Earth Gratitude Economy: Beyond the human-centered linear view of history, toward a future where reciprocation creates value

Earth Gratitude Economy: Beyond the human-centered linear view of history, toward a future where reciprocation creates value

Prologue: Why now—re-examining the economy at its roots

I usually devote myself to bringing contemporary philosophy into public life. Because I believe one should not speak lightly outside one’s field, I have long avoided discussing economics head-on. Yet, faced with climate change, environmental destruction, and the social fragmentation confronting our planet and humankind, I cannot help but feel deep concern as a fellow human being.

This crisis is not merely the result of failed policies. It may stem from structural flaws in the very operating system we call “the economy,” which undergirds our civilization.

There is a line in the classic manga Parasyte that strikes straight at the heart:

“…Someone on this Earth suddenly thought: we must protect the future of all living things.”

That sudden, quiet “thought” may be exactly what we need now. Beginning from this intuition, and refined through dialogue with AI (ChatGPT and Gemini), this essay sketches a wholly new model of the economy. It seeks to move beyond the modern Western premises of anthropocentrism and a linear narrative of progress, and to place gratitude and reciprocation for the Earth’s gifts at the center of our economic system.

Chapter 1: The real bottleneck—limits of a human-centered, linear worldview

For roughly half a century, the world has raced down the path of neoliberalism and globalization. The pursuit of individual gain, market fundamentalism, and shareholder primacy were taken as absolutes; regulations were loosened; redistribution weakened. As a result, even when macro indicators signaled “growth,” middle classes in many countries eroded, inequality widened, and societies fractured. The “nation” no longer resembles a single community; it is as if two disconnected economic spheres—those of the wealthy and the poor—now coexist within the same country.

The root problem runs deeper still. Not only neoliberalism but much of modern economics born in the West rests on shared, often unconscious premises:

• Anthropocentrism: Nature is a “resource” for humans to use and profit from—leaving little room for reverence toward nature or for its intrinsic value.
• A linear view of history: The world has a beginning and an end, and history simply advances and progresses. Within this story, resource exhaustion and the time required for ecological regeneration are routinely downplayed.

This worldview is symbolized by the verse in Genesis, “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it.” Seeing nature as a tool for human ends, and leaving what comes after the Last Judgment to God, harbors a kind of irresponsibility that has relegated care for the Earth to a secondary concern. Recent movements such as the SDGs and ESG investing are admirable, yet to me they can still feel like managing nature “from above,” as if it were an object under human supervision.

Chapter 2: A shift in perspective—clues within Japanese sensibilities

Where might we find an alternative to anthropocentrism? Perhaps in the cultural memory we Japanese have nurtured.

When asked by foreigners, “If Japanese people are non-religious, what grounds your morality?”, we can answer: “Because we hold that human nature is good. Why do you assume people cannot be good without God or religion?” This stance is rooted in the Confucian doctrine of innate goodness, inherited from ancient China. Rather than a theory of innate evil that binds people by law, it trusts human goodness and seeks to govern society through virtue.

Likewise, the Japanese have long carried an animistic sensibility, sometimes sensing heart or spirit not only in living beings but even in inanimate things. We have seen mountains, rivers, rocks, and trees as dwelling places of the divine—giving thanks for nature’s bounty while also fearing its wildness. We are scolded for wasting things—“Don’t, or the mottainai ghost will appear”—and even hold rites like hari-kuyō to thank worn-out tools.

This sensibility also relativizes the notion of ownership. Land and resources are not something humans can permanently and exclusively possess; they are things we “borrow” for a time from the Earth and nature, by whose grace we live. This view resonates with that of many Native American traditions and with the Buddhist worldview of dependent origination (pratītyasamutpāda), which sees humans not as masters of all, but as one knot in a vast web of relations.

Socialism and communism posed radical questions about property, yet they ultimately fell into human-centered planning and, as in the Aral Sea disaster of the Soviet era, helped bring about some of history’s worst environmental harms. What we now need is not an ideological negation of property, but a new relationship grounded in gratitude to the Earth and in responsibility as borrowers.

Chapter 3: Designing a new model—Earth Gratitude Economy (EGE)

From this background, I propose a blueprint for the Earth Gratitude Economy (EGE). This is not a mere environmental policy. It is an attempt to rebuild the purpose of the economy—and its accounting, property, and institutions—around the logic of gratitude and reciprocation.

EGE Declaration

• Purpose: To build an economy that expresses gratitude for every gift received from the Earth and circulates that value not through destruction but through regeneration as our “return gift.”
• Principles: (1) Interdependence (relationality), (2) Minimal destruction / maximal regeneration, (3) Long-term, intergenerational justice, (4) Respect for care and repair, (5) Restoring the rights of nature and the commons.
• Outcome metrics: Rather than a single growth figure like GDP, emphasize biodiversity, resource-circulation rates, product lifespans, and regional well-being.
• Redefining ownership: Shift from exclusive ownership to usufruct—the right to use paired with duties of stewardship.
• Accounting: Record environmental destruction as an expense, and ecosystem restoration as capital formation.
• Money: Introduce Gratitude Credits (a “gratitude account”) whose value is created by contributions to ecological restoration.
• Governance: Include not only current human representatives but also guardians for future generations and for nature in decision-making.

Putting “gratitude” to work—concrete mechanisms

• Earth-gratitude accounting: Amend public and corporate standards so that deforestation or soil pollution are recognized as immediate expenses, while reforestation and wetland recovery are booked as investments in natural capital—aligning incentives so destruction no longer pays and regeneration does.
• From “polluter pays” to “restorer is rewarded”:
  • Right to repair & care economy: Mandate manufacturer repair manuals and parts supply; elevate repair, maintenance, and ecological restoration into core industries that also provide meaning, recognition, and social roles.
  • Extended Producer Responsibility 2.0: Provide products as a service, with responsibility extended to take-back and remanufacture.
  • Destruction levy & restoration dividend: Tax harmful activities and fund ecological restoration with the revenues.
  • Cumulative extraction cap: Set lifetime regional/national ceilings on resource extraction; allocate new quotas in proportion to demonstrated restoration.

Transforming governance
Reserve seats in parliaments and corporate boards for future-generation advocates and guardians of nature—scientists, carriers of Indigenous knowledge, and civic stewards—so that long-term sustainability is structurally embedded in decisions.

Conclusion: Toward an economy where reciprocation creates value

Gratitude is not only a beautiful feeling; it is a codifiable practice: when we receive a gift, we give back. The Earth Gratitude Economy translates this simple, universal ethic into price, accounting, property, and governance.

It is an economy in which the more we use, repair, and care for things over time, the richer our regions and our planet become. Direct contact with nature and acts that restore it also bestow immeasurable benefits on our bodies and minds; to heal the Earth is, in a profound sense, to heal our own souls.

This challenge suggests that our sensibility—even the tendency to sense “a heart” in AI and robots—may hold the key to updating the world’s economic system. Let us bid farewell to a human-centered historical narrative and move toward a future in which gratitude to the Earth and the return gift it calls for generate new value. May the dialogue toward that future begin here.