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A month ago I did my best to convince you that capitalism is a fundamentally unsuitable belief system, IF we collectively want to do things like, you know… have a functioning planet, ensure humanity survives as a species, etc.
The crux of the whole article was this:
All -isms tell you what they value most right in their name.
So, the thing capital-ism values MOST is capital. Capital-ism exists to serve those who already have capital and to make them more capital. This is its prime directive, and everything else is just… not incentivized.
Because of this, capital-ism is a belief system that is fundamentally incapable of meeting any kind of needs that aren’t aligned with the making of more capital.
This is why the best and easiest way to make money is WITH money, why trees and whales are “valuable” when they’re dead but not when they’re alive, and why the U.S. “healthcare” (heavy air quotes) system completely, ruthlessly sucks.
It’s also why capitalism will be unable to solve climate change, eliminate poverty, eradicate disease, or stop that world-ending comet headed for earth. (That last one was from a movie called Don’t Look Up. You should see it.)
If you’re not on board with all this, I invite you to listen to Episode 11.
But if you’re now curious what we might do instead of capitalism, you’re in the right spot.
Two quick disclaimers:
1) This is primarily about my friends in the U.S. — I want desperately to figure out a way for us to move boldly into a better future here. (So, friends from other countries, please share your ideas; I know some of your countries already do these things quite well!)
2) I am not walking into this article pretending I have some perfectly polished blueprint. I do think I have the basic shape of what needs to come next for the U.S. directionally correct, but I’m inviting you into this as a discussion. Please consider this an invitation: we will need to crowdsource what comes next.
What I am convinced of is that a whole lot of us are done pretending that what we’ve got now is the best we can do. I think we’re ready to imagine and design something better.
Alright, let’s go!
The Four Big Freakouts About Replacing Capitalism
I want to start with a few of the biggest questions about replacing capitalism.
Like you, I imagine, I come from an entire lifetime of swimming only in the waters of capitalism. It’s all I’ve ever known, from the moment I was born. This is almost certainly true for you, too.
I can tell you from personal experience: belief systems are tricky things to deconstruct. Why? Because, well, they form the very foundations of our beliefs. Questioning those things is going to make your whole reality feel “shaky” for a while.
Sometimes, we even “freak out” a little.
This is completely, absolutely normal.
Maybe just… expect it?
Knowing that feeling is coming won’t make it not arrive, but it will give you a different kind of thing to hold on to. Like a summer storm, the shakiness will pass, I promise.
OK, let’s get into what I call The Four Big Freakouts about replacing capitalism.
Q1. “But what about the free market?”
Ah, the “free market.”
Like you, perhaps, I was taught my whole life that there’s a “free market” out there, and if we pesky kids would just, you know, not muck it up, some sort of gentlemanly invisible hand would guide us all toward prosperity.
It’s a lovely idea. It is!
But my friends…
The “free market” is about as real as unicorns doing Pilates.
Robert Reich lays this out beautifully in his book The System. Markets aren’t “free,” they’re built. Designed. Structured. Curated. Held up by laws, courts, zoning, subsidies, contracts, tax codes, and the culture that continues to believe in them.
We have this fantasy that “the market” is some kind of emergent, benevolent biological entity… it is not. The market was made by humans and it is controlled by humans… with capital. And the story that it is somehow NOT made and controlled by humans was also, you guessed it, made up by humans.
Humans with capital.
Put another way: the market is like a terrarium. People just like you or me — but with capital — chose the temperature, humidity, soil, plants, predators, and prey.
So, there’s no such thing as a “free market.”
A better question is: is the market we have “free” for anyone?
Right now, the market only feels “free” for the holders of capital.
You know this. If you’ve got money, you’re fine. If you don’t, you struggle every day of your life.
So… a “free market” isn’t really a thing.
But “freedom” is a real thing, and it’s important because we all want it, so let’s talk about that.
The next freakout is…
Q2. “Wouldn’t moving beyond capitalism take away individual agency and personal freedom?”
Totally legitimate freakout.
We care about freedom and choice and liberty. And I’m an Enneagram 8, which means one of my core fears is being controlled by others. (True story!)
But let’s check in on the agency and freedom we actually have now.
We have the freedom to spend 40 years doing work that sucks the life out of us because we gotta pay the rent.
We have the freedom to go bankrupt due to medical bills.
We have the freedom to work on whatever capital wants us to work on — and absolutely nothing it doesn’t.
What do I mean by that one? Well, let’s imagine an economy that builds the things most of us want: walkable neighborhoods, arts, community spaces, childcare, parks, elder care, etc. Sounds nice, right?
Too bad!
Capital doesn’t like that sh*t! It’s not a good “investment!”
So it doesn’t get built.
“Individual agency” under capitalism is basically Henry Ford’s famous line: “You can choose any color car you want… as long as it’s black.”
That’s “agency” inside capitalism y’all: feel “free” to choose anything you want… as long as it maximizes shareholder value.
Yes, I know we will need to show that the next thing will provide agency and freedom, but first I want us to see that the bar for freedom is MUCH lower than we think.
