Book review:
This new paperback was first published in 2009 as a hardback, with the title The ISIS Agreement. ISIS, we are told, stands for Indicators, Systems, Innovation and Strategy, the sequence it recommends for all sustainability planning and learning processes. It also links to the myth of Isis and Osiris, in which Isis searches out and restores to life Osiris, who has been tricked and murdered by his jealous brother.
The book is aimed at both professionals and general readers, and is written in an entertaining manner, while incorporating serious information and advice. AtKisson has organised, addressed and/or participated in many high-level conferences on 'sustainability' around the world.
He has learned about 'the impact of global trade, investment and foreign aid from African lawyers and forest activists', and 'perhaps the most important lesson of all: the power of networks to transform people, who can then work on transforming the world'. He insists on the crucial importance of 'systems thinking'.
Recognising that 'Now you have a conspiracy', he notes that this 'is an overused and misunderstood word'. This is a refreshing change from the usual use of the term 'conspiracy theory' as a way of dissuading attention to any conspiracy the controllers of the public media wish to be kept secret, and contemplation of the truth behind actual conspiracies.
He is well aware of both the great benefits, and the great harm resulting from our current 'economic system', and that 'money' is a problem, demanding everlasting 'economic growth'. He gets close to the basic problem, when discussing 'where does money come from?', though not getting the 'fractional reserve' system quite right. He does note that since creation of interest-bearing debt accompanies the creation of nearly all our money, therefore 'more money must ultimately be paid back than actually exists', and that this drives 'continuously growing consumption' – but not noting the resulting exponential growth of debts.
He fails, however, to recognise that 'money' and 'debt' are not the same. This is a common failing. Banks do not create 'debt as money'; in making loans, they create both debt and money, 'balancing their books' by equating them, to cancel each other out. The 'money' – credit – circulates, but the (growing) debt remains with the borrower, until paid-off. The growing debts destroying society are not inherent in 'money', but in the way nearly all of it is currently created and issued, which he fails to question. Nor does he question the fundamentally unfair, inequitable distribution of wealth. For long-term resource-sustainability, Basic Incomes or other such reform to end the essential link between 'jobs' and sustenance is needed.
In discussing world trade, he notes the dire results on 'third world' countries of the forced 'structural adjustments' demanded by the World Bank, and cites the example of Malawi, which as a result of these 'adjustments' 'suffered decades of near-famine conditions and dependency on food imports' until 2005, when it defied the 'international bankers' and subsidised its farmers, so that by 2007 it 'was well out of famine and helping to feed its neighbours'.
He briefly contemplates the possibility of the 'gift economy': doing without money, and suggests that "Money is not a 'measure of value'; it is a measure of our lack of love".
Not challenging the basics of Capitalism – or Finance Capitalism – he sees great potential in steering systems, at all levels, from even individual, through business to government, toward sustainability at the same time as profitability. His own company, The AtKisson Group, formed as sustainability consultants, exemplifies this, working with groups at all levels around the world.
He devotes several pages to discussion of the causes of the drowning of New Orleans by hurricane Katrina, noting the various ways the result might have been made less catastrophic, if not actually prevented, and the question of what/who is to blame. This is used as a case-in-point of the importance of 'systems thinking': identifying and strengthening weak points can build resilience of systems, and could have prevented or reduced the catastrophe of Katrina.
This book promotes AtKisson's tool for analysing and quantifying the degree of sustainability in an enterprise, the Compass Index of Sustainability: N for nature, E for economy, S for society, and W for welfare. Under these broad headings various factors are grouped, varying according to individual circumstances and perceptions, and each is given a score on a scale of 0-100, based on a mixture of statistically and subjectively quantified values. These are then given a weighting in aggregating them into an overall score.
The claim is that use of this method can focus attention on the weak points needing change, and it is the cornerstone of a family of tools based on ISIS, which is called Accelerator. This involves simplifying the complex sustainability theory to make it widely usable; structuring the process to make it usable even without understanding of the theory; and making sure it leads to a result.
A much-used tool for this is the building of a pyramid, based on the Compass, on a base layer of indicators, and further layers of systems, innovations, and strategies, topped by agreement and actions.
AtKisson discusses power and corruption at some length, with good advice for recognising and coping with it.
He reports that his system has been widely used successfully around the world, at all levels from voluntary groups, schools, businesses and corporations to governments. This can be checked on his website, AtKisson.com.
The book has copious notes, and an extensive list of sources, as well as offers of follow-up information on his website.
While advocacy of the vital, fundamental reforms of finance-capitalism is missing from this book, its aim of making 'sustainability' a universal aim is needed, and in so far as its methods are successfully applied, it will be a valuable tool on the way to this.