The government shut down of October 2013 has shaken not only the United States but the  global economy as well.  The Tea Party conservatives were willing to crash the current system by shutting down the government and refusing to raise the debt ceiling which could have forced the United States into a financial collapse and along with it, the entire global economy.  We can now see how deeply interconnected the economic and financial systems are.

The frustrations of the Tea Partiers are not limited to them, but their solution for change is. And it runs counter to one of my favorite quotes by R. Buckminster Fuller: “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the old model obsolete.”

Tea Partiers are fighting the existing reality.  But the existing reality itself has so many flaws because it is attached to an old economy model that is no longer serving us.  So, why bother trying to change it.  It is time to build something new.

That’s what we’re trying to do here at Integrative Economy–give people an idea of what a vibrant and dynamic economy could be if we are willing to build a new model instead of staying stuck to the old.