Growth Online > Knowledge Base > Society's Growth  >  Towards a New Economics


Growth Online		 Towards a New Economics
 		Knowledge Base
by Roy Posner and MSS

 

 

 

Introduction
(main)

Rethinking Economics

Vast Changes in the World that Compels Us to Rethink Economics

Civilization is an instrument fashioned by human beings to improve the welfare and well-being of our race through a wide range of institutions – political, social, economic, educational, scientific and cultural. When Adam Smith published the Wealth of Nations at the onset of the Industrial Revolution, it appeared as if a solution had finally been found to the age-old problem of scarcity. This was also a time when physical science began to uncover the laws governing the marvels of nature. It was natural and, perhaps, inevitable that early economic thinkers looked for similar laws governing society and gave inordinate importance to the system of industrial economy, since it appeared to offer enormous promise at the time. In the process they lost sight of the greater truth that, unlike the systems governing the physical universe, social systems are created by human beings for the benefit of humanity and their validity must be judged solely on the basis of their contribution to human welfare and well-being.

Current economic theory has been constructed on a foundation laid more than 200 years ago. Since then, and especially in the past half century, monumental changes have radically altered the structure and functioning of economies, to such an extent that they call into question many of the valid premises on which earlier theory was based. Among these, the evolution from a production to a service-based economic system, the growing predominance of public policy in economy, the globalization of production and markets, dramatic changes in the nature and role of money and financial markets, and fundamental changes in social aspirations and social values are especially relevant. It is now evident that economic theory cannot be separated or divorced from other aspects of human existence – political, social, ecological, technological, cultural, etc. – and that none can be validly considered without giving central importance to their impact on human welfare and well-being.

In recognition of these facts, the idea of rethinking economics has been gaining support. Late last year, a small, multidisciplinary group of individuals with membership in the World Academy of Art & Science and the Club of Rome began a fresh examination of current economic theory to examine why the basic premises of classical theory were adopted in the first place, to understand where and why they have failed or are no longer adequate to meet the needs of the 21st century, and to consider the feasibility of evolving a more effective theoretical basis for the future. (MSS)

Beyond the Conventional Economic Wisdom
Conventional economic theses are no match for the emerging social forces that if identified and organized render the conventional anachronistic, and turn the finite into infinite abundance.

Integral Economic Theory
Economic development theories based on a single factor such as money or technology or institutions or information, etc. are limiting. The whole truth lies at a level that integrates all these partial factors within a wider framework.

Towards a Comprehensive Theory of Development
-A profusion of economic theories provide explanations for specific expressions of development, but none links all the pieces into a unified theory that adequately defines the central principles, process and stages of development. The formulation of a comprehensive theory of development would make conscious the world's experience over the past 500 years, reveal enormous untapped potentials and vastly accelerate future progress.

-Valid development theory cannot limit its purview to national level policies and economic environment. It is becoming more and more necessary to consider development as a movement of global society, in which individual nations may move in different directions and advance at different rates, but remain aspects of a common movement. (MSS)

 

Man at the Center of Life; Towards Human Development

Man, Not Money Should be at Center of Economics
Schumacher, a British economist, published a book in the 1970's pronouncing the idea of 'Economics as if people mattered.' Economics, considered on its own as economics for economics' sake, will lead one astray, away from the truth. The centre of economics [now] is Money for the monetarists. It is Man [however] who created money. Money is there to serve man. Man should be the centre of economics, not money. It is by a psychological superstition that Man becomes a slave of science. (MSS, somewhat modified)

Man at the Center of Life
 The world economic system is undergoing a severe shock. It was caused to a large degree by Man's ignorance and greed. Though its vast expansion and success has been rooted in the infinity that comes from individual freedom, it was tripped up by missing human values that could make the system Whole. Because the Human Being has not been at the center of our economic system, only the Part could express, which invariably breeds failure.

Freedom and collaboration are human values. They represent Beingness and Oneness of the Spirit functioning in creation. One without the other cannot succeed. Freedom is fulfilled through collaboration, and vice versa. Without their integral union, there is only a Part and therefore failure. Thus, Communism came to an inglorious end, and Capitalism is going through its current upheavals. Nature in Her evolutionary wisdom seeks to move from the Part and create the new, the dynamic, and the Whole.

Human values are not however limited to freedom and collaboration. They are endless. There is also truth, knowledge, tolerance, compassion, love, beauty, delight, and a hundred others. Our economic system has been primarily focused on material values alone -- not the psychological, including the fulfillment of the individual. When we shift our consciousness and put the Human Being at the center of life, then upheaval and convulsion will be reduced, and life will progress smoothly, harmoniously, and infinitely.

Towards Human Development
Development of resources, economics development, technological development are all the achievements of man. Hence human development is the only development that matters hereafter, especially when each type of development conflicts with the other. Man being the centre of human development cannot generate any such conflict. Man cannot function in such a fashion as to conflict with himself. (MSS)

Human Development vs. Economic Growth
 Recent thought places emphasis on human development as something distinct and different from economic growth. In establishing priorities and strategies, this distinction can be useful. There is abundant evidence to show that high rates of economic growth do not necessarily lead to rapid improvements in living standards for poorer sections of the population and that greater improvement in these living standards can be achieved by strategies that do not focus exclusively on growth. This distinction focuses on development priorities and the strategies, not on the essential nature of the development process itself. (MSS)

Theory that Reveals Impact on Economics
Development theory needs to explain the dynamics of the process by which political and social conditions impact economic performance. (MSS)

Beyond the Old American Dream
The American Dream emphasizes economic growth, personal wealth, and independence. Hereafter these are otiose. (MSS)

 

Additional (to be Parsed)

Limited Economic View
The Monetarist that views all economicsin terms of money supply is an indication of the limited linearity of mind. (Mind tends to think in a linear, unidimensional manner and pursue one line of truth, ignoring other complementary sides, viewing all reality from a single viewpoint.) (MSS)

From Political to Economic to Cultural Development
 Sweep has been there. So far it was political. Now it will be economic. We await the sweep of cultural values in the beginning of the next century.

