Societal Business: The Revolution of Economics – Laying the Foundation for the New Matrix Economy

New Matrix Economy
Core Concept	Societal Business
Foundation	Meta-Level of Economics
Initiator	Dr Judith Annabella Voll
Focus	Systemic Change, Life-Serving Economy

1. The Turning Point: Why a Fundamentally New Economic Matrix is Inevitable

Our current way of doing business has brought humanity and the planet to a critical crossroads. Accumulating ecological crises, growing social inequality, and a profound erosion of meaning are not isolated phenomena but systemic symptoms of an economic order whose foundations have become fragile. An "economy that kills" – as Pope Francis succinctly put it – through its relentless logic of cost externalization, short-term profit maximization, and ignorance of natural life-support systems, can have no future. Cosmetic corrections and superficial adjustments fall short. What we need is a fundamental change at the deepest level of our economic thinking and action: the meta-level. From this deep insight into the necessity of a radical reorientation arises the vision of the New Matrix Economy, a transformative concept significantly developed by Dr Judith Annabella Voll and the Societal Business Think Tank. The New Matrix Economy is nothing less than a call to rethink and reshape economics from the ground up – for life.

2. The Old Matrix: Anatomy of a Destructive System

The "Old Matrix" of economics, which has shaped our world for decades, if not centuries, and whose dominant manifestation we know as global capitalism, is rooted in a set of core assumptions that are increasingly proving to be destructive and hostile to life:

• Greed as a legitimate driver: The incessant increase of profit and material growth is fetishized as the primary goal and measure of success, regardless of collateral damage.
• Systematic externalization: Social and ecological costs are not considered an integral part of economic calculation but are consciously or unconsciously shifted onto the general public, vulnerable groups, future generations, and the planet.
• Reductionist thinking: A short-sighted, fragmented view of problems and solutions that ignores systemic interconnections and long-term consequences. Humans become "human resources," nature a "raw material depot."
• Dogma of perpetual competition: A "war of all against all" that undermines cooperation and solidarity and leads to a ruthless exploitation of humans and nature.

The devastating consequences of this Old Matrix are undeniable: climate collapse, mass extinction, social upheavals, wars over resources, and a profound loss of trust in institutions. This system is not merely in need of reform – it has lost its legitimacy and its viability for the future. It must be replaced by a fundamentally different matrix.

3. The New Matrix Economy: Revolution at the Meta-Level for a Life-Serving Future (Vision Dr J. A. Voll)

The New Matrix Economy, as conceived by Dr Judith Annabella Voll, is not merely an optimization of the existing system but a revolutionary counter-design. It starts at the meta-level – with the fundamental values, principles, and the very purpose of economics.

3.1 The Paradigm Shift: New Axioms of Economics

In the New Matrix Economy, life-serving axioms replace the destructive assumptions of the Old Matrix, enabling an economy in harmony with humans and nature:

• Life-serving as the supreme primate: All economic activity is aimed at protecting, promoting, and regenerating life in all its diverse forms. Humans are part of this web of life, not its masters.
• Cooperation and symbiosis as a foundation: Instead of ruinous competition, systemic cooperation, networks of trust, and symbiotic relationships are promoted, leading to win-win-win situations for all participants and the planet.
• Regeneration as an economic imperative: Economic processes are designed not only to avoid harming natural and social systems but to actively contribute to their restoration and revitalization (e.g., regenerative agriculture, circular economy).
• Systemic thinking and holistic responsibility: Decisions are made based on a deep understanding of complex interconnections. Responsibility is assumed for the entire lifecycle of products and services and their impact on the overall system.
• Intrinsic motivation and fulfillment of purpose: Economics becomes a source of meaning and personal development that goes beyond purely material incentives.

The New Matrix Economy is thus a fundamentally new framework for thought and action, operating from a higher level of consciousness and radically redefining the purpose of economics: as an integral part of a thriving, just, and sustainable civilization.

4. Societal Business: The Lived Transformation – Economics According to the Principles of the New Matrix

Societal Business is the consistent and practical implementation of the New Matrix Economy in the entrepreneurial context. It is not a special niche or an "add-on" to the old system, but the aspired standard for *all* economic activity. A Societal Business sees itself as an integral, responsible part of society and the ecosystem and aligns all its actions with the principles of the New Matrix.

4.1 The Four Revolutionary Principles of Societal Business as Cornerstones of Transformation

The four core principles formulated by Dr Judith Annabella Voll are the foundation and compass for every Societal Business. They are not optional but constitutive:

4.1.1 Lived Holistic Responsibility: Beyond the Logic of Externalization – Integrity as Foundation

A Societal Business assumes full and undivided responsibility for all impacts of its actions – economic, ecological, and social – along the entire value chain and beyond. There is no externalization of costs onto third parties or the environment. Integrity and accountability are the basis of every decision.

