Evolved Capitalism
Integrating Capitalism and Degrowth for a Balanced Approach
The ever-rising focus on sustainability has been a point of contention. On one hand, we have people who don’t believe that climate change exists and is caused by consumption culture; and on the other, we have people who are pushing for an economic and systemic restructuring to battle our deteriorating resources. Degrowth, like a lot of green movements, focuses on environmental preservation. But what if we can build more on that concept? What if we can build upon the ethos of capitalism instead of completely dismantling it?
The Five Capitals of Evolved Capitalism
Evolved Capitalism presents five capitals to ensure a sustainable future. Instead of having money as the primary capital, we have five, namely: financial, natural, human, social, and manufactured capitals. But what are these five capitals?
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Financial capital is the capital we’ve heavily used, it’s paying for the input before we can see any sort of output in services or products. It’s paying to build an office to accommodate workers for your company, where they will bring in profit.
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Natural capital is simply the natural resources on our planet that plays an “economically productive process,” like evolving systems of forests, fisheries, water, and air. It’s the intricate connection between the human economy and ecological system.
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Human capital refers to the capabilities an individual possesses. This refers to our abilities as humans, to enhance productivity and offer services to society that’s been developed through education, training, etc.
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Social capital pertains to the capital that’s harder to gauge compared to the other four capitals, it’s a gauge of trust, values, and recognition. Ultimately, it’s the reputation of a brand or a company.
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Manufactured capital is the resources we created to improve our economy, namely vehicles, communication lines, the internet; things that have greatly affected globalization.
Evolved Capitalism in Action:
One prime example of capitalism’s evolution is the B Corp certification where businesses make a conscious and orchestrated effort to support the environment, their workers, products, and partners by offering high quality services and transparency. With the decision to ethically source materials and focus on worker well-being, we’re seeing a new side to Capitalism. One of which has the potential to lead to a sustainable future. That’s what evolved capitalism is, building upon five capitals so we can stretch out what our society can source out so there’s a balance in the market.
When our eyes are set on matters outside of money and profit, we’re bound to make sound decisions that will likely benefit our world, leading to a truly sustainable future without sacrificing the living standards of those at the lowest and even the middle rung in society’s eyes.