The Real Wealth of Portland project will:
- Help us make different decisions as a community.
- Help us see ourselves in partnership with each other.
- Raise awareness of the economic value of the invisible economy in our midst.
- Help connect people who are working in this invisible economy.
Food for Thoughts
Anyone can count the seeds in an apple.
No one can count the apples in a seed.
-Anonymous.
What a society values in terms of dollars is a decision. Somebody sometime somewhere decided to put dollar values on some things but not others. Typically female “soft” jobs are valued less than typically male jobs. Parenting – an essential job in our society when you stop to think about it – is given no economic value, while sports figures and CEOs of large corporations are given millions and billions of dollars.
What is Caring Economics? Caring economics is based on values of a more equal society where human dependence on the earth and caregiving activities are acknowledged and counted. The health of the earth, families and households, children and communities become the correct indicators for viable human systems.
Based on the ideas of Riane Eisler and expressed in her book The Real Wealth of Nations, the Real Wealth of Portland Project is about developing ways for us to recognize the economic value of the invisible economy that operates out of sight and out of mind of the dominant market economy. Countless unpaid and underpaid caregiving workers, parents, volunteers, environmental organizations, and community support organizations make up this invisible economy, which we call the “caring economy.” By making the contributions of this largely invisible economy visible, we move towards an economy that fosters social & economic justice, and peace.
Learn the Lingo!
- Come to a Community Commons: Ideas into Action Meeting
- Join a Study Group
