What are some important ideas that are “just lying around,” waiting for the right moment to be implemented ?
That’s a wonderful and deep question — and very much in the spirit of Milton Friedman’s famous line that “only a crisis… produces real change. When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around.”
Here are some categories and specific examples of important ideas that seem to be “lying around,” waiting for a moment of wider adoption:
1. Regenerative Economics & Finance
- C-PACE & Green Bonds for Community Resilience – mechanisms exist, but aren’t yet widely mainstreamed as default financing for sustainable infrastructure.
- Commons-based economies – treating clean air, water, and biodiversity as commons to be stewarded rather than exploited.
- Circular economy – designing out waste and embedding reuse, repair, and remanufacturing.
2. Governance & Democracy
- Deliberative democracy / citizens’ assemblies – tested in Ireland, France, and elsewhere, but still marginal in governance.
- Participatory budgeting – allowing communities to directly allocate part of public budgets.
- Liquid democracy – blending direct and representative democracy through technology.
3. Technology & Knowledge
- Universal basic income (UBI) – widely piloted, but politically sidelined, despite automation making it more relevant.
- Decentralized identity & data sovereignty – individuals owning and controlling their data.
- Open-source AI oversight – community-driven “constitutional AI” or “AI auditors” ensuring safety and fairness.
4. Ecology & Planetary Stewardship
- Bioregional regeneration – organizing society and economies around ecological regions rather than arbitrary borders.
- Rewilding & assisted ecosystem recovery – proven at small scale, but rarely funded at scale.
- Carbon drawdown at scale – soil regeneration, ocean kelp cultivation, and other “natural climate solutions.”
5. Social Systems & Culture
- Restorative justice – shifting from punishment to healing, with significant evidence of better outcomes.
- Four-day work week – experiments show increased productivity and well-being, but inertia keeps the 5-day week dominant.
- Care economy recognition – valuing caregiving, parenting, and community work as essential parts of the economy.
6. Global & Structural
- Debt-for-nature swaps – proven but underutilized in addressing global south debt and biodiversity loss together.
- Global carbon pricing / dividend – economists have long argued for it, but political will is lacking.
- Post-growth economics – decoupling well-being from GDP growth.
In short: we already know how to do much of what’s needed to address today’s crises. These ideas are not utopian fantasies—they’ve been tested, often proven effective, but remain marginal because the conditions (political, economic, cultural) haven’t yet aligned.
Would you like me to prioritize these into a “shortlist” of the ones that might be closest to becoming mainstream in the next decade—almost like a “ready-to-launch” set of ideas?
Sure
Great — here’s a shortlist of “ready-to-launch” ideas that seem closest to breaking through in the next decade. These are mature, tested, and just waiting for the right conditions:
🌍
Planetary Stewardship
- Natural Climate Solutions at Scale
Soil carbon farming, reforestation, and regenerative ocean projects (kelp, mangroves). These are low-tech, job-creating, and proven effective, yet underfunded compared to high-tech solutions. - Rewilding & Ecological Restoration
Projects like Yellowstone’s wolves and European rewilding show dramatic results. The idea is widely popular and scalable, especially for biodiversity and tourism.
💰
Economy & Finance
- C-PACE & Regenerative Finance
Unlocks private capital for climate-positive projects without burdening public budgets. Already working in U.S. states, but far from mainstream. - Green Bonds / Debt-for-Nature Swaps
Debt relief tied to conservation is increasingly attractive in the Global South, and green bonds are becoming standard in finance — poised for rapid scaling. - Four-Day Work Week
Strong pilot evidence: equal or higher productivity, lower burnout, higher well-being. As labor markets shift, this could spread fast.
🏛
Governance & Social Systems
- Citizens’ Assemblies
Proven to build consensus on divisive issues (e.g., Ireland’s abortion referendum). Low-cost and ready for mainstream use in climate policy, city planning, and beyond. - Restorative Justice
Reduces recidivism, heals communities, and cuts costs. Already spreading in schools and local courts, but could be widely adopted. - Participatory Budgeting
Adopted in hundreds of cities worldwide, but still a small slice of public spending. Proven to increase trust in governance.
🤖
Technology & Data
- Universal Basic Income (UBI) Pilots to Policy
Strong results in reducing poverty and stress; automation and AI make it increasingly urgent. May emerge nationally within the decade. - Data Sovereignty / Decentralized Identity
Momentum is growing for individuals controlling their own data, especially in healthcare and finance. Standards exist, but regulation is lagging.
👉 In essence: restoration, regeneration, and redistribution are the big themes. These ideas aren’t speculative—they’re already working somewhere. The challenge is scaling them at the speed and depth our crises demand.
Would you like me to rank them by “most politically feasible in the U.S. within 5 years”, or by “greatest long-term planetary impact”?
Both
Perfect — let’s look at these “ideas lying around” through two lenses:
🔹
Most Politically Feasible in the U.S. (next 5 years)
These could realistically break through soon given public mood, economics, and precedent:
- Four-Day Work Week – popular with workers, supported by pilot results, and appealing to companies as a retention tool.
- C-PACE & Green Finance Tools – already legal in many states, supported by both property owners and investors.
- Restorative Justice – bipartisan appeal (cost-saving, community-based) and momentum in schools/juvenile courts.
- Participatory Budgeting – low-cost, builds trust in local governance, already happening in some U.S. cities.
- Citizens’ Assemblies – likely at city/state level first; growing appetite for new democratic innovations.
Close runner-up: Data sovereignty may gain traction with privacy legislation (California, EU influence).
🔹
Greatest Long-Term Planetary Impact
These are the most transformative if scaled globally, even if politically harder now:
- Natural Climate Solutions at Scale – massive carbon drawdown + biodiversity + livelihoods.
- Rewilding & Ecological Restoration – planetary-scale recovery of ecosystems, improves resilience.
- Debt-for-Nature Swaps / Global Green Finance – systemic fix linking economics and ecology.
- Universal Basic Income (UBI) – reduces poverty, increases resilience, buffers automation shocks.
- Post-GDP / Regenerative Economics (via PACE, green bonds, commons stewardship) – a paradigm shift in how we measure prosperity.
Close runner-up: Global carbon pricing/dividends — extremely high impact, but politically difficult.
📌 Synthesis:
- Near-term U.S. breakthroughs will probably be work time reform, C-PACE/green finance, and justice innovations.
- Planetary game-changers are ecological restoration, regenerative finance, and UBI.
The art is connecting the two: using feasible U.S. policies (like C-PACE or participatory budgeting) as stepping stones toward the bigger planetary shifts.
Would you like me to map these into a timeline (5 years, 10 years, 25 years) so you can see how they might cascade into each other?