We don’t have very much freedom and agency NOW.
We live in a political democracy, and we have a say in how our country is run, right? Why shouldn’t we also have a say in what we get to build and create with our work?
OK, now let’s talk a little more about work.
Q3. “Won’t replacing capitalism make everything inefficient and bureaucratic?”
This was a deeeeep belief system for me to deconstruct.
I had this understanding that the only alternative to capitalism was government, and government is inefficient and mostly terrible, because, well, I’ve personally interacted with the California DMV and I’m here to tell you it really is run by the sloths of Zootopia. (At least it used to be; I’ve been gone a long time.)
So I admittedly had some baggage to work through on this point.
But as I did the research for this episode, I had a bit of an epiphany.
I now think my perception of “government inefficiency” is what it is because of something we might call “generational trauma.” (To deeply understand what I’m about to say, you’ll have to listen to Episode 13 about The Fourth Turning.)
I was born in 1981, so my entire life has been lived during a Third and now Fourth Turning; these are eras that are always defined by institutional decay, polarization, and government dysfunction.
If you buy into this theory of Turnings, which you know I do, I’ve literally never been alive during a time when government was actually working.
So that means when I think “government,” my mind conjures that DMV waiting room, and also: stories of bridges that collapse because they weren’t fixed, high speed rail lines that can’t get built, and a completely, almost comically, inept Congress.
Maybe you feel all that, too.
But as I look deeper at government, I’m pretty sure this wasn’t always the case.
It’s just the era we’ve been in for the last four decades.
If we look backward to the time before I was born, during the last Winter season and moving into the First and Second Turnings of this last cycle, government was actually quite extraordinary. All around us we see evidence of the massive, impressive systems that were built then but still exist today:
- The internet
- The interstate highway system
- Public university expansion
- Social Security
- Rural electrification
- Giant public works like Hoover Dam
- NASA putting humans on the freaking MOON with less computing power than your phone’s calculator app
So if I expand my view to something larger than my lifetime, I clearly see that government can be wildly competent… many of us just haven’t lived through that version.
This is the challenge with Turnings: by the time the cycle comes around again, most of the humans that lived through the last one have passed on.
I’ll also point out that this era I’m pointing to — coming out of the Great Depression/WW2 and the 30-40 years after — is largely what collective nostalgia now seems to refer to as “the good old days.”
Let me be clear: those times were absolutely not good for everyone, and I don’t want us to go back there. I’m just saying that it’s a time period that is widely regarded as stable and functional in the civic sphere. We built public things that we were proud of, and we had a kind of communal stability to show for it.
Meanwhile, in today’s era, capitalism has some pretty great PR to convince us of its incomparable efficiency. But it can actually be wildly inefficient and deeply bureaucratic.
Consider:
- Health insurance billing labyrinths — you ever been stuck in one of these? I bet you have!
- Actually, all insurance paperwork processes are basically hellscapes (these truly represent every flaming circle of hell for me)
- HR policies thicker than Tolkien novels, with language that feels just as made-up
- Private energy utilities that collapse in bad weather (here’s looking at you, Texas)
- Legalese that is completely impregnable without a Harvard Law degree
This bureaucracy is NOT coming from the government my friends. It is driven by capitalism!
Capitalism isn’t across-the-board efficient; it’s just very efficient in the things that make more capital! And it’s deeply, often torturously, inefficient in the ways that don’t or won’t make more capital.
Conversely, government isn’t across-the-board inefficient. It can, and has, accomplished amazing things.
So it’s not “government = incapable” and “private market = incredible.”
A better question is: Are we actually producing the kind of things we want? Are we getting to work on the things we want? Are we making the kind of world we want?
Right now I believe most of us answer “no” to those questions.
Let’s do one more “Freakout”…
Q4. “But won’t innovation die?”
This is capitalism’s favorite bedtime story: “Without capitalism, the iPhone wouldn’t exist.”
I’m calling it: bullsh*t.
Innovation comes from human curiosity, not from corporations.
Also, historically, a tremendous amount of innovation springs from the patient, long-term, civic-funded research we talked about in Episode 9 about Seed Corn — things like universities, government labs, collective research, and openly explored science.
What happens is, many decades later, capital shows up to slap a logo on it and sell that innovation back to you.
So the bedtime story is actually: “Without a strong public investment, the iPhone would never be able to exist.”
That’s somehow less sexy than the “tech bro savior of the world in hoodie” persona, but it’s much more true.
Humans have been innovating for thousands of years.
Without capitalism, we’re not going to forget how.
Those were the Big Four Freakouts I’ve been working through… if you have another we should discuss in a future episode, please send me a note at future@hellotomorrowpodcast.com!
So… what do we do instead?
Have I told you I’m working on a new book…?
I’ll be sharing a lot more about this in the new year; I’m incredibly excited about it, and starting in January I’ll be taking you on the journey with me as I go from “idea” all the way to “book in your hand.”
I mention the book here, because the question of “what do we do instead” is a very big topic, and it’s what the last half of the book will be about.
That said, I’ll give you a preview of what I’m thinking so far.
