From Pandemic to Post-Capitalism

A Peaceful Transition?

It is time to seriously investigate how we can make a peaceful transition to a cooperative society. If humanity chooses sharing and cooperation over control and competition, we can convert corporate and private assets to commonly held resources. We can reinvent our institutions to support social and ecological regeneration.

Currently we are experiencing an astonishingly rapid global economic collapse due to Coronavirus. At this point, all bets are off about the future of our political and financial systems. Despite the hardships this is causing, it is a great thing. The pandemic will be a blessing if it redirects our path from where we were heading, which was assured ecological collapse and probably extinction. But the alternative requires a collective awakening followed by a disciplined effort. Enough of us have to focus on creating the alternative. This requires, first of all, space for reflection, which we now have.

Humanity desperately needed a time out, a pause, to reassess the direction of our society and the meaning of “progress.” Right now, we must take this opportunity to consider where we are going as a species. Perhaps, finally, people are willing to consider radical ideas for how we reorganize and redesign our social and technical systems for the benefit of people today as well as future generations.