Beyond Economics in 21st Century
In the 21st century spiritual individuality, rather than economics will be at the forefront. [Spirituality is a movement beyond the physical nature of economics, the higher vital nature of politics and social intercourse; even beyond the great mental ideals and plans of leaders and movements. Each succeeding level has a greater power. (MSS)

Economics and the Development of Society
Economics, not politics has been the base of the development of our society, since it is of a material base, whereas politics is vital. (MSS)

Global Economic Growth
The global economy is developing multiple centers and engines of growth. The impact of these factors is compounded by the globalization of economic growth. In the past, the growth of the world economy has been driven by a single country or at best by a few localized centers, while the vast majority of nations benefited only peripherally or not at all. The emergence of multiple growth centers acts as a self-generating engine that increases the overall momentum of the world economy. Valid development theory cannot limit its purview to national level policies and economic environment. It is becoming more and more necessary to consider development as a movement of global society, in which individual nations may move in different directions and advance at different rates, but remain aspects of a common movement. (MSS)

Economics as a Science
In the 19th century subjects like economics shed their label of being arts and joined the scientific fraternity. (MSS)

Economics is Vital
Military power is physical; economic power which is vital. (MSS)

US as Military, then Political, then Economic and now Cultural Leader of the World
 The world leadership was almost thrust on USA after the second world war. Initially it was a military leadership. Then it became political leadership. Then it became a consequence of economic pre-eminence. Today USA is the cultural leader of the world. (MSS) New

Freedom (and Market Economy) vs. Liberty

Freedom to produce and sell -- market economy -- is economic democracy as franchise voting is political democracy.

Freedom is what society gives, liberty is that which the citizen enjoys. Liberty makes Freedom meaningful. (MSS)

India's Values Beyond the Economic as in USA
The knowledge of essence enables one to know the theory of creation. USA has become the cultural leader of the world by virtue of its economic status. For anything to be valued in India, the population here needs the sanction of US life-style. The Indian scientist need not look to an economic giant for scientific inspiration as the Indian masses do. (USA)

Foundation of Wealth & Physical Security in West and US
It is noteworthy to see that the necessary foundation in wealth and physical security is abundantly laid in USA. Seen from this perspective, the history of the West, particularly that of USA, will explain itself in the light of the theory of social evolution. (MSS)

Unconscious Success of West
The West, which has developed its economy through a great efficiency, is not aware of the theory behind it that achieved it. (Paraphrase of MSS)

Overcome Economic Assumption
The potential for growth and development is not in percentage points per year (e.g. 3% or 8%), but in doubling and tripling per year. Our obsession with inflation, along with our perception that we need to have a minimal level of unemployment, or that we can only grow at low single digits per year, ties us down to our nation's limited self-conception.

Economic Gains Extended to All
Monarchy considered the common man's aspiration to the throne as treason while democracy accorded him not only the right to choose his 'king' but also the right to become one. The economic status which remained the exclusive possession of the upper middle class was not even considered by the lower middle class as a possibility. Not to wish for it was a virtue, to be unambitious. Now the advanced technology and commercial organisation are changing the scene. Everyone aspires for everything. The social 'values' reflect this underlying reality. The non-performing slow worker 'demands' the same pay as the high-performing skilled person who earns it as an incentive. Behind this irrational demand lies the rationality of "what the society produces belongs to the society."

Suppose the economic gains of the society are to be extended to all, the society in greater part has to develop several institutions and the individual has to acquire a host of capacities simultaneously overlooking the original rule of individual to society and again to all individuals. This is a must. Solving this challenge even in theory is a major step forward. (MSS)

The Invisible Movement of Rights in History, & the Emergence of Spiritual MAN in the 21st Century
There is an invisible movement in the air all over the world which espouses the Rights of the oppressed. Now it is the Blacks who are in favour, next it is the women. The street children get their turn. The poor suddenly come into the favour of the world and the whole world sings the chorus of the Right to Food, Right to water, Right to Peace, etc. All types of Rights have emerged as the target for the awakened world. It is a balm to the hearts of idealists and visionaries the world over as the have-nots, downtrodden, the oppressed and the invalids have now their share of the limelight. The UN is the spearhead for most of these movements. The world is awakened enough in her conscience that the world opinion readily swings to this call. This development is imperceptible but unmistakable. I see behind all these urges that MAN is emerging as someone to be counted hereafter. The Spirit in MAN seeks expression, peeps out from its hiding place. The symptoms are well-defined. He who seeks expression is no longer the social man, but the Spiritual Individual. The 21st century will be his century. (MSS)

On "Doubling"
Silicon Valley's famed Moore's Law suggests that emerging technologies will double in their power every 18 months. Can't we apply this law to other parts of society? Couldn't we double our productivity rate in that period, or as improbable as it seems, double Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in that period? A practical concept of infinity says that we can bring in the higher consciousness and spirit to enable infinite results where we now see finite possibilities. If that is the case, then who is to say what we are limited by.

