I've been reading a number of diaries here that are basically rants against the capitalist system. We can agree the prevailing system is unsustainable and is leading the planet over a cliff, but what are the alternatives? I have not not seen many solutions other than vague calls for "revolution." It would be good to have more discussions on real options.
A couple of years ago an Austrian activist - Christian Felber - wrote a book outlining his vision for a different type of economy:Die Gemeinwohl-Ökonomie ("The Common Good Economy"), which has spawned a movement. Felber not only put forward his ideas of more just economy, he came up with a series of indicators which can be empirically measured and form the basis for a system of financial incentives and rewards. Companies that buy into the principles of the Common Good Economy publish an annual balance sheet, produced by an outside auditor. The principle is that the more common-good "points" a business achieves, the more legal benefits it should enjoy. For example, companies with a positive common-good balance sheet could benefit from lower taxes, obtain loans from national banks at lower interest rates and be given priority in public purchasing and the awarding of contracts. Companies would be rewarded for products and services that are environmentally sustainable and traded fairly (and penalized for nondurable, disposable products).
The principles of the Economy for the Common Good can be found on the movement Web site (multiple languages.)
The Economy for the Common Good places human beings and all living entities at the center of economic activity. It translates standards for human relationships as well as constitutional values into an economic context and rewards economic stakeholders for behaving and organizing themselves in a humane, cooperative, ecological and democratic way. The key instrument for this behavioral guidance is the Common Good Balance Sheet.
You can find the elements of the Common Good Balance Sheet in English
here.
Lest we think this all just a nice, utopian idea, it should be noted that more than 1,400 companies have adopted the Economy for the Common Good principles, and many have already produced balance sheets. One bank, the Sparda Bank in Munich (imagine a bank for the common good!) has been very successful and just published its second Common Good Balance Sheet. If you read German, it can be found here.
Hopefully, this promising idea of an Economy for the Common Good can spread beyond German-speaking countries.