DECONSTRUCTING BABYLON #005 - PLUGGING THE LEAK - DEFEATING THE ENGINE OF CHREMATISTICS🦎⚛️
Have you ever looked at the logging trucks roaring out of our region and wondered why, despite all that "wealth" leaving, our local shops are closing and our whānau are still struggling to make ends meet? It feels like we are living in a bucket with a massive hole in the bottom. That is because we are. Today, we are deconstructing Tool #2.
Tool #2 of Babylon: Chrematistics (the engine behind the "Leaky Bucket" economy)
In Research Report #224, we identify Chrematistics as the economic operating system of Babylon. To understand it, we have to look back to a distinction made by Aristotle.
Ekonomia (Oikonomia): This is the art of "household management". It is focused on the well-being of the people, stewardship of resources, and long-term health. In Ekonomia, there is such a thing as "enough".
Chrematistics: This is the art of "wealth accumulation" for its own sake. It is unbounded; there is no such thing as "enough" profit.
The current system in Taitokerau is Chrematistic. It treats our home as a resource to be mined rather than a household to be managed. This creates what we call the Leaky Bucket Economy.
Take our forestry: Northland exports roughly 61% of its harvest as raw logs. In thermodynamic terms, we are exporting "embodied energy"—the decades of sunlight, rain, and soil nutrients that built those trees. In return, we get back "paper wealth" (fiat currency) that quickly "leaks" out of the region to pay for imported petrol, electronics, and processed food. We keep the "disorder"—the slash on the hills, the ruined roads, and low-wage labour—while the "order" (the profit and value-add) happens offshore. This is a -2 Mauri Mate activity.
We counter Chrematistics by reclaiming Indigenous Ekonomia and building the Economic Pā The Economic Pā is a circular, "negentropic" engine designed to keep energy and wealth circulating within our own borders.
Instead of the linear "extract-make-waste" model, we move to a circular model where "waste" from one process becomes "food" for another. We see this in action at Ngāwhā Innovation Park, where geothermal heat is cascaded to power glasshouses and dry timber locally, retaining that "embodied energy" right here in the North.
How to Counter it in Everyday Life
You don't need a degree in finance to start plugging the leaks. You can act as a Universal Constructor today:
Prioritise Local Circulation: Every time you spend a dollar at a local grower or a Māori-owned business, you are keeping Mauri in our bucket instead of letting it leak to a global corporation.
Reject the "Discount Rate": Babylon values a dollar today more than a thriving mokopuna tomorrow. Counter this by making "Intergenerational Investments". Plant a fruit tree, share a skill with a young person, or support whenua-based initiatives like Tupu Tonu that invest for a 100-year horizon, not a 3-month profit cycle.
Measure Mauri, Not Just Money: Stop asking "How much does it cost?" and start asking "Does this increase the Mauri of my whānau and my land?". Use the Mauri Model scale (-2 to +2) for your own household decisions.
Like and share: Sorry had to say it lol. But seriously, the more people who get on board, the quicker change will happen. Also engage with Jason Tutahi if you aren’t already, as his knowledge, mana and mahi are complimentary to mine.
Chrematistics is a "Bad Explanation" of wealth. It tells us that hoarding money makes us rich, while our environment and communities go bankrupt. Today, choose one way to plug a leak in your life. Choose connection over accumulation. Choose Zion over Babylon.