Here’s the crux of it: We don’t replace capitalism with one big new system. We build a second economy (which I call The Commons) that will live in parallel to the capital-based economy (which I call The Market).
Let me explain these two economies…
The Commons
“If a thing is required for life, it should not be for profit.”
I mentioned a phrase like this in Episode 9, as well; this is basically the guiding mantra for what goes “in” the economy of The Commons.
The Commons is where we put everything required for a good life in the modern world:
- Clean water
- Food
- Healthcare and essential medicines
- Housing
- Childcare
- Energy to power the place you live
- High-speed internet access which some will need for work
- Mobility which some will need to get to work (i.e. public transit)
- Education
- Emergency services
This isn’t meant to be a comprehensive list, but you get the idea.
If you literally can’t live a good, healthy, modern life without it (and/or if the future is better if we ALL have access to it), it belongs in The Commons. And inside The Commons, everything gets governed by principles we might best call “economic democracy.”
I hinted at this idea earlier in the episode when I said “shouldn’t you have a say in what you get to build and create with your work?”
Right now, almost no one has any say in what they work on, unless they’re born with some kind of privilege that allows them to get there.
Most of us are stuck in workplace situations where we have very little control.
You don’t vote on business strategy.
You don’t direct resources.
You don’t choose what gets built.
Think about it: you’re basically a subcontractor to someone else’s (ahem, a billionaire’s) desires.
Economic democracy fixes that inside The Commons.
It says:
“If your life runs on it, if your kids depend on it, if your future is chained to it — you should have a say in how it works.”
In The Commons, people don’t just “consume” essential resources.
We co-govern them.
We choose how surplus gets spent.
We help decide what gets built.
We get an actual vote in the shape of our economic future.
This doesn’t mean chaos; it means distributed power, shared stewardship, and institutions that actually answer to the people they serve.
If this feels foreign, well… yeah, I get it, because this is definitely not the norm right now. I’ll share more examples down the road that get into the details of how The Commons will function.
But hopefully for now you get the idea, can see how powerful it would be, and just how much sense it makes.
Just remember this: you get a say in how your country is run. Why shouldn’t you get a say in what kind of work you spend your life doing?
The Commons is the “new” economy we must build in the coming Spring season.
The Market
The Market is basically what we have now, just with fewer things in it. And in my view, we simply let The Market keep doing Market-y things.
Seriously — let it run wild in all the places where the future isn’t on the line.
This is the home for:
- Cool gadgets and quirky tech
- Bougie restaurants
- Niche products
- $19 craft cocktails with sexy smoke
- New apps you’ll use twice
- Artisan socks (one of my personal favorites)
- Weird snacks at Trader Joe’s
This is basically all the fun, spicy, experimental things that make life even more interesting and exciting. There’s absolutely still a place for this stuff, and capitalism shines here.
The Market is phenomenal at:
- Novelty
- Creativity
- Variety
- Entertainment
- Convenience
- Solving problems nobody asked to solve, and
- Making life weird in delightful ways
The Market handles all the stuff we don’t NEED, but makes life fun, flavorful, and surprising. Keep that weird sh*t coming, Market!
We let the Market compete, disrupt, meme itself into oblivion. All that is good and fine and fun… as long as it’s not happening in the domains where human lives or our collective future depends on it.
Because capitalism is terrific at making dessert.
It’s a frickin’ disaster at making dinner.
The Optimistic Rebellion
So, that’s the idea for what comes next: two parallel economies. One for the things we need (The Commons) and one for the things we want (The Market).
I’ll explain more in future episodes (and in the book) why this solution isn’t just elegant and easy to understand, but will actually make both economies better.
Maybe one day we’ll figure out how to live in a world without capitalism entirely. I can imagine that future somewhere out there.
But right now?
I’m much more interested in building the way out. The exit ramp.
I believe this parallel structure is that path. It will make the current system optional instead of inevitable.
What do we need to do right now? We don’t need to overthrow capitalism this afternoon. We just need to start seeing clearly what it’s doing.
Here’s my favorite rebel practice to help us build that eyesight: I call it “The Requirement Scan.”
Once a day just ask: “Is this thing required for life?”
And if it is, the next question almost certainly will be: “Then why is someone allowed to profit off it?”
Healthcare.
Housing.
Childcare.
Medicine.
Safety.
Food.
Just noticing all the necessities of life that have been privatized to make someone — not you! — a lot of money is an act of rebellion that cracks the spell.
Capitalism isn’t oxygen.
It’s not gravity.
It’s not an irreducible element or an immutable law of nature, and it’s not the peak of human imagination.
It’s just the current chapter — and this chapter is getting tired.
What comes next isn’t a single system, it’s two economies running side by side.
A world where survival isn’t a product.
Where the future can be a shared asset.
Where The Market actually has to compete for the privilege of employing us.
A future where work gets better, life gets saner, and tomorrow feels like something we want to walk toward.
And the truth is: we’re not waiting for that world.
We’re already building it — one tiny act of optimistic rebellion at a time.
CLOSING REQUEST: If this helped you see things more clearly, please share it with just one person you think should hear it!
