1.3.2 Principle 2: Regenerative and sustained re-investment

Living things, ecosystems, and societies—the flow networks we are most interested in—have organically co-evolved to be self-sustaining. They must invest resources continuously in expanding, preserving, and restoring their internal capabilities if they want to survive. They are inherently self-renewing and regenerative as a result of this. Any society that wants to prosper and last a long time must therefore keep investing in its internal resources, including its citizens’ skills and wellbeing, the integrity and capabilities of its institutions, the infrastructure of its commonwealth, including its roads, schools, the Internet, and utilities, as well as its supporting environment’s ecosystem services. Investing in human capital concurrently boosts network productivity, inspiration, creativity, loyalty, and learning. Internal circulation is therefore far more crucial to vitality than GDP development, which just measures the amount of flow without accounting for its destination or method of usage. According to studies, for instance, the G.I. Bill contributed $7 to the US economy for every $1 spent. The number of locally based enterprises and the amount of money invested made in local capacity both increase economic resilience, which is another benefit of supporting local businesses. Instead, by limiting investment, circulation, and socioeconomic nutriment, particularly at the grassroots level, austerity measures damage already ailing economies.