11. Questioning concepts rooted in our economic system

2023/06/07 Elhuyar Zientzia

• Dekalogoa
• Ingurumena

Questioning the entrenched economic system and concepts in it: globalisation, continuous economic growth, rising birth rates… Society has been led to believe that globalisation is a natural tendency of society, but it responds to purely economic interests and has environmental consequences. The reasons why economic circuits are being cut are many: environmental, economic and social, but also democratic. When economic circuits are too large, citizens cannot understand them, so they lose their power of influence and their control and decision is left to the elite, caused by injustices. For citizens to act, a closer economy is necessary.

Going deeper into the debate: Is it necessary to grow gross domestic product to live well? What is real well-being? Did you know that the planet is overpopulated and having more children is the best solution to maintain the system? Questioning existing beliefs can help activate the social changes required by the environmental emergency.

Science and scientific communication can help imagine how the transition of lifestyles can be and identify the benefits of change in health and well-being. Well-being is understood very differently according to culture, age, age. Therefore, a rethinking of well-being can help visualize the consumerist view of well-being and redefine it. What's really important?

According to human science researchers, human well-being requires equity and satisfaction of basic needs, but has nothing to do with the accumulation of wealth. They satisfy more social relations, being in nature, access to education, satisfaction with life, balance between work and personal life, commitments to society... The transmission of this message and the identification of health assets can contribute to mitigate the social shock that generates the need for deceleration, reduce socio-economic inequalities and facilitate social change.