A New Economic Philosophy

Richard Jenner

-Theorist-

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The advent of a monetary market system dates back to at least Adam Smith's Magnus Opus the Wealth of Nations, written in 1776. And over the last 250 years, not much has changed in terms of the general philosophy that underpins it. Capitalism states we must work in our own self interest, obtain the fruits (or money) of our own labour, and trade those fruits in the marketplace to get the other things we need. And after two hundred and fifty years we are still using these three main philosophies. However, is this an excessively long time for an economic philosophy to play out? Let's be clear: our entire global economy is still run by the philosophies of the 1700's! Is it time for an update, or is this the final frontier of our philosophical evolution? And although notable thinkers have asserted 'philosophy is dead' as we live in an 'empirical world', is that true if our current economic system is still based on philosophy? Let's find out!

Let's first look at whether philosophy is still relevant today: the philosophical arts are all about asking relevant questions to challenge, critique, and analyse the values we have and how those values could be improved. Unfortunately, in recent decades philosophy has been considered a largely irrelevant subject and inferior to STEM, and indeed has been systematically removed from our further and higher education institutions. However, if we sideline philosophy, can we evolve out of the current system, which is based on philosophy? My belief is no, and the reason this is bad is because the current economic model is based on infinite growth and mass consumption, which makes us value obtaining things rather than valuing people and planet. So, let me humbly give you a lesson in economic philosophy, one that is fit for the twenty-first century!

Let's dive straight into analysing our current economic philosophy and how this could be improved. Well, as noted, we can start our story with Adam Smith, who lived in a world of kings, landlords, merchants, and bartering economies. The rulers owned most of the resources and distributed them according to their preferences. However, as society developed and technology advanced, the needs of the people became more complicated, and a new model that gave each individual more agency to make their own economic decisions was required. This stirred debate in academic communities, which led to the emergence of new ideas. These included that each person should work for themselves, they should own what they produce, and they should exchange their surplus to get the other things they need in the marketplace. These philosophies developed into the monetary market economy, which meant people could more easily obtain what they needed to prosper. This also led to the development of the capitalist system, which led to two industrial revolutions, and eventually the building out of our entire global infrastructure. However, the effect of infinite growth and mass consumption has resulted in, amongst other things, climate change, due to the consequence of releasing huge amounts of industrial emissions from our fossil fuel civilization into the atmosphere. So where do we go from here? And what do we want to achieve?

Our current system is, in my opinion, outdated as it causes serious environmental, psychological, and health-related problems right across the world, and right across the political and class divides. The current system is also based on a competitive zero-sum game of winners and losers, however this results in serious social issues, health problems, and stress. Can we do better? I believe that we can. Let's see if we can develop a better global economic philosophy!

Firstly, let's look at what an economy is defined as, and then let's establish what we want to achieve under those parameters. An economy is a system that enables people to obtain what they need to survive and prosper. It also involves the intelligent management of our planetary resources, so that we don't run out of what we need, and we don't irreversibly damage our habitat, which we need to survive as a species. And the best economy would be one that enables people to get what they need in the most efficient way, while maintaining optimal environmental and human health. Our economic potential is also dependent on our current technological abilities. So, with these parameters set, let's develop an economic model based on our current technological reality, and let's keep it as simple as possible for efficiency purposes.

Firstly, what's the most efficient way for people to get what they need with current technology? How about this as a thought experiment: you tap on an app on your smartphone and search for a technical solution to a problem you have. Maybe it is a tool, or a piece of furniture, or a piece of clothing. You choose your style, fit, size, and can also choose from a range of other customisable options. You select confirm on your order, and the order gets sent to a local production centre. Your order is queued, produced, and delivered to you on the same day. You now have your order in the palm of your hand. Sounds familiar? The only difference between this system and the current online purchases of today is that this order has had no monetary involvement. No money, trade, barter, banks, credit, or debt. The entire process of production and distribution within this system is automated. Can this be achieved today? Well, it would require the automation of the following: resource extraction and refining, producing the good or service, and the delivery of the good or service. It would also be crucial for energy and resource efficiency purposes to have reusing, upgrading, and recycling embedded into the system. To be even more efficient with energy and resources, certain goods and services can also be shared when not in use, where appropriate. In this system goods and services will be produced according to real-time demand rather than for future profit. Goods will be searched for by the consumer to meet a specific need, rather than the consumer being influenced to buy something from the market system, which often manipulates the consumer into making a purchase through clever advertising and marketing campaigns. This will remove both the infinite growth mechanism and the psychology of mass consumption. This in turn will massively reduce our use of resources and energy consumption, which will also bring us in line with environmental sustainability, and will also stabilise the climate. So basically, with this new system you can get whatever you want, whenever you want for free, in the most efficient and environmentally friendly way. Does this sound like a utopia? And more importantly, is this possible with today's technology? Well, we are already fast moving into an automated economy. In fact, it isn't a case of if a job can be automated, but when. And when mechanisation, robotics, and algorithms develop to a certain point and are scaled, most jobs will be able to be automated. So we are fast moving into a world when all aspects of economic activity are automated. This is especially true as businesses will need to fully automate in order to continue to compete with each other in the marketplace by reducing costs in order to maintain market share. This effectively results in a zero marginal cost scenario where each additional good/service costs zero for businesses to produce, thus speeding up the abolition of the price mechanism and resulting in goods and services becoming free to consumers. Essentially, the market system could be dismantled in favour of direct, free access to goods and services. In fact, the market economy could now be considered as a barrier to economic efficiency, rather than its historical role as a facilitator.

How will this improve human health and how will it affect our values? Well, knowing that you can get what you need whenever you need it will create a sense of security that no generation has ever experienced. And instead of working a job to earn money to survive, you will have the security to know that you can get what you need in spite of not having a job. And with that security, you know you don't need to hoard anything as a hedge against future scarcity. That means greed, which comes from having a scarcity mindset, will no longer be useful as you can always get what you need for free. You can live your life with peace of mind that you won't need savings to survive future scarcity. You will need no salary, benefits, insurance, or pension. This will create an abundance mentality, and will improve our individual and collective psychology as well as our overall health. Healthy food, clean water, good housing, free education, healthcare, transportation, and communications will all be prerequisites with this new economic model. It will also hugely benefit the environment and climate by not needing everyone to work, which will result in a massive reduction of economic activity, energy use, and resource use.

So let's simplify our philosophy: we want an automated economy that provides all the necessities of life to all the world's people for free, and with human health and environmental sustainability built into the fabric of the system. Let's do it!