Changing the Rules of the Economic System through Economy of Communion

The Economy of Communion is not interested in creating a system that only cares for its victim, it aims to build a system where there are no victims by changing the rules of the current socio-economic system through:

• Changing economic theory in favour of the poor - the current rules are not designed to overcome poverty and instead continue to favour those who already have wealth.

• Changing access to generate billion dollar valuation social enterprises matters because of the scale of the challenge – social enterprises work hard towards a social mission to bring about change yet struggle to raise large capital. A social impact stock exchange with a cloistered measure for social impact enterprises that reward performance for impact can be that tipping point.

• Changing education for a new generation of leaders – we need leaders who genuinely care for the common good. This cannot be achieved by training, but through a deep formation of the heart and spirit of the leader.  

People of goodwill want impact, but they are often scared of ambitious goals. A social enterprise valued at a billion dollars is taboo, even though the average AI startup raises that at a minimum. We do not lack the money or power to end poverty – we are just not doing it intentionally. Some even believe that poverty is inherent to our economic structure. But we are in the age of abundance – we know where the poor are and why they are stuck below a certain strata. It’s criminal if we know and do nothing about changing the rules of capital to enable better access for change.

The deeper problem we are trying to solve is not money, it lies in 3 other types of poverty:

1) The Poverty of Interconnectedness - there is a lack of trust capital among those looking to create impact

2) The Poverty of Institutions - insufficient institutions to house and mediate this trust capital

3) The Poverty of Inter-Innovation - there is no capacity for common growth – there is no lack of innovation itself, but how much of it actually moves the world forward? We love to be emotionally aroused, but that is not good enough. We need to be motivated for action   

We need good and wise leaders to drive these changes - people who lead according to the Holistic Leadership Competency Model: HERO

1. Heart and Spirit: A Leader’s personal virtues, character values and calling that guides decisions and purposeful actions

2. Embracive Thinking: Leaders who have the mental capacity to learn new information, think critically, embrace diversity of thought, and apply knowledge to real situations

3. Relational Dynamics: Leaders with good relationship building skills

4. Operational Leadership: Leaders who have the capabilities for functional leadership

The superpower of the world is technocracy – the power of technology. We are moving faster and quicker, computing power has now exceeded revenue generation, and capital markets are no longer logical progressions of revenue generation. The digital economy has become so powerful, it has a life form of its own, The money that we’re familiar with is no longer tethered to gold, it's unhinged, and it's tethered to computing power. So where is money flowing and how do we direct part of that for poverty alleviation?

Finally, all religions have giving and sharing at its core, and it is time to bring this back to the centre of economic regeneration. You don’t need a lot of people to change the world, you just need a new generation of creative changemaker leaders, institutions and solutions to realise an Economy of Communion - one that circulates trust and capital to those who shape our world for good.