Designing a Peace Economy: Disrupting the Business Model of the War Complex

Peter JonesBusiness models, Ecological economics, Peace Economics, World Systems

Presented at International Society for Systems Sciences, ISSS 2025 PDF Presentation There is a line in Orwell’s 1984: “The war is not meant to be won, the war is meant to be continuous.” We see a major difference between classical territorial conflicts and modern warfare with the predominance of the military-industrial complex (MIC), or using Ray McGovern’s term MICIMATT (Military Industrial Congressional, Intelligence, Media, Academic, Think Tank). The MIC has overtaken its purpose of ensuring industrial readiness for war materiel and has become a goal-seeking system. We can observe the functional purpose for continuous and escalating wars in the US has been to generate capital for the investors of the MIC, in the largest public-private partnership on earth. To recognize the additionally reinforcement of the business model involving Wall Street as a flywheel to the MIC, we should add “Investors” to the term now, making this “MICIMMAT-IC.” We face moral …

Bounce Beyond – The Next Economies are Ecological

Peter JonesCultural innovation, Ecological economics, Social Systems Design

The mission of Bounce Beyond is to accelerate initiatives working to make regenerative, life-centered economies realizable at scale through examples of “next economies” communities. We call these Collaborating Next Economies Communities in Transformation (CoNECTs). Bounce Beyond is an action and learning community of CoNECTs and people with deep transformations experience. We currently sponsor and support four CoNECTs. Bioregional localization programs (e.g. South Devon Fibreshed) Emerging ecological economies (e.g. Doughnut economy projects) Industry groups (Seafood 2030) and sectors (European Healthcare) planning for systems change Large-scale SDG initiatives, at the national or regional level Our mission is to demonstrate the potential to make life-centered economies realizable at scale through exemplars of “next economies” communities. Believing that the conventional economy is a key driver of the crises we are now facing and that responding to people’s pressing need for livelihoods in ways that address the crises is critical, Bounce Beyond focuses on connecting …