What other areas can we apply Moore's technological law to? How about doubling our consciousness! In one sense, this is much easier to do, once we know the method. It's just a question of True Education, which we can learn on our own by knowing one's True Self, or which can be acquired in the future by the public through an education system of True Knowledge.

Exploitation of Labor & Management
Employers exploited the labour as the labour now exploits the management. [MSS]

Also See Principles of Social Development

 

Commerce, Consumerism, Credit, Finance
 (main)

On Purpose, Social Value of Commerce
-Commerce is the economic equivalent of democracy in politics. Commerce is the social ideal of equality.

-In today's human climate, unless some good service becomes commercially viable, it cannot reach the entire population. This is the social value of commerce. (MSS)

Commerce, Science, & Technology
Commerce has brought science to the masses through technology. (MSS) 

Consumerism
Consumerism is not wrong in the economic sense, but it is undesirable in the spiritual sense. (MSS)

On the Institution of Credit
When man discovered the institution of credit, he emerged from the narrow physical insular shell of selfishness into playing a role in another's life. (MSS)

Money Multiplies when Integrated with Credit
Money, like any other organisation gradually integrates with every other organisation. Money integrating with credit expands nine-fold. (MSS)

Business and Markets
Business looks for market. In pursuit of it they will go anywhere. The Britisher came to India for spices and established an Empire. Nixon befriended Communist China because he wanted to open the Chinese market to USA. (MSS, rearranged)

Going Beyond Mind to Solve Problems in Government
Sri Aurobindo says that the problems of the world are so great that they cannot be solved by mind. Something more is needed, which are all the planes above mind to spirit.
 
Dilemmas are constantly rising in the society that cannot easily be solved by mind. Perhaps they can begin to be if all of the sides of an issue are understood, which means the utilization of Substantial Mind, which man does not currently use, Instead he is reactive, i.e physical, or moved to results when he feels like it, i.e. vital, or thinks about problems when they are in his field of vision only; i.e. he is of lower mind. 
 
It is alleged that the US has the lowest rate of taxation of the industrialized nations. Two popular, though contrary conclusions have issued from this. One is that we need to create higher taxes, or at least higher for those not paying their fair share so that we can enable not only a balanced budget but have the necessary funds in government to institute plans of progress. In other words, lack of taxes is related to social inequity and instability. Another view is that the US has prospered directly because of low taxes. I.e. it is because the rate is so low that the US has become the world economic leader. Thus we have two seemingly rational views viewed from the perspective of the part. Each side is happy in their beliefs because it is "subjectively rational" from their side; which is of course a paradox.
 
To be open to the other's point of view is one step in the right direction. The next is to acknowledge our ignorance, and take to a study of the truth. I.e. we can study the issue -- in this case taxes -- from the available knowledge, and then come to conclusions. This would lead to insights. An agreement can be come to that such understandings would be accepted by the government, regardless of the party in power, i.e. independent of politics. There would be some form of independent council.
 
Men and woman who understand a bit of Integral Knowledge theory can take these insights, and through silence, invoke illuminations and intuitions of an even higher order of understanding and knowledge . In this way, they contribute by bringing fresh understanding to the subject. The direct method to accomplish this is by opening to the Force relative to the issue.
 
The Mother says the individuals who wish to be the evolutionary spearheads of the spirit in society need to become the government. Such agents in positions of authority can undertake these approaches.
His statement that the world in its current status of consciousness cannot solve the ever-accelerating problems confronting it is the first principle that can guide all other initiatives for progress.

Solutions to World Financial Crisis
1. A World Fed must be put in place because there is no international control of wild investing.

2. Man -- the human individual -- not money must move to the center of life.

3. Greed and speculation brought about the Great Depression and opened the door to Hitler and WWII leading to 70 million dead. This must change, or we are destined to repeat, but in a New Way.

4. Ego is the cause of greed and our unwillingness to change. It is at the root of all selfishness, which is in every one of us. That must change.

5. Rampant materialisms must come to an end, ushering in higher human and spiritual values.

6. Unfortunately, disastrous circumstance is the fastest way to change things; to overcome our fixed ways that do not want to change. If we don't take to several of the suggestions above, then life will brutally do it for us, forcing us to change. It is Nature's (i.e. Life's) painful method.

 

Guaranteed Employment, Employment/Job Creation Strategies
 (main)

Employment Generation

New Job Types as Basis for Hundreds of Millions of New Jobs
There is concern in many quarters that automation will eliminate many jobs in the future, creating a crisis for the world. Another view however is that there infinite new jobs types emerging will emerge through an explosion of new technologies in the coming years. even in non-technology areas there will be job types emerging that we cannot now imagine.

Entrepreneurial individuals will discover what those are, cease the opportunity, and create new businesses and organziations, making fortunes and finding deep fulfillment in the process. This is the New Attitude required for the 21st century. And it requires the cooperation of the governments of the world, as well as the private sector to target and help people discover these opportunities. Hundreds of millions of new jobs can be created this way.

Cause of Unemployment
Unemployment is due to the fact that the structure of society is inadequate to fully and effectively harness the social energy and potential that is emerging. (MSS)

 

How Society Stimulates Employment

Society stimulates employment by the following factors (with examples).

  • New products -- E.g. Smartphones, smart-tablets, electric cars, biofuels, solar fuels, personal jukebox (ITunes), online music/video purchasing, book readers, Smart homes, etc.

  • New services -- E.g. Online banking, reverse mortgages, debt consolidation, marketing via Google AdSense, instant messaging, social networks, purchase customized products online (e.g. cars) & at best priced, VOIP-based low-cost global phone calls, online meeting conferences, video conferencing, etc.

