The Economy for Life is ready to replace capitalism
Some time ago I made a video with my top 19 alternatives to capitalism. They were anarchism, buen vivir, bioeconomics, degrowth, doughnut economics, eco-development, economic democracy, economics of arrival, economy for the common good, economy of permanence, eco-socialism, fully automated luxury communism, participatory economics, permacircular economy, plenitude economy, postdevelopment, social and solidarity economy, steady-state economics, and trekonomics.
If we understand capitalism as an economic system, then we see how many of these alternatives do not properly qualify as economics systems. Some focus on power structures, some focus on lifestyles, some focus on markets, some are just science fiction. Socialism and communism are the traditional alternatives to capitalism, but they both carry some heavy historical baggage. If we are able to separate the crimes that were done in the name of socialism and communism, from the ideology itself, then we can consider both proper alternatives.
Before we continue, I would like to add to this list: degrowth communism, ecological economics, feminist economics, and wellbeing economics. These 4 concepts can easily qualify as proper economics systems. Today, I would like to introduce a new economic system, as a way to think about the entire list. This system would properly replace capitalism. Let us call it the Economy for Life.
An economic system is the way in which a society organizes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. It includes the institutions, policies, and mechanisms that determine how resources are allocated and how wealth is distributed among individuals and groups within the society. That’s a standard definition that even chat GPT knows.
For the Economy for Life to qualify as a system, we would start with some assumptions:
Economic growth cannot remain the core objective (this is the mission of degrowth)
Sufficiency and wellbeing should become the core objectives of economic activity
Economic democracy must expand and become a fundamental requirement for the survival of our species (this is about distribution of power in the economy, it’s about getting rid of unelected hierarchies in workplaces)
Property rights must be upgraded to become compatible with the preservation of the biosphere (this is about elevating the importance of the common property)
Entire sectors of the economy should be taken out of the logic of profit (this is about the decommodification of the economy) (see my video about equality)
The importance of money and finance should be reduced significantly to such an extent that buying things to signal social status would become impossible
All capital must become ecological, meaning it must consider the interdependencies of all living species
The continuation of life on Earth, with all its diversity and potential given by the laws of evolution, is the highest purpose we can aspire to
Equality, with fair and just distribution, with lower and upper limits of prosperity for all humans, is a desirable political agenda
Mainstream economists, as they practice today, operate with their own assumptions, which I may qualify as delusional. Many of them think that:
It is impossible to imagine an alternative to capitalism
Proportionality, dispossession, and hierarchies are fundamental requirements for any economic system. Proportionality is about linking power to property, such as in how one share gives one vote in the ownership of corporations, dispossession is about removing property from its owner in order to transform it into profit-making capital, and hierarchies are the methods by which capital is managed in a top-down pyramid-like structure in corporations.
Profit is the only way to motivate people to participate in the economy
Economies of scale are the only way to achieve efficiency
Property must be defended at all costs, even against the common good
Money is the only way to properly measure value
The Economy for Life, as an economic system, would begin by opposing the delusions of many mainstream economists. In practice, the new system, would start to take over from capitalism at the edges of the economy, through the way many humans are already leaving capitalism, by refusing to work for corporations, by refusing to participate in consumerism, by joining a cooperative, by living simply in ecovillages, by running for political office. This is one way to do it. To complement these approaches, the transition to the Economy for Life would happen also in a top-down fashion, when governments, would enact policies to take power away from the super rich, distribute wealth, increase economic democracy, and increase the standard of living.
The Economy for Life may look like an umbrella term for alternatives to capitalism, similar to how wellbeing economics, postgrowth, and even degrowth are often thought to be. The Economy for Life recognizes that there are valuable lessons to draw from many ideologies and concepts. Some will continue to label themselves socialists, communists, degrowthers, which is totally fine. Thinking about life as the “thing” that requires attention, regardless of labels, may keep us on the right track and avoid exposure to delusions. We may consider life, in all its forms, both human and non-human, as the most important event that has happened to planet Earth, the most beautiful, the most fascinating that should be given all chances to continue in all its complexity for as long as possible.
Policies are also super important. We have been discussing already some of them. Wealth Tax In-Kind. Universal Basic Income. Housing as a human right. Workplace democracy. Abolition of elections and transition to selecting the government by lottery. Maximum limits on wealth and consumption of materials. We will continue talking about policy. In fact, conversations about policies are as important as conversations about the fundamental values on which we live our lives.
This is not as utopic as may sound. In this mess we are in today, with fascism on the rise, with the risk of war, with burnout and anxiety, there are many reasons for hope. If we fight to get rid of capitalism and transition to an economy that truly values life, I think we can win. Even if it’s going to be hard battle, a long battle, I think it is worth fighting.
Photo by shingo matsui
@J. Thomas Dunn @Matt Golding @Michael Muyot @Michael Haupt @Anarcasper @Greedbane i know there are a bunch of folks I forgot to tag, but — one of us! Xoxo
I just wanted to say how much I appreciated your post. The way you wove together such a wide range of alternatives into a living, values-centered vision really struck me. Framing it as an Economy for Life felt like a breath of fresh air, something that prioritizes care, interdependence, and actual wellbeing instead of just productivity and profit.
What stood out to me even more, though, was how your proposal already speaks to power, even if you don’t frame it that way explicitly. Calling for economic democracy, elevating common property, decommodifying whole sectors, and breaking the dominance of financial capital, all of that is deeply about shifting the structures of power in society. You're not just talking about new goals; you’re inviting us to reconfigure how decisions are made, who gets to shape the economy, and what kinds of agency are even possible.
I’ve been developing a framework called Coordination: the Fabric of Power that maps exactly these kinds of shifts. How power emerges from coordination systems, and how different forms of power (like Power Over, Power With, Power To, and Power Through) show up depending on how we organize participation, decision-making, and feedback. I think your Economy for Life is already operating on this level, and could really benefit from making that layer more visible and intentional.
I’d love to talk more if it’s of interest. Feel free any time to DM me to discuss. In any case, thank you for this work. It’s thoughtful, bold, and grounded, and it’s exactly the kind of visioning we need right now.