4.1.2 Radical Truthfulness: The Unvarnished Truth of Costs and Impacts

This principle demands absolute transparency and honesty regarding all processes, products, cost structures (internalization of all external costs), and the actual impacts on humans and the planet. Greenwashing and misleading communication are incompatible with this principle. It is about a culture of openness and honest dialogue.

4.1.3 Consistent Life-Alignment: Economy as a Servant of Holistic Well-being

The purpose of a Societal Business is to make a positive contribution to the flourishing of life. Products, services, and business models are developed and evaluated based on whether they promote human well-being, social justice, and ecological regeneration. Profit is a necessary means and an indicator of functioning, value-creating processes, but never the primary end in itself.

4.1.4 Universal Fairness: Just Rules of the Game and Systemic Integrity

Societal Business strives for fair relationships with all stakeholders: employees, customers, suppliers, the local community, and the natural environment. This includes fair wages, just trade practices, respect for human rights, and advocacy for frameworks that counteract exploitation and inequality throughout the economic system. It is about co-creating an economy based on justice and equal opportunities for all.

5. System Collapse vs. System Healing: Capitalism (Old Matrix) in Unsparing Comparison with the New Matrix Economy (Societal Business)

The veil of appeasement must fall. The dominant capitalist economic system, as the most powerful manifestation of the Old Matrix, has led us to the brink of multiple systemic crises. It is time for an unsparing assessment and a direct comparison with the transformative potential of the New Matrix Economy, which finds its practical form in Societal Business. It is about nothing less than the choice between a path leading to collapse and one that promises healing and a livable future.

This comparison makes it unequivocally clear: Capitalism in its current form is not the solution but a core problem for the most pressing challenges of our time. It is a machine that systematically undermines the quality of life for many to generate material wealth for a few. The New Matrix Economy, actualized through Societal Business, offers an alternative: a path to an economy that is not only profitable in terms of financial health but, above all, profitable for life itself – for every individual, for society, and for the planet. It is the chance to create a world where prosperity and well-being go hand in hand, and "living well" does not come at the expense of others or the future.

6. The World of the New Matrix: A Vision of the Possible

What would a world based on the principles of the New Matrix Economy and Societal Business look like? It would be a world where:

• Companies do not primarily fight for market share and profits, but compete to make the greatest positive contribution to society, the environment, and the well-being of their employees. Innovation serves to solve real problems and promote regeneration.
• Success is measured not only by Gross Domestic Product, but by indicators of genuine quality of life, ecological health, social justice, and human happiness.
• Work for most people is a source of fulfillment, personal development, and creative co-creation, rather than mere livelihood or alienating duty.
• Technology and digitalization are tools that support human connection, cooperation, decentralized self-organization, and the regeneration of natural systems, instead of promoting surveillance, control, and alienation.
• Local and regional economic cycles are strengthened, and communities flourish, while global cooperation on an equal footing masters planetary challenges.
• Natural resources are considered a precious common heritage and managed according to regenerative principles, so they are abundant for future generations as well.
• Poverty, hunger, and existential hardship are things of the past because the economic system is geared towards universal basic security, fair access to resources, and the unfolding of human potential.

This vision is not a distant utopia, but a realistic goal if we have the courage to overcome old thought patterns and consistently implement the principles of the New Matrix.

7. The Leap into the New Matrix: An Appeal for Radical Co-creation

The transformation towards the New Matrix Economy and lived Societal Business is perhaps the greatest and most urgent task of our time. It is not an abstract dream, but a concrete necessity for the survival and flourishing of humanity on this planet. The concepts developed by Dr Judith Annabella Voll and the Societal Business Think Tank offer a well-founded compass and powerful inspiration for this endeavor.

However, this profound change cannot be decreed or achieved by a few. It requires a leap in consciousness and the determined commitment of us all: as consumers, as entrepreneurs, as investors, as political decision-makers, as citizens of this Earth. It is time to cast off the shackles of the Old Matrix – fear, greed, convenience – and with visionary clarity, creative power, and unwavering will, to create an economic system that celebrates, nourishes, and honors life in its entirety.

The future is not a destiny that passively befalls us. It is the result of the decisions we make today, the values we live by, and the systems we design. The door to the New Matrix is open. Let us step through it together and build an economy truly worthy of the name – an economy for life!

8. The Extension: Consciousness as the Foundation of the New Matrix

The Core Situation: Consciousness as Primordial Ground and Shaper of Reality

Imagine consciousness not as a function of the brain, but as the fundamental primordial ground of all being – an infinite field of pure potential, pure intelligence, and pure love. We, as individual beings, are expressions, individual focal points of this universal consciousness. Our "reality" – the world as we experience it, and the systems we create – is a reflection of the degree to which we are aware of, or feel separated from, this true nature of ours.

