Page 70 - GHES-2-3

Global Health Economics and
Sustainability

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
Promoting sustainability through equality,

peace, and justice: A luck-dependent decision-
making practice in an economically successful

intentional community

Carol Nash*
Department of Psychiatry, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario,
Canada

Abstract

The sustainable development goals (SDGs) of the United Nations address global
challenges such as reducing inequality (Goal 10) and promoting peace and justice
(Goal 16). Intentional communities inherently support the SDGs through their focus
on equality and their decision-making practices to settle interpersonal conflicts to
achieve peace and justice for their members. While intentional communities have
garnered recent interest as potential models for meeting these goals, research in this
area remains limited. In addition, the economic success of the intentional community
is crucial for its sustainability and societal relevance. This study investigates how
Academic editor: an economically successful intentional community, the Korean popular music
Mihajlo Jakovljevic M.D. Ph.D. MAE
group Stray Kids, contributes to Goals 10 and 16 through its decision-making
*Corresponding author: practices that promote equality, peace, and justice. What is unexpected is that the
Carol Nash
(carol.nash@utoronto.ca) mutually agreed-upon practice for decision-making involves accepting luck and often
settling community disputes through the game of Rock-Paper-Scissors—an unusual,
Citation: Nash, C. (2024). though not unheard-of, practice in various official capacities. This study investigates
Promoting sustainability through
equality, peace, and justice: A luck- the significant features of this practice and its relationship to group cohesion and
dependent decision-making practice individual mental health using the historical research method, considering both its
in an economically successful strengths and weaknesses. Insights are provided regarding the potential application
intentional community. Global
Health Econ Sustain, 2(3):3191. of this decision-making method to mainstream society, aiming to improve the social
https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.3191 and economic sustainability of its institutions in achieving Goals 10 and 16.
Received: March 18, 2024
Accepted: May 10, 2024 Keywords: Sustainable development goals; Intentional communities; Economically
successful; Stray Kids; Luck; Rock-Paper-Scissors
Published Online: July 3, 2024
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s).
This is an Open-Access article
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution 1. Introduction
License, permitting distribution,
and reproduction in any medium, The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (United Nations, 2023) aims to guide
provided the original work is societies toward a more sustainable future for all based on 17 sustainable development
properly cited. goals (SDGs) established in 2015. Through the 17 goals, the agenda has become a global
Publisher’s Note: AccScience framework for ending poverty, protecting the planet, and reducing inequalities. Two of
Publishing remains neutral with these goals are the focus of this study: Goal 10, which targets decreasing inequality, and
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional Goal 16, which aims for peace and justice (United Nations, 2015). There is a growing
affiliations. interest in how intentional communities can serve as models to achieve these goals

Volume 2 Issue 3 (2024) 1 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.3191