  • Growth in demand -- E.g. China and India (& developing countries) rising, rising expectations in world, micro credits, rise in populations, rise in % of young people in developing world; etc.

  • Technological innovation  -- E.g. WiFi, Cellular networks, higher battery storage, genetic engineering, streaming video codecs, smart power grids, solar power, etc.

  • Higher quality &/or productivity  -- [Productivity] E.g. Computer-generated efficiency, high business productivity through process evaluation, various efficiency methodologies, etc. [Quality] More toy safety regulation; better materials, fit, precision, etc.

  • Organizational innovation  -- Project-oriented organizations; flatter organizations; more informal organizations; non-deskbound, wandering employees; greater access to employee inputs; greater partnerships between public and private sectors; etc.

  • Higher skills  -- Greater computer skills, greater life skills (one day!), etc.

  • Better access to information  -- Internet getting smarter, libraries offering Internet, new forms of education/schools, ability to customize online news like at Google, etc.

  • Increased speed -- Faster computers, Internet access, phone access, machines, transportation methods (e.g. FedEx), etc.

  • Legislation & law enforcement  -- Global stimulus packages, targeted tax cuts; "fast track" legislation, proposition systems as in California, improving health and safety regulations, etc.

  • Administrative responsiveness - WTO, NAFTA, G-20, etc.

  • Environment/health consciousness  -- Global environmental awareness; improving health and safety regulations; knowledge of food makeup/needs for proper health increasing; transfat awareness; greater knowledge of how body processes food; greater dietary information provided on products, in restaurants, etc.

  • Change of attitudes -- US-like entrepreneurial values spreading; greater belief in self-determination worldwide (i.e. individuality); more partnerships between public and private sectors; base need for % of unemployment, inflation, etc. challenged; acceptance of other cultures and their ways; etc.  (MSS, with Growth Online examples)

Potential for Internet-based Jobs in the Future

-Wherever time and space can be reduced, a current job can be made more efficient, and an entrepreneurial person can step forward and create a new Internet job to make it happen.

-Where a company now offers one of its product or service that does not make full use of the Internet, an entrepreneurial person can step forward and create a new Internet job to make it happen much more efficiently.

-Jobs are moving from physical to vital to mental. Physical was carrying a wheelbarrow. Vital is interacting with the customer with emotions and interest. Mental is a system that is impersonal. Everywhere an impersonal system can be devised to interact with the customer, an Internet job can be created.

-If we know the acceleration rate from physical, to vital, to mental in economic history and recent currents, we can see the trend of opportunity not only to systemization, but systemization though the Internet. There are vast opportunities in the transitions.

-Understand current Internet jobs, particularly why they are web-based as opposed to not, and then consider what else can become an Internet job, starting with things close to the current Internet job, and  then broaden the analysis, widening the field.

-Examine every job and come up with a formula of how  it can be turned into an Internet job.

-Study the trends from physical to vital to mental jobs, and where space and time can be overcome. Institutionalize the research and knowledge derived. It can be a kind of R&D of Internet job potentials.

-Companies spawned by the Internet can be created by anyone, even a child. Every person, no matter age, sex, handicap, etc. can forge opportunities, using the Internet to make it happen. 90% of the population can thereby participate, which increases the pool of people drawn from and therefore the quantity of jobs dramatically.

-The Internet is a self-generating, expansive system that in of itself tends to create more job opportunities. This is a mind-boggling concept. The Internet can be a job machine just by the fact that everyone contributes to it and uses it. As its knowledge is utilized, more opportunities arise. As it is contributed to, it contributes back exponentially. The more we give to it, the more it gives back. A country dedicated to giving to the Internet (in whatever ways; knowledge, resource, etc.) will tend to generate jobs from it, including Internet jobs.  The Internet’s ability to create Internet jobs is a function of the dedication of government, private sector, and people to nurture it. Those who don’t will be left behind.

-As the Internet become more intelligent and customized to the individual – Web 2.0 --  more opportunities present themselves. The community that nurtures this creates more jobs, including Internet jobs for their constituency.

-Internet encourages entrepreneurial spirit. Entrepreneurial spirit always creates jobs, including Internet jobs. Whatever nation encourages entrepreneurial spirit, will create more Internet jobs; and vice versa. The creation for Internet jobs is simply a product of an ability to overcome inertia, and embracing change. Those who do will create the most jobs, Internet or otherwise.

-The Internet is an entrepreneurial machine that seeks to exponentially expand itself. The Internet is the physical God of creation.

-We can compare the opportunities of the Internet to the virgin forest that was there before the US settlers, and what could and was created out of it. It is infinite in scope; and we know it can be ceased when there is will and initiative.

ICPD Report -- The Future of Work

Article -- Theoretical Framework for Employment Generation

 

Right to Employment; Right to Full Employment

Right of Full Employment
It is the fundamental duty of every civilized government to grant the fundamental right to employment, amending the constitution for that purpose. It is not charity, a help, or a service. It is Man's birthright to have employment. The right is his own because he is an individual. No one needs to grant it to him as an extension of courtesy. The society is wider and greater than the government. The society should ensure it to each individual by virtue of his being a citizen. To recognize the right to employment is to recognize the spiritual individual. (MSS)

Right to Employment
The society which has shrunk the scope for the individual for self-employment by organising itself more and more should offer the citizen the right to employment. (MSS)

Guaranteed Employment
A government that offers guaranteed employment seeks the welfare of men who were seeking a job till then. It shows an evolutionary maturity in the society. (MSS) 

Right to a Job: From Ideal to Real
What we accept seems to be determined by what others accept. We accept the need for clean environment because it is honored by the wider society. However, 30 year ago, even 15, it was not the case. It was rather far down among our priorities of social needs. But now the needs of a clean environment is near the top, with nearly everyone accepting it. The same dynamic was true for education, wages, worker rights, woman's rights and other social issues down through time, (even recent times). We accept what is easily acceptable (because society has digested it, allowing us to take it for granted), but we struggle with new developments that are just appearing on the horizon. Human rights, and particularly rights of employment strike me as examples.

