An Economy of Abundance

Almost all of us are caught up in the rat race of earning money. Some fare well, or are just plain lucky, accumulating substantial sums in their bank accounts. However, the majority struggle and either live in poverty or navigate an economy that fails to meet their needs beyond financial ones.

Though I am not a qualified economist, viewing it from a gardener's perspective, I would describe our current economy as one of scarcity. In its essence, it is exclusive and discriminatory because large segments of the population cannot earn enough to sustain themselves. Wealth distribution in our world follows the divisions we've established among people, based on factors such as color, race, gender, level of education, and sexual orientation, as well as the divide between humanity and the natural world. The wealthy exploit both humanity and nature.

On the other hand, our natural world operates with a system that resembles an economy, one based on the exchange among countless species. Cooperation, symbiosis, and occasional competition are the elements that define nature's economy, and it proves to be successful. For instance, when you plant one pumpkin seed, five pumpkins may grow from it. Each pumpkin contains around 300 seeds, resulting in 1,500 seeds from just one initial seed after a few months. Moreover, a pumpkin contributes to various ecological processes—it provides shelter, creates a microclimate, produces oxygen, supports diverse microorganisms, and enriches the soil upon decomposition.

To me, this represents an economy of abundance, in contrast to the scarcity-driven economy we've constructed. It aligns closely with what Robin Wall Kimmerer calls the culture of reciprocity and gratitude. An economy of abundance fosters these cultures, and vice versa. Both are intrinsic to the traditional indigenous worldview, rooted in a profound understanding of nature's workings. Since we are part of nature, the economy of abundance is inherently closer to us, as are the cultures of reciprocity and gratitude.

Kimmerer also emphasizes that abundance requires physical effort. In hunter-gatherer societies, it entails moving periodically to new areas where resources are plentiful. This is a current challenge for many indigenous tribes in the Amazon who, by staying in one location, deplete local resources and become reliant on the scarcity-based economy.

For us, abundance involves creating a garden—vegetable plots, food forests, and perhaps raising chickens and other domesticated animals. The initial years are challenging, particularly with tasks like weeding, but as the garden ecosystem establishes itself, the workload diminishes. It may even cease to feel like work, evolving into an intimate daily interaction with the living world. In this context, work becomes pleasurable, reshaping our perception of it. It becomes about shaping and nurturing life, which yields abundance in return.

Many of us struggle with our relationship to work, often doing tasks we dislike in unnatural environments like offices or behind screens. Working in a garden can help us appreciate that work isn't inherently negative, offering abundant returns in the form of vegetables, fruits, and flowers. This concept is what I refer to as "Gardens of Eden".

*Robin Wall Kimmerer is a mother, scientist, decorated professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation and wrote the book 'Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants' (Penguin Books, 2013)