We are building options for the next economies
At Dark Matter Labs, we view the interconnected crises of our time as symptoms of a deeper, structural miscoding of our economic systems. We understand these codes to be physical (e.g. biodiversity, energy, labour and materials), structural (e.g. money creation, embedded inequality and private property rights) and psychological (e.g. failure of the imagination).
Recognising the complex, entangled reality of living systems, we are exploring alternative pathways for organising society and stewarding the shared planetary commons. Our working hypothesis is that these pathways must be rooted in a radical reframing of our relationship to everything; from technology and money to land and the other-than-human world. We are framing this transformation as a shift towards Life-Ennobling Economies.
Economic options are bold directional aspirations
What would it mean to align societal ambition to the magnitude of the transformation that is required? We cannot be sure how the future will play out or the specific infrastructures that will be required. However, we can build towards a range of economic options that are likely to be needed. We are imaging new investment opportunities for city-scale tree canopies, community endowments and resilient bioregional food systems. We envisage that the electrification of transport networks, the mental health of communities and the collective intelligence of cities will become recognisable assets, understood as commitments to a regenerative future. We are also considering what might be unleashed if houses were self-owning and affordable in perpetuity. Or if rivers could express their need for care. We believe all these things are both possible and necessary. These are bold aspirations and will only be achieved by a collective movement of diverse communities and unusual allies. This is a story of practical reimagining that we are excited to put our energy behind.
Dark Matter Labshttps://darkmatterlabs.org/