Empathicalism: An Alternative Worth Imagining
Originally published at the World Economic Forum webpage.
Any attempt to outline a detailed alternative to capitalism in a short article risks sounding naïve. Economic models are complex, shaped by the diverse realities and histories of societies around the globe. Yet, despite these complexities, a growing consensus is hard to ignore: the current capitalist system is failing too many people.
The Current Model
Capitalism has undoubtedly delivered profound benefits over recent decades. It has driven technological advancements, including innovations in renewable energy crucial for low-carbon futures; enabled medical breakthroughs that have expanded life expectancy worldwide; and catalyzed wealth creation, lifting hundreds of millions out of extreme poverty, especially in emerging economies.
But these achievements have come at a staggering cost.
We are now confronting unprecedented social and environmental crises, many deeply rooted in the incentive structures of capitalism itself. A system that prioritizes profit above all else inevitably sidelines social inclusion and environmental sustainability.
The signs of systemic failure are glaring: widening inequalities within and between nations; over two billion people, mostly in the Global South, still without basic sanitation or clean cooking; more than 70 million forcibly displaced by conflict and climate disasters; surging migration waves; rising social tensions; ocean acidification driven by reckless land use; and accelerating biodiversity collapse, threatening global food security.
These are not fringe talking points. They are realities consistently documented by the global academic community, international organizations like the UN, the World Bank, and the World Economic Forum, across political lines.
Why More Equal Societies Matter
Would 'socialism'—a word that triggers instinctive rejection in many defenders of capitalism—be a viable alternative? Historical socialist experiments collapsed for multiple reasons, including unresolved structural flaws around incentives and a tendency towards authoritarianism. Yet, socialism also offers valuable lessons: chiefly, the importance of shared prosperity and more equal societies.
As the sociologists Wilkinson and Pickett documented in The Spirit Level (2009), societies with smaller income gaps between the richest and the poorest tend to enjoy healthier, happier, and more cohesive communities.
Promoting shared prosperity can take many forms. Within the private sector, leading companies — ranging from tech giants like Google to food producers like Chobani —have adopted employee ownership models. Governments, too, can foster social cohesion by ensuring access to common goods: public parks, cultural venues, and other shared spaces that nurture community life.
Zygmunt Bauman, in The Individualized Society, warned of a growing fragmentation of human existence, where the obsession with individual success undermines collective well-being. This fragmentation, exacerbated by consumerism and industrial-era work divisions, is at the heart of many modern social ills.
Reducing inequality is not simply a moral cause, it is pragmatic. Even among wealthy countries, those with high inequality, such as the United States, experience more social dysfunction, including higher rates of addiction, infant mortality, and violence, than more equitable societies like Japan.
Shareholders of Planet Earth
At its core, capitalism today is failing to deliver shared prosperity while simultaneously corroding the social fabric. The distance between self and society has widened, weakening our sense of belonging and community.
But empathy offers a way back. Empathy narrows the gap between self and other —and that is precisely what the world urgently needs: pragmatic empathy.
A world that allows individuals to thrive at the expense of the planet and their neighbors is a world heading toward collapse. No one can claim success in a civilization on the verge of failure.
Reimagining prosperity means ensuring every person can lead a dignified life. As shareholders of planet Earth, we should all be entitled to dividends, not financial, but social: access to housing, clean water, healthy food, sanitation, healthcare, and education. And the first step towards this vision starts with empathy.
Towards an Empathy-Based System
Imagine a new system, built on the best ideas from across economic ideologies — one we might call Empathicalism.
In this system, innovation and entrepreneurship are valued. Capital and incentives remain, but are reframed as tools for building a more humane and balanced society. Empathicalism would foster prosperity, yet prevent the corrosive extremes of inequality.
Positioned between the excesses of unregulated capitalism and the rigidity of failed socialist experiments, empathicalism would be a bridge: between systems, between regions, and between people. It would transcend divisions and cultivate genuine community, reminding us we are part of a greater whole—and that without the whole, we are diminished.
If we hope to reshape the world for the better, there is no path forward without empathy towards each other and towards the planet we all share.