The Old Matrix: The Manifestation of a Clouded, Ego-Dominated Consciousness

The "Old Matrix" is the result of a state of consciousness primarily shaped by the ego. The ego is that part of our consciousness that perceives itself as separate, isolated, and vulnerable. From this fundamental illusion of separateness spring destructive patterns:

1. The Illusion of Separateness as the Root of All Suffering

• Detail: When consciousness primarily identifies with the limited form of the body and personality, an "I" here and a "world" or "Others" there emerges. This perceived division is the deepest cause of fear – fear of lack, fear of loss, fear of the Other, fear of death.
• Consequence: From this fear arises the need for control, accumulation (greed as compensation for inner emptiness and insecurity), demarcation, and defense.
• Core Decision: A consciousness that feels separate makes decisions that primarily serve its own, supposedly isolated advantage, often unconsciously at the expense of the whole.

2. Systematic Externalization as a Psychological Defense Mechanism

• Detail: Because the "Other" (nature, future generations, other societal groups) is perceived as separate from one's own self, the negative impacts of one's actions on these "Others" can be suppressed or ignored. It is like throwing trash into a neighbor's garden because one doesn't want it in one's own – without realizing that the wind will inevitably carry back the stench and pests, or that the neighbor is part of one's own community.
• Consequence: Social and ecological costs are not perceived as *one's own* costs. The atmosphere, the oceans, the poor, the exploited – they become external dumping grounds for the "waste products" of an economic system geared towards short-term, selfish gain.
• Core Decision: The refusal to take full responsibility for *all* consequences of one's actions because the connection to these consequences has been severed at the level of consciousness.

3. Reductionist Thinking as an Expression of a Fragmented Consciousness

• Detail: A consciousness that perceives itself as an isolated part tends to break down the world into isolated parts as well. It loses sight of the big picture, of the complex, subtle, and often non-linear interconnections.
• Consequence: Humans become "human resources" (a production factor to be optimized), nature a "raw material depot" (an object to be exploited). The intrinsic value, the soul, the aliveness of the whole are lost. Solutions are often symptom treatment rather than causal healing.
• Core Decision: To view the world through a narrowed, mechanistic lens that ignores the deeper, living interconnectedness.

4. The Dogma of Eternal Competition as a Mirror of Inner Struggle

• Detail: The fear and scarcity mindset of the separate ego lead to the conviction that there is not enough for everyone. Life is interpreted as a struggle for scarce resources. "The strongest wins."
• Consequence: This inner state of struggle and competition projects outward into an economic system based on a "war of all against all." Cooperation is dismissed as weakness or naivety.
• Core Decision: To define life primarily as an arena of competition and antagonism, rather than a field of mutual flourishing.

The Critical Point: The Impossibility of Peace and Happiness in the Old Matrix

As long as collective consciousness is trapped in these patterns of separation, fear, and egocentrism:

• War will always be a possibility: War is the ultimate manifestation of the illusion of separation and the belief that conflicts can only be resolved through violence and dominance. The "Others" are enemies whose existence or claims threaten one's own survival. Resource wars are a direct consequence of the scarcity dogma.
• Discomfort will be systemically generated: Stress, burnout, depression, loss of meaning are the psychological costs of a system that reduces humans to their function as producers and consumers, ignoring or even punishing their deeper needs for meaning, connection, creative expression, and leisure. The "economy that kills" also kills the spirit and the soul.
• Killing on all levels will continue:
  • Physical killing: Animals in factory farming, humans in wars or through poverty and preventable diseases, the consequences of environmental destruction.
  • Ecological killing: Extermination of species, destruction of habitats, poisoning of the elements.
  • Spiritual killing: The suppression of human potential, the destruction of cultures, the denial of the sacred dimension of life.

The New Matrix: The Manifestation of an Awakened, Loving Unity Consciousness

The "leap" is a fundamental shift in consciousness. It is the collective awakening to the reality of the interdependence and unity of all being. It is the deep, felt realization that "I" am not separate from "You" or from "Nature," but that we are all aspects of a single, indivisible stream of life, a universal consciousness.

1. Life-Affirmation as the Supreme Primacy – From Felt Unity

• Detail: When I experience in my deepest being that the suffering of the Other is my suffering and the joy of the Other is my joy, then caring for the well-being of all life becomes a natural, spontaneous reaction. It is not a moral duty but an expression of the love that is the essence of awakened consciousness.
• Consequence: All actions are measured by their impact on the entire web of life. The question is no longer: "What's in it for *me* (my ego)?", but: "Does it serve life? Does it promote healing, harmony, and flourishing for all?"
• Core Decision: To act from a state of love and connection that inherently considers the well-being of the whole.