Often it takes a pummeling for us to see the value and need for a thing. The financial and economic pounding currently being taken in the US and elsewhere may awaken its citizens to focus on issues related to rights of employment. And that includes reevaluating our personal values in terms to it. Certainly, those of us in the US have not considered employment a right. But things change. When the Great Depression unfolded, values about economic security dramatically changed, and many new policies were implemented --whether for housing and old age; or jobs and redevelopment. Some railed against it, claiming this new approach was the sign of communism. But Roosevelt actually saved the US from communism (it was rapidly on the rise during this period) by implementing these bold social-oriented programs.

It would seem that human rights, of which "right to a job" is a bold, new, compelling possibility now appearing on the horizon. By seeing its many benefits and embracing the need, we move it from a wild ideal debated on the periphery, to a practical policy implemented by leaders, and taken up by the public.

FDR was able to make such transitions from the ideal to the real because to a large extent outside conditions compelled him to do so. But we need not wait for such intense difficulty to arise. We have the power to bring it about consciously, without suffering.

Right to a job and gainful employment just might be an idea, or rather an ideal whose time has come.

Comment by GJ (India):
It nicely emphasizes that earlier norms and social standards do not apply to an evolving situation.

India Contemplating Act to Guarantee Employment
The Government of India deserves warm appreciation and rich congratulation in contemplating one such act - an act to guarantee employment in some measure. This is an act proper to the developed countries, but India, precariously perched in various ways, has initiated it. Sure, She is trying to be an evolutionary leader in the sphere of SOCIAL EVOLUTION.

I hope this is a beginning and the government will pursue the Act with the public, the State governments, the judiciary, and their own administration for the right social attitude that will infuse life into the SPIRIT of this Act. (MSS)

Proposal for Guaranteed Employment in India
 The Government of India has before it as an active proposal a scheme for Guaranteed Employment. It is more than a revolutionary proposal.

It is evolutionary in its significance. When Karl Marx called on the proletariat of the world to shed their fetters in 1848, everyone expected that Socialism would blossom in England first, as she was an industrialised nation. It was the turn of the USSR to spearhead that Revolution.

Today, the whole world is 'socialistic' in its practice even if it is not acknowledged. Should Guaranteed Employment become an Act of Parliament, India is least qualified for that.

Guaranteeing Employment will release all the unharnessed energies of the adults, especially the youth. Once unleashed, it is not easy to contain. In this respect, India has proven to be a leader. The government has the capacity to implement it successfully, but it cannot be accomplished by the methods used for its other programmes.

Guaranteeing Employment is not one more programme. It is a call to the dormant world to wake up to the Rights of the INDIVIDUAL. It is a magnificent measure. And for the same reason, it will prove to be explosive. (MSS, extracted)

ICPD Report -- Employment for All (From Job-less Growth to Job-Led Growth)

Article -- Toward Full Employment (Creation of 500 million new jobs)

Only in Peace Can Full Employment Be Realized
 Only in peace hunger and poverty can be abolished and full employment realised. (MSS)

Full Employment's Time has Come

The world is changing very rapidly; especially in intercommunications, globalization, and other forms of interconnection amongst the peoples. What would have seemed difficult to achieve in the past, is much more likely to occur in an ever-increasing interdependent and interrelated society. This means that new ideas have the capacity to be accomplished very rapidly. Or another way of saying this: the increasingly high level of organization speeds up time and overcomes space, enabling rapid accomplishment, including that of notions like full employment.

Thus, the atmosphere and infrastructure for regional and global accomplishment is very supportive. Then the issue comes down to human will; our desire to accomplish the goal. That depends on our being convinced of its worthiness. I.e., do we want a particular thing, like full employment, because if we do, it can occur like lightning. Here are some related examples from recent economic history:

In the US, low or very low interest rates was considered folly, yet throughout the late 90s and much of the 2000s, interest rates were consciously kept very low. You could say it was so because inflation was low, but there were indications that what changed it around was simply a new belief that low interest rates are a good thing and should be tried out. Despite current economic turmoil, it is generally accepted now that we don't have to have a high base interest rate level for society to prosper. We can have interest rates approaching 1-3%, or even lower. (Recently, of course, it has been very low -- actually, 0% -- in order to stimulate a difficult economy; but even that dramatic action may be an indication of an underlying change in attitude.)

A similar argument can be made for inflation. It was accepted that 3-5% should be the norm for a balanced economy. Yet that has been challenged too. We saw growth with very low inflation in the US during the same 15-year period. (Again, you could argue there were fewer sustained shocks, but even still the view of inflation had changed.)

We also assumed that it is good for a developed economy to grow at 3-5% to avoid inflation. But that idea has been challenged as well. It may be possible to grow much faster and still keep inflation under control, because there are other mitigating factors affecting it. There is no essential proof of this yet in the marketplace, although it might be occurring in Asia. Thus, there are beginning signs that this will be the next economic assumption domino to fall. Why can't the US or Europe or Japan grow at 7-10% annually?

