Excerpted from Chapter 31 

"The word 'economy' simply refers to the management and exchange of goods, services, and energy. For humans, that means manufacturing, construction, food production, and every other aspect of life requiring goods, services, or energy. Any organism has an economy, no matter how rudimentary. Even a colony of bacteria requires the flow of nutrients and energy, and thus has a simple sort of economy. A disease organism overconsumes its resource base without regard for the future, and it therefore has an economy without a future. That's why diseases kill their hosts. But diseases go on to infect other hosts. That's how they survive. Humans can't kill their host and move on to another one like a disease organism does. Unless we're going to find another planet in the galaxy and infect it, too. Lucille and I discussed this at length. She loved this analogy."

"From what I gathered, though, I don't think she thought it was necessarily an analogy," I insisted. "I think she thought humans were actually exhibiting real disease potential in relation to the Earth. Anyway, if we currently have an economy that parallels that of a disease organism, do you think there's an alternative?"
"Yes, yes, that's what I've been trying to say!" replied Melissa, excitedly, slapping her hand on the table. "That's what I've been trying to say all along! A disease organism has a destructive economy, an economy without a future. But a symbiotic organism, on the other hand, which is an organism that lives in harmony with its environment, also has an economy.

"An economy with a future. Both types of organisms have their own economies, both require the flow of materials and energy, but the disease organism progressively undermines its economy through over-consumption and waste, and eventually destroys it. Destroys its own economy and destroys itself in the process! The other, the symbiotic organism, knows how to maintain a benign economy by managing its resources properly and avoiding over-consumption and waste. It will live on indefinitely. Humanity, if we are to survive, must develop a symbiotic economy!"

"And that's not even the most important aspect," added Max.

"What do you mean?" Annie asked.

"It makes sense that the symbiotic economy would be much more preferable for the organism involved, especially humans. Preferable in many ways. A human symbiotic economy could last indefinitely, it could allow for goods, services, and energy to be distributed among people equitably, it could guarantee prosperity, peace, meaningful and rewarding jobs, and fulfilling lives for everyone, without a sacrifice in our standard of living."

"I'm not following you," Annie eyed him skeptically. "How would it not sacrifice our standard of living?"

"The people who are robbing our store, who are promoting a destructive, wasteful economy, argue that if we stop squandering our resources, our economy will take a huge nose dive and we'll all be back to washing our laundry on scrub boards in our back yards," explained Max. "So people's natural reaction is to think we can't do that, therefore we must continue to squander our natural bank account like there's no tomorrow. But this is ridiculous. Symbiotic economies, by definition, involve the exchange of goods, services, and energy in a manner that allows everyone to benefit over the long term. It's a balanced, equitable economy. There's no reason to believe that our average standard of living would drop simply because we shift to a more conscious economic system. Our standard of living would more than likely improve. We'd have cleaner air, cleaner water, better quality food, less disease, less poverty, more rewarding employment, healthier societies, and more fulfilling lives."

"But wouldn't we be paying a lot more for gas and oil and coal?" argued Annie. "Wouldn't our prices go up and therefore our disposable income go down?"

"Sure, if we're dumb enough to rely heavily on those non-renewable resources. A symbiotic organism would phase out or minimize the use of polluting, non-renewable resources as quickly as possible while finding ways to use the same resources efficiently, cleanly, and, perhaps most importantly, wisely."

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