Friday, August 05, 2016

Not Socialism, But Hypercapitalism

I have talked of the Age Of Abundance, I have talked of a Universal Basic Income. To the untrained especially the latter might smack of "socialism." That would be misleading.

This is talk of a new reality that asks for a new grammar. A lot of old rules are going to get junked.

Socialism has had two strains, one absolutely appalling, the one where there is no human rights. There has been another, the left of center variety that has been ridiculed for not knowing the fundamentals of wealth creation. I am not talking about that.

I am a small d democrat, which basically means taking the one person one vote one voice to all its logical local, state, national and global conclusions.

I am a free marketeer. Economics to me is like physics. Just like physics can come up with astounding technology, I believe economics as an academic discipline is capable of coming up with intellectual frameworks for massive wealth creation. If I am a capitalist I am one likely to speak of human capital in the same breath as financial and technological capital.

It is said in physics if you go to a high enough energy level all four basic forces are the same. The physics of liquid water is fundamentally different from the physics of steam.

Talk about being at the right place at the right time. It is about this point in time, this point in history, lucky you, lucky me.

The productivity gains driven almost entirely by technological innovation are about to be so astoundingly astronomical that many of the old rules will no longer apply. But there is a need for accompanying political innovation, and accompanying advances in economic theory. I lost a lot of respect for the discipline in 2008. They were royally surprised.

The most obvious thing to do is create a world government. That is knowledge we already have. Europe has suffered for attempting an economic union without a political union. Globalization is unstoppable but you go off the wheels if you don't create a world government.

The 2008 meltdown happened because politicians had stayed light years behind globalization. Banks go global but the governments are all still only national.

In a democracy everyone gets to vote, everyone matters. In a market there is free competition, there are no monopolies.

America is uniquely positioned to take the lead. It is the oldest modern democracy with mature institutions. It has a young about to be ex president. It is the most diverse country. Just in New York City you could find at least one person from every town on earth.

These are exciting times, even though Planet Earth right now is Titanic, on course to hit the iceberg in terms of Climate Catastrophe. But the same collective will that will steer humanity away from the iceberg will also usher the Age Of Abundance. It will be like a new birth to humanity. There is no parallel in history to what is about to happen. I am wildly optimistic.

Kumar: Wake Up To God

The Diamond Triangle: The Voters, The Politicians, The Academics

It really is just about one person, one vote, one voice. Democracy can be magic. And if you just keep building the matrix, the lattice, there is no upper limit to how big your party can be. It is power. It is also in-built humility.

The voters are required to vote, go above 80%. That is all you really need to do. But you do have to do that much, every two years, by the clock. And if your rear end can't move that much, do not have expectations, do not complain.

The voters also should be part of the conversation. This happens in person. This happens in small groups. This happens on social media. This happens at rallies. You voice your opinions. You consume information. You learn more about issues and the political process. You ask questions. You have your questions answered.

The politicians are to ziggy withit the government machinery, the political machinery, are to connect the academics and the voters. Running the government machinery is brain surgery, it takes a lot. Only the most qualified can do it.

And then there are badly paid academics. They are the ones who think the thoughts and connect the dots, but they don't much care for retail politics, and most of them don't much care for politicians either. But even the most obscure academic is part of some social network or another, and there is no dearth of academics who are fond of glamor. If the academics are part of the diamond triangle then running the government becomes like physics and engineering. You are looking at data, you are collecting data, academics are making sense of it all. Academics should always, always, always be three steps ahead of politicians and voters.

You can really quicken the heart and the pace of the political process by forming this diamond triangle. It is the political machinery's job to take the academics to the voters in digestible formats. Some might want to read journal articles. Most might prefer summaries. Some might like a minute long YouTube video. You give it to them.

With this matrix/lattice in place, you can have a vote share of 60% or more and still not suffer the mindless, irrational, quirky pendulum swing two years after snatching a massive mandate. You keep delivering and you keep looking forward.

Either you will eventually have an opposition that is also finally into evidence based decision making and is past bigotry, xenophobia, racism and sexism or America will stay a de facto one party state for a while. Doesn't hurt.