Source: Guardian
It is looking grim next year, with austerity set to stay, but perhaps this will jump start ‘Globalisation 2.0’ – a greener, more equitable and wellbeing-orientated form of globalisation. Am I a hopeless optimist? Well, quite possibly, but activities this year show that we could be moving in the right direction.
First off, revolution is already here. The Occupy movement, the UK summer riots, and the Arab Spring may not present a clearly defined set of motives, but they do indicate a growing intolerance of the rich-poor divide and the excesses in the more affluent parts of society.
And then there’s the government revisiting a happiness index, further highlighting the flaws with our current preoccupation with GDP. Wellbeing indicators used by the overnment and the Office for National Statistics including “health”, “what we do”, “where we live”, “personal finance” and “education and skills” have already stirred up a great deal of debate, while perhaps also broadening the nation’s outlook on how we measure progress in today’s society.
Read More: 2012 could see globalisation 2.0 take off
Related: Great Transition: The Promise and Lure of the Times Ahead
Cartoon by Bob Moran
