Where was the voice of reason? Why are our ecosystems, families, neighbors, health, and future dying at the request of profit margins and unsustainable economic policies? Where was the economic model to account for the true cost of infinite growth? The female voice and market presence were hushed up and ignored. And look at the mess we're in.
Economists, historically privileged white men, have been guiding our politicians and legislators to disastrous ends. These mad scientists of policy and price have determined that the entire global economic system hunt almighty profit by cheap and dirty exploitation of the Earth, the poor, the disenfranchised, and women. In the name of FREE trade, more people than ever are slaves to money and governments. Our biosphere is sick and dying. Our generation will face historic debt and unemployment. War, violence, famine, disease, and a barren landscape- things look bleak.
But!!! Our community has a chance to be heard and to educate one another in being our own policymakers. We have tools in our hands and we have voices from our hearts. We must be the change in our own backyards, in our own daily routines, in our own consciousness.
I'd like to open a discussion about the role of Feminist Economics in our lives.
How can we change our cultural valuation systems to better accommodate all that the traditional systems leave behind? True cost is a very female estimate, it is a search for deep connections and the importance of relationships in the economic market. What do you see during your day that has a cost? Is the price stuck on its head really the value of that item? Tally it up- the gas in you car, the latte in your hand, the rice on the stove. Have these items come to you cheaply by exploiting others? If we included all the costs and energy that go into our daily consumption, would we be able to 'afford' it?
Most importantly: what is the true cost of not speaking out?