Our Ancient Futures

Helena Norberg-Hodge offers a path forward that stems from a transformative experience that she had in Ladakh, a remote region on the Tibetan plateau. Ladakh had been completely sealed off to the outside world for centuries—resulting in the happiest and healthiest people that Helena had ever met. But as this paradise opened up to the modern world, its social and ecological well-being quickly unraveled. How might we design ancient futures that reclaim the abundance and equality that our ancestors once enjoyed—what Helena calls the Economics of Happiness.