In sum, our view of interest rates, inflation, and rate of growth have dramatically changed in the last 10-15 years. It just took a current of thought to change the debate. It is the same with full employment. We accept 4-6% in the US as a way of keeping things on even keel, but that idea can be challenged as well, with indications that it can go down to 1-3% and keep sustained growth, or even 0%-1%. The same would apply globally.

Based on the current shift of organization of society due to technology and other global developments, and dramatic shifts in various economic assumptions, the case against full employment is ready to be shattered. With the global financial system in turmoil, and unemployment being such a stark reminder of it, we are ripe to change many of our assumptions about employment. The need for a base, minimum quantity is becoming an anachronistic assumption, a belief that is self-serving for the high and mighty, or simply erroneous because it has not been adequately challenged in the marketplace.

In the final analysis, it is simply a matter of a shift in attitude; giving up  long-held, cherished beliefs; the release of a new current of thought in society. If that occurs, the rapidly increasing organization of the world will take care of the rest.

These arguments, plus a set of moral reasons not addressed here, indicate that the time for full employment is at hand.

 

Achieving Full Employment
 What social trends will enhance the prospects for achieving full employment in the future?

A number of fundamental social trends are opening up new opportunities to generate full employment.

1.  Emerging, converging and interconnecting technologies such as Internet, Social Networking, Smart Phones that interconnect and integrate people and fields have the power to create new opportunities in the interstices between existing social activities, opening up creative potentials that did not exist. They enable individuals to more fully leverage their existing knowledge and skills, expand these capacities and find others who have a specific need that matches their capabilities. 

2.  Man is slowly becoming more proactive, rather than reactive; more willing to anticipate and solve problems BEFORE they fully manifest; a reversal since the dawn of time. In a word, more rational.

3.  Even as there is an increase in social and political freedom, there is also a heightened sense that we need to COLLABORATE to resolve problems, to learn from each other and find a common basis for cooperative action. The world is increasingly moving towards greater collaboration and unity to resolve problems. Economic globalism is a first step, though it must go beyond mere trade to shared economic values such as full employment.

4.  There are graded steps to globalism from material economic to value-driven economic, and then onto social and cultural integration, which are more powerful still.

 

How is the problem of unemployment related to the structure of society and is it within our capacity to change that structure?

Unemployment is due to the fact that the structure of society is inadequate to fully and effectively harness the social energy and potential that is emerging. In some areas such as it is too rigid, limiting and inflexible, as in present systems for education and vocational training. In areas such as international financial coordination, it is too loosely and poorly structured. Though there is some degree of organization; each part is pulling in its own direction at the expense of the rest of society. While it engenders freedom, it lacks in collaboration. Where collaboration is missing, things fall into the cracks, which eventually manifests as a serious problem, as we saw with the recent financial crisis. It occurs in a thousand serious ways; unemployment being an example.

Unemployment is a problem where parts are not connecting with other parts because of missing structure and organization. That of itself is due to wanting values about others (peoples, nations, organizations) outside our limited field. It can be overcome, allowing all entities to see the value of a more connected structure and organization to resolve problems like unemployment.

Full employment is simply a more tightly wound infrastructure where the parts are deftly interconnected, even as each simultaneously fulfills its own potential through the exercise of its full freedom.

 

Philosophically, it is said that every problem created by human beings can be solved by human initiative. This principle is often described as the essence of the American spirit, responsible for its rise to global pre-eminence. Is this principle relevant to the issue of unemployment nationally and globally?

We can create anything in the world if our mind perceives the possibility. This is what makes we humans unique. And yet we have only tapped into a fraction of that power.

Americans have succeeded because they conceived of ways to improve the world physically by envisioning it in their minds. They saw the way to mass production and organization of the material means of society, which has turned the nation into the greatest economic force in world history. There was utter freedom to do so, and they took advantage of it.

But that is not enough. There are also human values beyond mere economic ones. We see one-by-one America (and Europe) adopt these social values. E.g. in business, there is pregnancy leave, worker's compensation, health insurance, and so forth, because the human individual is increasingly valued. The right to a job is also a value we can envision. So too is full employment. Just as America envisioned material values and achieved them, it can increasingly envision new social values. Full employment is one example.

So yes, we can use the model of the American spirit of human initiative to resolve all issues facing the world. Once we perceive the social value of full employment, the will to see it come about can be forged. America started at the material/economic level. We must go further and work for the Dignity of Man at all levels - psychological, social, and spiritual.

 

It has been said that problems come to us for our progress. Is there truth in that statement with respect to the global employment challenge? If so, what is the progress humanity needs to make?

If people (or nations or peoples) examine their past problems, they will see that it turned out to be the greatest spur for progress in their lives, as WWII brought the UN, the EU, globalism, the end of colonialism, etc. etc. Thus, we could say philosophically that positives are negatives in disguise. It seems to be the secret spur of Nature that propels us forward.

 

What practical strategies can be adopted to stimulate employment growth and reduce unemployment?

GLOBAL OPPORTUNITIES SYSTEM (GOS)

Identify all emerging technologies in all fields. Discover what those new types of jobs are. Build it into a database. Now match people to those new jobs. Do it through the Internet. In the process, help them become entrepreneurial so they can realize each new job possibility. This will generate vast quantity of jobs, as well as new fields in society that will in of itself generate even more jobs. We can rapidly move to greater and fuller employment this way.

