When we turn the body into human capital, the political consequences of the body disappear. Hands that are raised, legs that move, fingers that point, floors that are mopped, mouths that are fed. Our economy is built on bodies.
If the body was taken seriously as a starting point for the economy, it would have far-reaching consequences. A society organized around the shared needs of human bodies would be a very different society from the one we know now.
Hunger, cold, sickness, lack of healthcare, and lack of food would be central economic concerns. Not like today: unfortunate by-products of the one and only system.
Our economic theories refuse to accept the reality of the body and flee as far from it as they can. That people are born small and die fragile, and that skin cut with a sharp object will bleed no matter who you are, no matter where you come from, no matter what you earn, and no matter where you live. What we have in common starts with the body. We shiver when we are cold, sweat when we run, cry out when we come, and cry out when we give birth. It's through the body that we can reach other people. So, economic man eradicates it. Pretends it doesn't exist. We observe it from the outside as if we were foreign capital.
And we are alone.
— Katrine Marçal
basic-needsbodieseconomy
