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Executive Summary
The global economy, oriented around the maximization of profit, is not a neutral mechanism of exchange but a structural order that reproduces harm. This paper argues that “profit before life” constitutes a form of structural violence — a systemic design that disables, undermines, and betrays life.
Key arguments:
- Disabling Health and Well-Being – Profit-first incentives in healthcare, food systems, and pharmaceuticals prioritize treatment markets over prevention and flourishing.
- Disabling Ecology and Planetary Integrity – Extractive industries externalize ecological costs, treating living systems as expendable.
- Disabling Democracy and Social Coherence – Profit logic fragments societies, erodes trust, and institutionalizes inequity.
Case Studies (opioid epidemic, agrochemical dependency, financial crises) reveal systemic betrayal as a pattern, not an exception. Institutions entrusted to enable life instead disable it while concealing harm under the banners of growth, innovation, and efficiency.
Proposed Paradigm Shift:
- Anchor value in McMurtry’s Primary Axiom (enable life rather than disable it).
- Guarantee universal life necessities as commons.
- Redesign institutions around life coherence, nested regeneration, and social trust.
The choice before us is stark: continue along the trajectory of structural violence, or pivot toward a regenerative economy that enables rather than disables life.