"It's time we admitted that there's more to life than money and it's time we focused not just on GDP but on GWB – general wellbeing." - David Cameron
For decades GDP (Gross Domestic Product) has been considered the elite's go-to number for ranking countries based on their overall growth and success; even though it condenses all human activity into just a couple of digits. Unfortunately, the GDP of a country is not a perfect measure, as it misses out on the social welfare and environmental impact and reflects a narrow vision towards the economic output. This results in countries giving low priority to the sustainability of our planet and falling victim to activity in the short term that boosts the economy even if that is hugely harmful to the sustainability of our planet in the long term. On top of that, not all benefits from economic growth are evenly distributed or shared. A rise in GDP often results in a widening of the income and wealth inequality in society thereby increasing the gaps between different classes in society.
To avoid further widening of the wealth inequality, governments across the world should enforce the adoption of practices such as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives - encouraging corporations to be conscious of their impact on all aspects of society, including economic, social, environmental, and others, by offering tax or other economic incentives.
Apart from the government, schools can ingrain sustainable development in the minds of the youth. Our education system has always emphasized creating tomorrow’s engineers, doctors, lawyers, or other professional white-collar jobs with little focus on sustainability. Schools should endeavour to integrate local and global sustainability issues into the curriculum while reinforcing interactive, participatory learning that fosters critical thinking and brings about changes in attitude. In fact, Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is a United Nations program that provides constructive guidelines in this regard.
Lastly, we as responsible citizens of society can also play a pivotal role in raising awareness and working collectively towards the well-being of our nation. In today’s world, with the advent of social media, it’s possible to take our voices to the entire world. Look at Greta Thunberg, a teenager who through her determination towards fighting climate change rose from obscurity to being recently voted as “Times Magazine’s Person of the Year”. We can even support her in the lowest form by spreading her message via simply liking her posts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Another, more active way of supporting her initiatives is by helping fund the organizations and programs that are actively involved in such initiatives.
One such non-profit organisation attempting to do so is the Wellbeing Economy Alliance, a collaboration of organisations, movements, and individuals working closely to bring about changes in the economic system. We can also invite members of this organisation to our respective schools, clubs, community centres and workplaces to educate people about their movement and its importance for the overall wellbeing of society, giving donations, spreading the word by sharing this movement on social media and collecting donations online. If someone wants to be more actively involved with this initiative, they may want to consider becoming a WEAII citizen, which will help connect them with similarly passionate individuals. One can also be involved in the setting up of a local WEAll hub that will facilitate collaboration and action towards building a sustainable economy.
It’s high time to facilitate change and we can’t only let our politicians and world leaders be solely responsible for taking care of our future. Time has come for us to play an increasingly significant role in our future and the time is now.
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