2. Cooperation and Symbiosis as an Expression of Recognized Unity

• Detail: When the illusion of separation shatters, the idea of a "war of all against all" becomes absurd. One realizes that one's own well-being is inextricably linked to the well-being of all others. Nature itself is a masterpiece of symbiosis and cooperation.
• Consequence: Networks of trust, mutual support, sharing of resources and knowledge become the norm. "Win-win-win" scenarios are the goal.
• Core Decision: To co-create value that benefits everyone, based on the wisdom that we are stronger and more creative together.

3. Regeneration as an Economic Imperative – From Respect for the Sacred

• Detail: An awakened consciousness recognizes the Earth and all its creatures not as dead matter, but as ensouled, living entities, as expressions of the Divine. Deep reverence and gratitude arise.
• Consequence: Economic processes are designed to respect, restore, and revitalize natural cycles. The focus is on healing and thriving rather than exploitation and destruction.
• Core Decision: To conduct business in harmony with the living principles of nature, as stewards and partners of life.

4. Systemic Thinking and Holistic Responsibility – From Expanded Perception

• Detail: A clear, unclouded consciousness can perceive the complex interconnections and long-term impacts of actions. It sees beyond the immediate, personal advantage.
• Consequence: "Lived holistic responsibility" means no longer externalizing the consequences of one's actions but consciously bearing and integrating them. "Radical truthfulness" means honestly facing these consequences, even if they are uncomfortable. There is no more hiding.
• Core Decision: To act with wisdom and foresight, based on a deep understanding of systemic interconnections.

5. Intrinsic Motivation and Fulfillment of Purpose – From Connection to the True Self

• Detail: When people can act from their true core essence, in alignment with their deepest values and talents, work becomes a source of joy, creativity, and fulfillment. The chase for external validation or purely material rewards loses its power.
• Consequence: An economy that allows people to contribute their unique gifts for the benefit of the whole unleashes enormous creative potential and leads to a deep sense of fulfillment.
• Core Decision: To see the purpose of economics in the unfolding of human and natural potential.

Why War, Discomfort, and Killing Are No Longer Possible in the New Matrix

• War becomes unthinkable:
  • Consciousness Level: The deep, felt realization of the unity of all being makes the idea of fighting an "Other" an act of self-destruction. Empathy and compassion are so strongly developed that the thought of consciously inflicting suffering on another being becomes unbearable.
  • Motivational Level: The greed for resources or dominance, which often drives wars, is transformed. In a consciousness of abundance (not scarcity) and service, there is no need to subjugate or exploit others.
  • System Level: An economy based on cooperation and just distribution eliminates many of the structural causes of conflict.
• Systemic discomfort dissolves:
  • Consciousness Level: Connection to one's true self and to the community provides meaning and belonging. Fears arising from the illusion of separation and scarcity give way to a deep trust in life.
  • Motivational Level: The economy serves holistic well-being. Work is not alienating but meaningful. The focus is on health, education, personal development, and strong communities.
  • System Level: "Universal fairness" ensures just living conditions, and "consistent life-alignment" ensures that products and services actually serve life and do not harm it. The pressure for infinite, destructive growth disappears.
• Killing on every level ends:
  • Consciousness Level: A deeply felt reverence for all life (humans, animals, plants, ecosystems) as sacred and interconnected makes arbitrary destruction and exploitation impossible. The "unvarnished truth of costs and impacts" would immediately reveal that every killing is a loss for the entire web of life.
  • Motivational Level: The primacy of life-affirmation means that all decisions are evaluated based on whether they protect and promote life.
  • System Level: Regenerative practices, a circular economy, and an ethic of care become the foundation of business. The externalization of "death costs" (e.g., environmental destruction, species extinction) is no longer possible.

The Happy Life and the Peaceful Matrix as a Direct Consequence

A happy life in this New Matrix does not spring from consumption or accumulation, but from:

• The fulfillment of purpose through life-affirming action.
• Deep connection with other people and nature.
• The free unfolding of one's own potential and creativity.
• Living in a healthy, regenerative environment.
• The feeling of security and justice.

This individual experience of happiness, multiplied by many, creates a peaceful, beautiful, aggression-free, non-warlike, and life-affirming matrix. It is the natural expression of a healed, awakened collective consciousness. The outer form follows the inner essence. When the inner essence is love, unity, and wisdom, the outer form can only reflect peace, harmony, and abundance.

The change described here is not just a new economic model, but the blueprint for a civilization that has understood at the deepest level that our consciousness creates the world we live in. The "revolution on the meta-level" is the revolution of consciousness itself.