A new societal operating system: quality of life, the common good, and planetary limits

Abstract (English) This paper outlines the design of a new societal operating system for the twenty-first century. It starts from the assumption that today’s crises in the environment, the economy, politics, and society cannot be understood as separate problems, but rather as expressions of an outdated model of order. While the existing system generates progress and prosperity, it is also increasingly undermining its own social, democratic, and ecological foundations. The paper therefore develops an alternative approach that places quality of life, the common good, democratic capacity for governance, technological possibilities, and planetary boundaries into a new relationship. At its core are a productive but bounded market economy, the protection of essential areas of life from speculative exploitation, a democratically embedded use of technology, and an industrial and social order oriented toward stability, resilience, and long-term viability. The paper is intended as a conceptual contribution to the rethinking of a future-capable societal order.