Sometimes new ideas can make you see everything differently. Old myths fall apart, and new possibilities come into view. Difficult problems melt away, or become much easier to solve. Things that once seemed unthinkable suddenly become obvious. Whole worlds can change.

I like to imagine a time in the future when I'm again captivated by the number of insects back home in Eswatini. I'm an old man, sitting on the porch in the evening, watching them in awe, listening to their chirping, just as I did as a child. In this vision, a lot has changed about the world. High-income countries brought their use of resources and energy down to sustainable levels. We began to take democracy seriously, shared income and wealth more fairly, and put an end to poverty. The gap between rich countries and poor countries shrank. The word 'billionaire' dis- appeared from our languages. Working hours fell from forty or fifty hours a week down to twenty or thirty, giving people more time to focus on community, caring and the arts of living. High- quality public healthcare and education were made available to everyone. People came to live longer, happier, more meaningful lives. And we began to think of ourselves differently: as beings interconnected with, rather than separate from, the rest of the living world.

As for the planet, something remarkable happened. The rainforests grew back, across the Amazon, the Congo and Indonesia; dense and green and teeming with life. Temperate forests spread again across Europe and Canada. Rivers ran clear, and filled with fish. Whole ecosystems recovered. We accomplished a quick transition to renewable energy, global temperatures stabilised, and weather systems began to return to their ancient patterns. In a word, things started to heal... we began to heal.... and faster than anybody imagined was possible. We took less, but we gained so much more.

This book is about that dream. We have a journey ahead, which will I carry us over 500 years of history. We'll explore the roots of our current economic system, how it took hold, and what makes it tick. We will look at concrete, practical steps we can take to reverse ecological breakdown and build an alternative, post-capitalist economy. And we will travel across continents, to cultures and communities that interact with the living world in ways that open up whole new horizons of the imagination.

Right now it may just be the faintest whisper of a possibility. But whispers can build into winds, and take the world by storm.

— Less Is More by Jason Hickel (Page 35 - 36)