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UN Policy Chapter Charity Economicism & Life Value Governance Reframing Economic Governance for a Sustainable Civilization

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日期:2026/01/18   IAE 

UN Policy Chapter

Charity Economicism & Life Value Governance

Reframing Economic Governance for a Sustainable Civilization 

GCWPA Think Tank | Author: Frank Chen 2007-2026 / IAE Global

Executive Overview

The global community is confronting a convergence of crises—rising inequality, climate instability, public health vulnerabilities, demographic aging, and democratic erosion—that existing economic governance frameworks have proven unable to resolve.

These crises share a common root:
economic systems optimized for capital efficiency rather than life value.

This policy chapter introduces Charity Economicism and Life Value Governance as an integrated framework for re-aligning economic policy with human survival, dignity, and long-term civilizational sustainability, consistent with the United Nations Charter and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

I. The Structural Failure of GDP-Centered Governance

For decades, global economic policy has relied primarily on indicators such as GDP growth, productivity, and fiscal efficiency. While these measures capture market activity, they systematically fail to account for:

  • Human health and mental well-being

  • Social cohesion and trust

  • Intergenerational costs and environmental degradation

  • Unequal access to opportunity and security

As a result, many societies experience statistical growth alongside declining lived freedom, increasing precarity, and expanding life-cost burdens transferred to households and future generations.

II. Redefining Freedom: From Market Autonomy to Life Opportunity

Drawing on the work of Isaiah Berlin and Joseph Stiglitz, this framework distinguishes between:

  • Negative freedom: freedom from interference

  • Positive freedom: freedom to live, choose, and develop capabilities

Charity Economicism adopts the principle that:

True freedom is the expansion of an individual’s opportunity set, not the absence of regulation.

Hunger, illness, pollution, and exclusion are not merely social problems—they are structural denials of freedom.

III. Charity Economicism: Core Policy Principle

Charity Economicism does not oppose markets; it re-embeds them within civilizational objectives.

Its central policy premise is:

Economic systems must be evaluated by their capacity to maximize sustainable life value, not capital accumulation alone.

This requires integrating life costs into governance decisions, including:

  • Health impacts

  • Care burdens

  • Environmental and climate risks

  • Social and psychological damage

IV. Life Value Governance (LVG): A Policy Framework

Life Value Governance (LVG) operationalizes Charity Economicism at the policy level.

Definition

Life Value Governance is a system of economic and public policy design that prioritizes:

  • Human survival and health

  • Dignity and social protection

  • Opportunity creation

  • Intergenerational sustainability

Comparison with Conventional Governance

Dimension Conventional Governance Life Value Governance
Primary metric GDP, growth Life Value Index (LVI)
Cost accounting Financial Life, health, social
Time horizon Short-term Intergenerational
Role of government Minimal correction Active opportunity creation

V. Life Value Index (LVI): Measuring What Matters

To prevent value-based policy from remaining rhetorical, this framework introduces the Life Value Index (LVI) as a complementary policy metric.

Core Dimensions of LVI

  1. Survival and health security

  2. Education and human capability

  3. Social protection and care systems

  4. Economic dignity and fairness

  5. Environmental and intergenerational safety

  6. Social trust and peace

Policies should be assessed not only on efficiency, but on whether they increase or erode total life value.

VI. Policy Applications

Life Value Governance can be applied across sectors:

  • Public health: prevention-oriented investment reduces long-term life costs

  • Aging societies: integrated care systems lower hidden family burdens

  • Climate policy: internalizing life costs accelerates green transition

  • Taxation: progressive, life-protective taxation expands opportunity

Evidence from national health insurance systems, green taxation, and coordinated pandemic responses demonstrates that well-designed intervention increases freedom rather than constraining it.

VII. Alignment with UN Mandates

This framework directly supports:

  • UN Charter: human dignity, peace, and security

  • SDGs: especially Goals 1, 3, 10, 13, 16

  • Human Rights-Based Approach (HRBA)

  • Leave No One Behind principle

Life Value Governance provides a unifying lens linking economic policy to human rights and sustainable development.

VIII. Conclusion: From Growth to a “Good Society”

The central policy question of the 21st century is no longer:

How fast can economies grow?

But rather:

What kind of civilization are economies serving?

Charity Economicism and Life Value Governance offer a pragmatic, measurable, and ethically grounded framework for building societies where economic systems sustain life, expand freedom, and protect future generations.

Suggested Next Deliverables (on request)

  • UN Secretary-General Talking Points

  • UN Principals Brief

  • Policy Annex: Life Value Index Indicator Table

  • Visualization Toolkit for UN presentations