I just stumbled across this essay I wrote in 2020 during the Covid pandemic. It’s an issue that is feeling increasingly critical and I worry that I don’t hear or read politicians or economists exploring what an economy NOT based on endless extraction and inessential material consumption might look like. As I wrote at the time, as humans we can live happy, healthy, creative & meaningful lives without inessential consumption. It’s not even as if our levels of inessential consumption reliably deliver those at the moment.