GLOBAL OPPORTUNITIES CORP (GOC)

Create an international Marshall Plan for new jobs utilizing the approach above (GOS).

Get the full backing of government to promulgate the effort. Bring in the private sector to strengthen it.

 

Insurance
(main)

Health Insurance
If universal education is the foundation of universal Prosperity, Insurance is the social shield from the cruelties of Life.

Life is not merely cruel; it is capable of being a tyrant. It has the power to reduce the most wealthy man to a beggar on the street. Tragedies in life can make yesterday's upper middle class families into today's slum dwellers.

Insurance can protect any policy holder from most of the tragedies of life. Every farmer knows after a drought or floods the full value of crop insurance. When the head of the family dies leaving a destitute family behind, the one question everyone asks is if his life is insured.

In these days, the medical bill is a substantial portion of the income. For a mere Rs. 500, health insurance cover of Rs. 30,000 was mooted a little while ago. It remains a proposal of good intentions.

Heart operations become necessary for many people. Once operated upon, the person functions like an ordinary man. Or else, his life is in danger. Industrial workers facing that need cannot rise to the occasion financially.

Insurance can save him from the tragedy. Once such a good scheme has been introduced in one sector, gradually every sector of employment will come under it. There is a great positive aspect to any crucial insurance scheme.

Educational insurance is becoming as important now-a-days. A worker's employment can offer him an insurance scheme which will provide his children the highest possible education his own salaried status can afford.

Suppose both these schemes are introduced, one can witness a substantial rise in worker performance.

Illegal strikes, gheroes, violence will vastly come down as those who participate in these unlawful activities will become ineligible for the benefits of insurance.

Crop insurance will compel the farmer to water in time, apply enough fertiliser, spray in time which will ensure a greater crop yield.

Insurance policy holders in any field will be those of greater productivity and will be responsible members of the profession.

Absenteeism, labour intransigence, work of poor quality or of false origins, etc. will be weeded out if insurance comes to stay. What no law can enforce - higher productivity - will become possible by the sense of responsibility of one who holds an insurance policy.

Insurance is an eminent national institution. To integrate that with industry, farming, education, and health is good. (MSS)
 

Taxes, Taxation
 (main)

Taxation Makes Government
Taxation makes the government we create meaningful. In the measure a population voluntarily pays TAXES, it deserves a government. Otherwise, that is a pre-government society. The State withers when taxes are NOT collected but just paid out. (MSS, modified)

Not Wanting to Pay Taxes
It [not wanting to pay taxes] is one expression of a fundamental human characteristic -- people want benefits without paying for them. (MSS)

An Unpatriotic Act
[Re: US Businesses who hide or otherwise shelter their cash by keeping it overseas.]

Avoiding paying US taxes is an unpatriotic act, even if there are business loopholes available to do so. Our contract with the government is we pay taxes, the government in turn secures our well being. If we don't keep up our half of the bargain, -- e.g. by moving cash overseas because there is a loophole to do so or we partake in other financial shenanigans -- we break our moral contract through an unpatriotic act. We cause others to suffer because the government is being deprived of deserved funds. Therefore, it is in one sense reasonable for that individual or party's citizenship to be revoked.

The Privilege of Paying Our Taxes
America came into being when the colonists refused to pay unfair taxes to their British lords. Through their rallying cry of "no taxation without representation," they eventually threw out their colonial masters. Therefore, until this day the average American citizen loathes taxes. Corporations seek every legal means of avoiding it. Also, in a society of freedom, having to pay taxes seemed counterproductive. The citizens of many of the other countries of the world share this same view. It is unfortunately wrong-headed.

In life, we form contracts with others. One example is the contract we have with the government. We may not realize we have one, but we do. It is that they will take care of us -- provide security, infrastructure, et al -- and in return, we will pay our taxes. Thus paying taxes can be considered an act of patriotism. It can even be argued that one who distains taxes is deserved of losing his citizenship since he has broken his essential contract with his government. He is not holding up his side of the social bargain.

When we pay our taxes, it should be an act of gratitude, indicating our deep thanks and appreciation for the benefits the government, the society has provided us. When we move from distain to consciously express positive attitudes of sincere gratitude, we move away from our egocentric view and open to a wider field of existence. It is from such a poise that sudden good fortune arises.

So when we pay our taxes, let us think of the nation, state, or community that has provided the great foundation that enabled our life to thrive. Let us give deep thanks to those who have come before us, who have helped shape our world, and to whom we are paying back through an inner debt of gratitude. Paying our tax then becomes a profound act that cannot help but release powerful positive energies that will keep the wheel of inner and outer success turning.

High Taxation is for Advanced, Evolutionary Society
 In the most advanced society contemplated by Mother, all savings are taxes. Individual wealth is NOT prosperity. Institutional wealth makes for prosperity. Man earns and saves. His savings are equal to his earning. He deposits his earnings in the bank. The bank multiplies that money nine times out of which collective prosperity issues.  All ORGANISATIONS multiply resources. Therefore, low tax belongs to a primitive society. High tax is for the advanced society. (MSS, somewhat modified)

High Taxation for Advanced Society
-Low tax belongs to a primitive society. High tax is for the advanced society.

-In the most advanced [spirit-based conscious] society contemplated by the Mother, all savings are taxes. (MSS, somewhat modified)

Property, Inheritance, and Taxes
Property is the possessiveness of the ego. Inheritance is a primitive clinging to one's physical roots. Taxes is an instrument designed to undermine them both. (MSS)

US Low Taxes
The US pays at a net 18% tax rate (after deductions), whereas Europe is at net 25-35%. China and Russia are at ~25%. Most of the countries of the world pay at least 50% higher than US. We need to join the world the rest of the world (i.e. of reality).

