These days, our young people are living without love, marriage, childbirth, hopes and dreams. Korea has pursued a growth and development policy for the past 50 years. As a result, the country's economy which was one of the world's poorest countries has reached the world top 10. However, pillars of our country's economy based upon development and growth have revealed their limitations. We are facing the economic crisis caused by the income polarization, the ecological crisis triggered by excessive development, and the community crisis generated by extreme selfishness.
If the economy is ignoring the limits of nature, or seeks only the extreme profits and efficiency, it will not be sustainable. It makes workers and consumers disappear, and the energy and resources exhausted. Thus, in oder for human race to continue to reside in this world, the consumption in the industrialized countries should be reduced significantly, and the progress in developing countries should be made fairly. Also the social class accustomed to over-consumption need to pursue de-abundance, and citizens and farmers must move to a shared economic system in which automotive and farm equipments are utilized mutually or collectively.
Today, scientific and technological developments and the neoliberal economic system make it difficult to find jobs. The severe polarization has increased the poorest regions and layers. In the meantime, local currency without cash can trade goods and services; also it can activate the economy by promoting the production and consumption of the region; it can bring about new businesses and jobs, and save the environment and the economy by making deals with the defective products and the used goods.
When the energy and the resources are limited, the goal of economy should be not growth but maturity. To realize a mature society, we should dispense with formalities, and reduce over-consumption in everyday life. What we call “the filling economy” emphasizes the utility of the existence, rapidness, and artifact, whereas “the emptying economy” stresses the utility of the non-existence, slowness, and nature. We must proceed from “the filling economy” to “the emptying economy”. It is a way of saving the planet as well as getting the road to happiness.