narrow-minded pursuit of economic growth at all costs to the pursuit of collective wellbeing, prosperity, and social justice; from striving for short-term self-interest to prioritizing the long-term interest of all planetary life; from late action and patching things up to early anticipation and prevention. It is a shift that requires a different way of being in this world; a different way of relating to ourselves, each other, and to nature.

A wellbeing economy doesn’t care about left or right, for it acknowledges that we are all essential, and equally important participants in it. Positive change can only occur when we are connected and together. A wellbeing economy is inclusive by design, for it knows that wellbeing and prosperity are only real and sustainable when everyone has access to it. It leaves no one behind.

I hope for the narrative of wellbeing to spark your imagination as much as it sparked mine, infusing it with bewilderment and a deeper appreciation for the possibilities such narrative can create — when we see our everyday economic interactions not as transactions, but as relationships; when we involve communities in creating green, public spaces that make us feel happy, connected, and engaged; when the decision to found a business is not inspired by mere materialistic self-interest, but by a purpose of doing good for the wellbeing of others and our environment.

This may sound utopian to some, and in a way, it is. But change is already happening, not merely in our imagination, but across the whole of society. So how do we take action to realize the vision of a wellbeing economy? How do we move this topic from the aisles to the center stage of public economic discourse?

For governments, moving towards a wellbeing economy includes acknowledging that GDP isn’t the right metric to measure real value creation, nor is it the right approach to assess the flourishing of an economy, let alone of those who participate in it. GDP, for instance, accounts for the profit logging companies make yet doesn’t say anything about the irreversible damage that losing forests and biodiversity causes to people and the planet. As the Wellbeing Economy Alliance argues in their latest paper, “if we degrade our environment, we destroy our health and the foundations for all economic activity. The real trade-off we face is choosing between the joint preservation of these three valuable dimensions of human existence or all three degrading into irreparable loss.”

More than the deliberate choice to invest in businesses that solve real-world problems, investors in a wellbeing economy must change how they invest. The time to merely look at financial and growth-related indices is over. Investors are responsible for holding themselves accountable for creating social impact, and helping to instill a culture of health and wellbeing in the organizations they invest in. The pursuit of short-term shareholder profit often comes at the expense of the health of the people making that profit possible, implicating the financial bottom-line and the change necessary to move towards a wellbeing economy.

The journey to a better economy, and, consequently, a society that prioritizes care and wellbeing is long and not without obstacles. But it’s also a journey that in itself can be fun and extremely enriching. It is human nature to want to be there and to care for others. We thrive on connection, on inspiring and being inspired, on being in service of something greater, a higher purpose — and I deeply believe that a wellbeing economy is a purpose worth serving.

Niels is an Analyst & Content Strategist at Masawa. Having a background in both International Entrepreneurship and fine art photography, he continuously explores the intersection between art and social entrepreneurship.

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