There's been a lot of talk about what sort of economy will replace the Consumer Economy as the central engine for creating human well-being and delivering a high standard of life for the most people.
Many people think it's the New Energy Economy - providing clean, cheap, abundant energy to a world that needs it. I've heard people talk about an economy that's less dependent on material goods and places a higher value on human intelligence and innovation - a Services Economy or Intelligence Economy.
It's hard to know or predict. Sometimes it's easier for me to imagine 5000 years in the future than next Thursday.
I would imagine that our economy in five thousand years would be inclusive and beneficial for all human beings, that it would bring out our best on every level, serve everyone on earth as well as the planet.
I've been talking to people about the role of purpose in drawing out our talent and drive and value-creation for the world. "How much more effective are you when you are engaged in meaningful work?" I asked the president of a Portland art school. "Oh, about eight times," she said.
Did I hear that all meaningful activity begins with the love of something small? You love something, so you do something, and that creates wealth and abundance - for the world and then back to yourself. A Love-based Economy.
Examples of the Love-based Economy abound. Howard Schultz loves coffee culture, and Phil Knight loves running and innovation, Steve Jobs loved computers as tools to draw out the human spirit, and look what happens. The love leads to sustained action and you become a nuclear reactor creating abundance and energy for the world. You might be an example of the Love-based Economy yourself.
I've left out an important piece. It isn't enough to love that thing itself, that object of your passion. Coffee, or shoes, or computers, or whatever. You have to love people. You have to do your work in service to humanity. If you want to create profit, you create wealth, and the best door in might be love.