Issue #55: The Love Economy

On care in a capitalist system

Mōrena, and happy love day 💛 With Cyclone Gabrielle across the North Island, we hope you’ve been able to stay safe out there, and find support if you have needed it. When things seem bleak, being able to see a future where we can all thrive is just as important as knowing what needs to stop or change. To be honest - this can often feel harder than protesting. When we’re caught within the bounds of a capitalistic, individualistic society, it’s hard to imagine what else is out there. 

But the vast majority of daily relationships between people around the world are collaborative, neighbourly, and kind. Hazel Henderson, an environmental activist and economic thinker, called this the “Love Economy”. The 2009/10 Time Use Survey found that on average, New Zealanders aged 12 years and over spent around 3 hours and 25 minutes each day on unpaid, volunteer care work. This Love Economy sector is often undervalued, but it underpins our society. This becomes clearer than ever during pandemics and natural disasters.

When we find it hard to imagine a better future, we can look to the Love Economy – neighbours, carers, communities, grassroots organisations. The empathetic, cooperative, sustainable future we need is already here - we just need to recognise it, invest in it, and amplify it at scale.

What can you do today?

The most-clicked link from last week’s issue was the petition to end perpetual leases on Māori land. Thanks to y’all, the petition is just 80 signatures away from 5000! 

🐝 If you have 5 minutes: Hand it to the Invisible Hand

• The fight for climate justice and the fight for affordable housing are intrinsically tied. We’ve seen extreme weather events result in many people losing their homes. And yet, irresponsible journalism is defaulting to vague headlines like “Rents are rising in Auckland”, which conveniently leaves out who’s actually doing the raising. We’re pretty sure that the financial desires of landlords are not an unstoppable, divine force. Calling it “the market” ignores the fact that this is something we can control.
  Action: Join Renters United and 25 other community groups in asking for a rent freeze in Tāmaki

🐇 If you have 15 minutes: Don’t Kill Bill

• Conservation land is vital for biodiversity and the climate. Mining can permanently damage these ecosystems. Labour recently announced that they are working on a bill to tighten rules around mining on conservation lands, something which needs to be done as soon as possible.
  Action: Use this template to urge our Conservation Minister to act quickly on the Conservation Land Protection Bill

• The power of the Global Climate Strike will lie in our numbers - so it’s key that we make sure everyone knows about it. The best way to support the strike at the moment is to advertise and get posters up around the motu!
  Action: Print out these posters & put them up around your school, uni, workplace, or neighbourhood (Use this post for a recipe for poster glue!) 

💃🏽 If you have 30 minutes or more: Hoon to a Hui

• Pōneke/Wellington, Thursday 16th, 2:30pm: The Free Fares petition is going to Parliament! Parliament will be hearing oral submissions on this campaign, and turning up in person is a chance to show the petitions committee that there is strong support for this movement.
  Action: Join supporters of the Free Fares campaign during submissions to Parliament

• Online, this Thursday 16th, 7pm: Join Restore Passenger Rail’s panel of climate and civil resistance experts to hear about their peaceful civil resistance campaign.
  Action: Join the online call to hear about action based in civil resistance  

• Online, February 23rd, 7:30pm: Creating the future we all want to see will require a lot of difficult decisions. Participatory democracies, where everyday Kiwis would be involved in decision-making, have been used successfully throughout the world. To implement this in Aotearoa, we need a form of participatory democracy that embodies Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
  Action: Join Nelson Tasman Climate Forum for a chat on participatory democracy in Aotearoa 

In case you missed it!

• We’re saving the date for the Global Climate Strike! It’s happening at 3pm on March 3rd. If your city’s not on the list, it’s not too late to organise your own – contact School Strike for Climate if you’re interested.

  • Te Papaioea/Palmerston North: The Square 

  • Tāmaki/Auckland: Britomart Square 

  • Whakatū/Nelson: Top of Trafalgar Street 

  • Pōneke/Wellington: 2pm at Civic Square, followed by march toParliament Lawn 

  • Ōtepoti/Dunedin: Octagon 

  • Ōtautahi/Christchurch: Cathedral Square

• School Strike for Climate are also looking for volunteers (traffic marshalls, hosting banner painting events, helping with press releases, contacting ally groups and speakers etc). If you are keen to help, email us and we’ll help you get in touch with your local group :)

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That’s all for today, folks 👋🏽 Thanks for taking action. In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, enjoy this love poem by the brilliant Ayisha Siddiqa, an Environmental & Human Rights Defender Research scholar:

The Eco Justice Project @ecojusticeproj

poetry submission by @Ayishas12 | “on another panel about climate, they ask me to sell the future and all i’ve got is a love poem” 🌿 read the full poem here: theecojusticeproject.com/submissions/al…

  

See you next week, 

Dhanya, Emily, and Jenny from the Climate Club