Symbiotic Democracy - Economics

stepping into role as Economic Chancellor of this Symbiotic Democracy world, here’s how I’d lay out the vision, the structural changes, and the business, legal, and economic entities that need to be created or reformed to make it work.

Vision Statement

"We are replacing an economy of extraction with an economy of reciprocity.
We will not measure success solely by GDP, but by the health of our communities,
the regeneration of our resources, and the equitable distribution of value
to all who contribute to our shared future."

This system is post-capitalist and post-communist —
it’s not about the market vs. the state, but about community as the primary economic unit.
Every citizen belongs to one or more value-producing communities, and those communities govern their own economies, federating together for large-scale coordination.

1. New Economic Pillars

The economy is built on three interlocking layers:

A. Community Economies (Local / Sector-based)

  • The primary unit is the Community Cooperative — self-governed, contribution-based, and industry- or interest-specific.

  • These run their own marketplaces, treasuries, and governance.

  • Example: Renewable Energy Cooperative, Local Food Guild, Cycling Federation.

B. Federated Governance (Cross-Community)

  • Communities elect delegates to federated councils (regional, national, global) to coordinate:

    • Standards

    • Inter-community trade agreements

    • Shared infrastructure investment

C. Global Commons

  • Shared global resources (oceans, atmosphere, biodiversity data, major knowledge bases) are managed as commons with universal access protocols.

2. Business Entity Reform

We would phase out purely extractive corporate forms and expand the legal recognition of new ones:

A. Mandatory Community Affiliation

  • All businesses must be registered as a member of at least one industry community.

  • This community sets standards, ethical codes, and contribution requirements.

B. Cooperative & DAO Recognition

  • Full legal recognition of cooperatives and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) as primary corporate structures.

  • Ability to raise capital through community-issued tokens or bonds.

C. Multi-Stakeholder Corporations

  • Legal forms where governance power is split between workers, consumers, and investors.

  • No single stakeholder group can override the others.

D. Commons-Based Enterprises

  • Legal protection for entities that manage shared resources (knowledge, land, tech) for community benefit.

3. Legal Infrastructure Changes

We must rewrite commercial, intellectual property, and labor law to align with community-first economics:

A. Intellectual Property Reform

  • Shift from monopoly rights (traditional patents) to time-limited, contribution-based IP pools.

  • Communities can license IP collectively to outside entities for revenue.

B. Contribution Tracking & Compensation Law

  • Legal recognition of non-monetary contributions (mentoring, open-source work, governance participation) as economic value.

  • Smart contracts to automate payouts from project revenue streams.

C. Dispute Resolution Systems

  • Legally binding restorative justice frameworks instead of purely adversarial courts for community disputes.

D. Community Treasury Governance

  • Treasury funds are legally required to be transparent and democratically governed.

  • Anti-corruption measures baked into the operating protocols.

4. Economic Mechanisms

We need new financial tools that replace shareholder primacy with contributor primacy:

A. Community Tokens & Ledgers

  • Each community issues a token or credit system to track contributions.

  • Tokens are redeemable for:

    • Goods/services within the community

    • Revenue share

    • Voting power in governance

B. Federated Exchange

  • A cross-community platform where tokens can be exchanged or pooled for inter-community projects.

C. Commons Investment Funds

  • Funds that invest in:

    • Infrastructure

    • Education

    • Renewable resources

  • Returns go back to the contributing communities, not private investors.

5. Social & Cultural Transition Plan

Moving to this model requires cultural infrastructure as much as legal/economic reform:

A. Education

  • Curriculum that teaches:

    • Systems thinking

    • Community governance

    • Cooperative economics

    • Conflict resolution

  • Schools themselves operate as community cooperatives.

B. Public Service

  • Citizens encouraged to dedicate a set number of hours annually to community projects.

  • Contributions logged and recognized as part of your civic record.

C. Media

  • Publicly funded but community-run platforms to keep citizens informed of governance decisions and economic opportunities.

6. First Steps of Reform

If I were implementing this as Chancellor, the initial legislative package would include:

  1. Community Cooperative Act — legalizes and standardizes the structure of economic communities.

  2. Contribution Ledger Law — creates national framework for tracking, verifying, and rewarding contributions.

  3. IP Commons Act — allows communities to hold and license intellectual property collectively.

  4. Treasury Transparency Law — mandates open financial reporting for all community treasuries.

  5. Corporate Affiliation Mandate — requires all businesses to belong to a relevant industry or sector community.

The End Goal

A world where:

  • You don’t work for a company, you belong to a community.

  • Economic power is distributed across thousands of interconnected cooperatives.

  • The “invisible hand” of the market is replaced with the visible handshake of cooperation.

  • Wealth is measured not just in money, but in trust, resilience, and regenerative capacity.

SD - Economics, Symbiotic DemocracyFrancesca Tabor