‘Going local’ is a powerful strategy to repair our fractured world—our ecosystems, our societies and our selves
The Economics of Happiness describes a world moving simultaneously in two opposing directions. On the one hand, government and big business continue to promote globalization and the consolidation of corporate power. At the same time, all around the world people are resisting those policies, demanding a re-regulation of trade and finance—and, far from the old institutions of power, they’re starting to forge a very different future.
Both hard-hitting and inspiring, The Economics of Happiness demonstrates that millions of people across the world are engaged in building a better world – that small scale initiatives are happening on a large scale. The film shows that countless initiatives are united around a common cause: rebuilding more democratic, human scale, ecological and local economies – the foundation of an ‘economics of happiness’.
The film features a chorus of voices from six continents calling for systemic economic change, including David Korten, Bill McKibben, Vandana Shiva, Rob Hopkins, Richard, Heinberg, Juliet Schor, Michael Shuman, Helena Norberg-Hodge, and Samdhong Rinpoche - the Prime Minister of Tibet's government in exile.
"Helena Norberg-Hodge delivers a powerful message about globalization: It is the small, local economies around the world that are preserving traditions, cultures, and communities, and ultimately safeguarding our happiness." (Alice Waters, chef, author, and the proprietor of Chez Panisse)
"It is good news indeed to find so persuasive an explanation of our ailing world as 'The Economics of Happiness.' This film connects the dots between climate chaos, economic meltdown, and our own personal suffering--stress, loneliness, and depression. It presents the localization movement as a systemic alternative to corporate globalization, as well as a strategy that brings community and meaning to our lives." (Joanna Macy, author World as Lover, World as Self)
"'The Economics of Happiness' offers a unique global perspective on a movement that is often reduced as being too small. Not so. The film tells the story of a grassroots movement for localization that is bubbling up from the cracks of a faltering global economy, in every corner of the world. These are the real 'green shoots' to be hopeful about." (Anuradha Mittal, Executive Director, The Oakland Institute)
"I think this is the best, most holistic film I have seen on the subject." (Jacob Bomann-Larsen, Coordinator of Nordic New Economy Network)
"...it is a great honor for me to endorse such an historic work." (Samdhong Rinpoche, Prime Minister of Tibet's government in exile)
"A must-see film for the future of the planet." (Zac Goldsmith, Member of UK Parliament)
Buy the DVD, find a screening, host a screening, read reviews and endorsements, and more:
Web: www.theeconomicsofhappiness.org
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Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/econofhappiness
Where is Sepp Holzer in this clip? We should all look up to his vision of agriCULTURE. There is a reason we see the word CULTURE in in the word agriculture. What we have today is not agriCULTURE, it is agriPOISON and agriGENOCIDE. The results of the agriGENOCIDE then are being processed and the money is paid to spoil the food even more. And the most interesting thing is that the people pay with their money for their own inslavement and poisoning. How more bizzare and insane could it get?