Noni Mausa — Endurance, Shovedown and Pancaking

Over the past few years I have been trying to put a name to a dominant part of the human economy. Its defining nature is that it is essential, is ignored, is underpaid or even punished, and is done anyway.

Let’s call it the Endurance Economy. Many apparently unrelated activities fall into this class: Philosophy and religion, journalism, music and art and literature, farming and ranching, crafts and intricate skills, inventing and experimentation, child rearing, nursing, teaching, military, whistle blowing, emergency aid and rescue, blogging, and many more.

Without necessarily knowing it, we all depend on the “endurance sector” for our stability, support and sustenance. In its many guises, it is respected in theory (political speeches and most of country music praise endurance work,) but in practice it’s taken for granted and generally paid at or below cost and always below its value.

The corollary is that the best things in life are free or very low cost. It is where enduring value is created. But, as Mausa observes, only as long as this lasts. It is possible for a society to destroy enduring value and this happens, for example, when monetization is mistaken for valuation.

Angry Bear
Endurance, Shovedown and Pancaking
Noni Mausa