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Measuring Success Beyond Money: A New Way to Define Wealth

February 14, 2025

Introduction: Rethinking the Meaning of Wealth

In traditional economic systems, success is measured primarily by Gross Domestic Product (GDP), stock market performance, and financial wealth. These indicators focus on money flow and profit generation but often fail to reflect the true well-being of people and the environment. At Renew the Earth, we believe that an economy should not only be about financial transactions but also about human welfare, sustainability, and equitable resource distribution. This article explores why our current measurement of success is flawed and presents a new framework for defining wealth in a way that serves both people and the planet: a parallel currency, which is one currency that provides basic needs to all humanity and runs next to all other existing currencies.

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The Problem with Traditional Economic Metrics

Most nations rely on GDP as the primary measure of economic success. While GDP accounts for the total value of goods and services produced, it does not consider the quality of life of citizens. A nation can have a high GDP but still struggle with poverty, environmental degradation, and inequality.

Additionally, stock market performance is often used as an indicator of economic health. However, rising stock values do not necessarily mean that everyday people are benefiting. Corporate profits can grow while wages stagnate, job security declines, and essential services become unaffordable.

Some key flaws in traditional economic measures include:

Ignoring Social Well-being – GDP does not account for income inequality, job satisfaction, or access to essential services like healthcare and education.
Environmental Damage is a Net Positive – Activities that harm the environment, like deforestation and pollution, can actually increase GDP because they generate financial transactions.
Does Not Reflect Economic Stability – A country can have a high GDP while its citizens experience financial insecurity and rising debt.

Clearly, measuring success solely through financial indicators is an incomplete and misleading approach.

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A New Model: Human Renewable Energy Measurement (HREM)

At Renew the Earth, we propose a Human Renewable Energy Measurement (HREM) as an alternative way to assess economic success. This system evaluates the economy based on human well-being, sustainability, and resource equity rather than just financial transactions.

Some key components of HREM include:

Access to Basic Needs – Every economy should prioritize food, shelter, education, and healthcare as essential benchmarks for success.
Sustainability Metrics – Measuring environmental health by tracking carbon emissions, biodiversity, and renewable energy use instead of valuing industries that cause harm.
Wealth Distribution – Evaluating how evenly resources are distributed instead of just calculating total national income.
Time & Labor Value – Recognizing the importance of human effort, caregiving, and volunteer work in economic assessments.

This approach shifts the focus from monetary accumulation to human and environmental prosperity.

How a Parallel Currency Can Support a New Wealth Model

In order to implement HREM, the global economy must adopt alternative financial models that prioritize essential human needs. This is where a parallel currency, like Energy Currency, comes into play.

Unlike traditional money, Energy Currency is not hoarded or used for speculation. It is designed to fulfill real needs like housing, food, and medical care. Once it has been used for its purpose, it is removed from circulation to prevent inflation and ensure fair access.

Humanity and nature as a whole will benefit if basic needs are met worldwide, and the way to pay for it is with a worldwide parallel currency that is destroyed when it gets to a bank, unable to create inflation or be invested. It is one worldwide parallel currency running beside the many existing currencies that continue doing what they have always done.

By combining HREM with an alternative currency system, we can build an economic model that:

Ensures that no one is left behind in economic progress.
Reduces environmental destruction by discouraging excessive consumption.
Encourages local and community-based economic systems instead of global financial monopolies.

This type of system would redefine success as the ability of a society to sustain itself while improving quality of life for all people—not just those at the top.

The Future of Wealth: A People-First Economy

The future of economic measurement must focus on the well-being of individuals and the planet rather than just monetary transactions. Renew the Earth is committed to challenging outdated economic models and promoting a system that truly values human energy, resource sustainability, and social equity.

By moving away from GDP-centered economics and toward a parallel currency model, we can work to create a world where wealth is defined not by financial accumulation but by human prosperity and ecological balance.

Join us in rethinking the way we measure economic success. Together, we can build a more just, sustainable, and inclusive future.

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