Nature as Value Standard: Three Measures for Creating a Monetary System That Protects the Foundations of Our Existence - Instead of Destroying Them

Abstract

The current monetary system possesses two characteristics that tend to remain unseen. Firstly, it is a mathematical echo chamber that is completely disconnected from nature. Secondly, the use of money represents a systemic eschewal of responsibility. Today's monetary system is thus a major cause of the destruction of the Earth's habitability. Measures to protect this habitability currently have to be financed by taxes drawn from an economy based upon this same destructive monetary system. This is absurd. While the financial sector has the ability to do something about the destruction of the Earth, it rarely, if ever, fulfils this responsibility. While it may appear self-evident that the planet’s habitability should carry greater ethical weight than gold or money, prioritising this ethical principle necessitates transforming the regulation of the financial sector's destructive influence into a moral imperative. A new monetary order grounded in real values is achievable. The book Nature as Value Standard not only proposes three concrete measures towards this end, but additionally outlines how the world's religions should -and can - take action towards this goal, by collaborating with politicians to drive significant change.