Ronald Colman

Jigme Y Thinley

We are at the beginning of mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. Greta Thunberg

In the documentary film, Ronald Colman, a visionary political scientist in Canada, and Jigme Y Thinley, the former Prime Minister of the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan, seek to establish a new set of indicators to replace the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to ensure that what really counts - socially, culturally, and ecologically is counted. Colman spent decades in Nova Scotia developing a series of measures called the Genuine Progress Index (GPI) and Thinley instituted the Gross National Happiness Index Model (GNH) in Bhutan. Both of these models give equal importance to non-monetary aspects of human wellbeing and take a more comprehensive and holistic approach to reflect human progress and happiness versus the GDP model of perpetual economic growth. Thinley and Colman eventually worked together to bring a new economic paradigm to the people of the world. An approach that may save us yet from environmental and social catastrophe.

In 2011, these ideas captured the public imagination with former UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, saying: “The old model is broken. We need a new one.” The UN created a new initiative on Defining a New Economic Paradigm with strong support from notable economists, scientists, civil and religious leaders.  However, powerful vested interests sidelined these efforts.

More than ten years later, Colman, Thinley and many other people around the world – youth, women, communities, politicians, economists, environmentalists – continue to seek new sustainable ways to counter the negative effects of unlimited economic growth which is leading to income inequality, extreme climate change and species extinction.


A Film by Kent Martin

with

Ronald Colman and Jigme Y Thinley

Featuring

Marilyn Waring Vanada Shiva

Sanjit Bunker Roy

Satish Kumar


Music

Jeff Reilly, Peter Anthony Tongi & Christoph Both

 Jerry Granelli    Asif Illyas        

  MacCrimmon’s Revenge   

 Karlene M. Francis    
                                                      
Jeff Torbert   Steve Mustain

Ludwig van Beethoven