King George The Capitalist

The dudes who founded America wanted a state that was much less powerful so the individual may flourish. The promise was "life, liberty and pursuit of happiness," wrongly interpreted to mean unfettered consumerism, even if it makes you unhappy or even kills you. I am thinking Bhutan where they talk about Gross National Happiness, not GDP.

Today (or at least before the pandemic) the corporations in America are mightier than King George ever was. The corporations look down upon citizens like they were Lilliputians.

Trump does notice things. For example, he noticed the manufacturing base had disappeared and the working poor were poor alright, but they were no longer working. The Dems were in denial. But his was the Pied Piper solution. He was going to cash on the sentiment and drive the herd into all sorts of wrong directions. Trump has also noticed China is now a rival America never had before. China is not hiding that it wants to build an alternative Internet where the state not the corporation will reign supreme, and that new and improved Internet will be global.

America speaks for corporations. China speaks for the state. But no one is speaking for the individual. Corporations are as useful as fire. They are necessary but not when they go wild and burn things down. The state has to serve the individual. If it is the other way round, it is slavery. And data driven slavery might be the worst kind.

Strong corporations are fine. Strong states are fine. But both have to serve the individual. We need a new Internet where the individual reigns supreme.

Covid-19 has upended all past economic theory. It is not money and machines that make an economy. You still have all your cash. You still have the machines. But you don't have much of an economy when people stay home.

We need to build a new Internet where the individual reigns supreme. All data generated around an individual belongs to that individual. Companies may monetize them but the split will have to be something like 70-30 with 70 going to the individual. That will pay for the Universal Basic Income. States may avail some of the data, but they must respect guidelines on privacy and security, enshrined in a new bill of rights.

And ends up, respecting nature makes tremendous GDP sense. Humanity does not seem to have the option to destroy nature. Nature is not a tree you cut. Nature is a beehive that you don't push your fist into. We now know. Relentless encroachment of natural ecosystems does not seem to play well.

Humanity is on strike.

King George The Capitalist https://t.co/NXz35QxZ0p @AOC @RepAOC @AOC_Gaming @BernieSanders @ewarren @AndrewYang @scottsantens @staceyabrams @BarackObama @MichelleObama @KamalaHarris @JoeBiden @TeamJoe #coronavirus #CoronavirusVaccine #COVID19 #COVID #COVIDー19 #lockdown #pandemic

— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) May 14, 2020

Elizabeth Warren Has To Present Her Big Policies In Market Terms

Key @SenWarren 2020 policies:
-- 40% worker control of corporations
-- Public option for prescription drugs
-- Enormous affordable housing plan
-- $100B to fight opioid epidemic
-- Slash PR’s debt
-- New lobbyist bans, US Office of Public Integrity
-- M4Ahttps://t.co/iWdLm5q9xD

— Jeff Stein (@JStein_WaPo) December 31, 2018

My 30-30-30-10 formula, to be clear, has not been inspired by Senator Warren. It has been formulated after years of studying tech startups. For me, the tech sector and the public policy sectors have flowed parallel to each other. I have seen many intersection points over the years.

Much of what Senator Warren is saying just makes market sense to me.

A lot of people make the mistake of thinking capital means financial capital. Well, that is about one third of it, the other two pieces of the pie are human capital and technology. It can be argued financial capital is the least important of the three. By now technology outweighs the others. We are about to see tremendous rises in productivity. To the point Universal Basic Income will be forced upon us if we do not ourselves embrace it.

Some of what Senator Warren is proposing can be tweaked, of course. For example, why 40%? Why should labor get 40% of the vote on a Board? Why so rigid a number? It can not be a rigid number. It has to be the principle of meaningful representation. A rigid number is also harder sailing politically.

Most of what Senator Warren is proposing should be presented as market solutions to current problems.

For example, it is unconscionable that while America was experiencing a near Great Depression close to two trillion dollars were simply idling in the banks. The super rich were going to simply sit it out.

Breaking monopolies are about getting rid of distortions in the market so innovation can happen. It is pro-market.

Human capital has to be given its rightful place in capitalism. That is where universal education, mostly free, and lifelong, and universal health care, come into play, as well as Board representation for labor.

Formulating bold policy is not enough. It also has to be sold. It is not about fighting the good fight and going down in flames. It is about starting bold and being strategic and tactical along the way to ultimately make it happen, with the perfect not being allowed to be the enemy of the very good.

Senator Warren should not be a Knight In Shining Armor who has already thought it through. She should lay out broad outlines and then crowdsource the details. Deep engagement of the people in the process is as important as the outcome itself. The conversation has to be broad.

Not only a new policy but a new political culture itself has to be attempted. And, yes, you also have got to listen to the conservatives. They often times make fiscal sense when the far left can feel like a fiscal policy on a forest fire. In the new political culture, people owe each other face to face decent conversations where the listening is as if not more important than speaking. Decency has to be brought back into fashion.

Also, I want a two women ticket. Men have been occupying the mantle for like ever. How about always? Let's have some fresh air. Warren and Harris might attempt a East Coast West Coast thing. People like Beto and Gillum can have spots in the cabinet. Why not?

“If I could characterize Warren’s ideology, it’s that we should select the tool appropriate to each economic problem we face and not decide ahead of time that the same solution is appropriate,” said Marshall Steinbaum, a fellow at the Roosevelt Institute, a left-leaning think tank. ........ “Today, in market after market, competition is dying as a handful of giant companies gain more and more market share.” ........ Warren unveiled a housing bill that would aim to reward local governments for relaxing strict zoning laws that have prevented developers from expanding the supply of housing. The plan also calls for investing billions more in government spending in affordable-housing projects, as well as helping black families historically hurt by federal housing practices. ....... a bill that would create a permanent law enforcement unit to investigate crimes at banks and large financial institutions, ending what she has called “too big to jail.” The law would also require senior executives at banks with more than $10 billion in assets to annually certify they have “found no criminal conduct or civil fraud within the financial institution.” ......a bill requiring a national $15-an-hour minimum wage, as well as a plan that would make it easier for workers to form and join unions.