Because ‘the Consumer is King,’ we believe that we are in charge. The glittering array of available choices makes us forget that there might be possibilities beyond the menu, or damage inherent in the very dynamic of our choice between them. That’s true not just in stores with crowded aisles, but in politics with its well-packaged candidates, datin

What would it look like if we put the same energy and inspiration that currently goes into telling ourselves we’re Consumers, into building our agency as Citizens?

Now the Consumer Story is collapsing in on itself, and is at risk of taking us down with it. It was supposed to set us free and give us power, but many of us feel trapped in a rat race, while the background to our lives is a spiral of decline we are powerless to do anything about.

Instead the story tells us that our agency is limited to choosing between options someone else provides.

just because Citizenship is inherent in human nature does not mean we are always wonderful to each other, and everything will automatically be fine. We have the capability, but the conditions – and in particular the stories –

the tension between the value of the individual and the concept of joining. ‘The mindset of the last few decades of capitalism telling us that we create our individual identities through the choices that we make in the marketplace is the opposite energy from ‘I’m joining a party.’’

At the venerable Bank of England, for example, there is the little knot of Citizen-employees responsible for creating Bank Underground, the open blog where staff share views that often challenge prevailing policy orthodoxies under such titles as Less is more: what does mindfulness mean for economics?49 The same group has initiated a series of regio

All life on Earth is an ecosystem, and it could be an ecosystem of generosity, a virtuous circle. If we improve things at any point we improve them at all points. That is what this movement and this moment are really about.

To embrace a new story, safe uncertainty is the mindset we need to cultivate not just as individuals, but as organisations, institutions, and indeed whole societies. This demands honesty, acknowledgement of the challenges, and a commitment to facing them together.