US citizens want more and more benefits from government, yet we are unwilling to pay for it. This is hypocrisy. This imbalance caused by too little taxes due to too many deductions (yet we want all the benefits)is the great secret of the deficits, and also another wanting value in the heart of our nation when it comes to money. Greed, speculation, and materialism are the others.

Or to put it another way, capitalism is acquiring many of the values of socialism; i.e. to help out the average citizen. Socialism as a system has generally failed, yet it's values (like concern for worker safety, women's maternity leave, etc. etc i.e. putting the individual first) are positive and they are being implemented ironically through capitalism. This (more benefits) is what people want, yet they refuse to pay for it through constant tax deductions and cuts. It is unrealistic. It has to change, and it will through higher taxation that brings the US in balance with the rest of the world.

 

US Government Debt and Insufficient Taxation
We have been asking government for huge expenditures without collecting the commensurate taxes from the public. Loopholes in the code and deep write offs in paying our taxes cause the imbalance in the government balance sheet. No one wants to address this! In Europe, the tax rate is 25-35%. In the US it is closer to 15% after loopholes for companies and what we, the general public can take as a deduction in our April 15th forms.

The fact is we want more benefits from the government, and don't want to pay for them. Conservatives want smaller government via less taxes, but less taxes causes bigger government in the form of huge debt.

Everyone is thus at fault. The general public, the companies, and those who rule the government at different points. Coming to grips with the truth requires great courage. In the short run, tax hikes (especially negating the loopholes) will be necessary. In the longer term, we will all have to come to terms with the truth. E.g. the public wants more from the government, but are unwilling to pay for it (through requisite taxes). Slowly we are moving to the European model. Higher taxes are necessary. Longer term, a frank discussion of what we want and how to pay for it is mandatory. The underlying truth must be explored.

Inflation and Social Evolution
The significance of inflation in the context of social evolution is very different than the view that arises from explaining its immediate short-term causes and effects in the context of changes in monetary policy in an industrially advanced economy. (MSS)

Inflation and Social Change

-The root cause of inflation is the rising aspirations, expectations, and progress of people in society. These reflect as new social values.
-What modern economists call inflation is nothing other than the evolution of the institution of currency to reflect new social values.
-Inflation as we know it today is a symptom of social, as opposed to merely economic growth.
-Inflation shifts money from one sector to another
-Inflation acts as an instrument for shifting money from the centralized powers (of rich men and companies) to the individualized consumer.
-As inflation shifts money from one sector to another, social values, especially when they change, give the rewards of one sector to another.
-The French Revolution, computer sciences, American Civil Rights Movement, automation, credit cards, the Magna Carats, telegraphy, unemployment, literacy, and Indian Freedom, all have one thing in common. They are among the less known, but real, causes of inflation. [They are instances of social progress or evolution reflecting new social values.]
-Spiraling oil prices, powerful labour unions, increasing money supply, deficit financing, consumer debt, high interest rates, etc. are all commonly cited causes of inflation. But as economist Robert Heilbroner has pointed out, inflation existed before many of these factors were present and it persists today in countries where many of them are absent. ''No one of these factors can be properly called the single 'cause of inflation". [The root cause is social evolution.] (MSS, in part, extracted)

Social Values of Inflation
-Prices do not rise proportionally in all products or commodities. Price is the social value of a product. Commodities change in their social value. Inflation inflates the value of a cherished product. Inflation indicates the direction of social progress. As inflation shifts money from one sector to another, social values, especially when they change, give the rewards of one sector to another. Changing social values are social inflation.

-Inflation acts as an instrument for shifting money from the centralised powers (of rich men and companies) to the individualised consumer.

-Inflation in the absence of deficit financing is the real index of human development.

Article on Inflation as Symptom of Social Growth

 

Miscellaneous
(main)

Also See Thoughts into the Cause of, Solutions to Poverty

Also See Thoughts into the Nature of & Potential for Prosperity

Solving World Problems through Economic Solutions
 When economic opportunities open up, Man has no time or energy for religious conflict, i.e. economics goes deeper into man's existence than what he believes to be his religious conviction. If ethnic conflicts are to acquire life and virulence, it should be in USA, because it is there we find a great number of dynamic ethnic minorities, but the USA is more free from ethnic conflicts than elsewhere.

To avail of economic opportunities, Man needs enormous effort and corresponding energies, which spare no energy for a quarrel of any description. The USA is a standing example for this rule. Ireland recently passed through the same experience.

To solve military conflicts politically was a longstanding rule in history. To solve political conflicts by economic strategies is not used in the same measure. Nixon opened up the Chinese market to the USA and now a war between the two countries is unthinkable. (MSS)

How Rural Societies like India Can Skip the Industrial Stage of Development

  • The world evolved from agriculture to modern society via manufacturing.
  • As the centuries or decades pass, the Mind awakens.
  • It hastens the change.
  • Now that the service sector dominates and society has given a tool of technology -- computer -- India can skip both the initial phases largely.
  • Rural areas can generate their own service sector and agriculture can be avoided to a great extent. (MSS)

End of Property Rights & Inheritance
Mother argues for the abolition of property rights and the law of inheritance. (MSS)  [Property is ultimately ego.]

Free Market Competition, Unhealthy Competition, & How Companies that are Organized, Attuned to the Needs of Society that Survive It
 The free market is the surest mechanism to ensure economic democracy. USSR tried command economy administered by the State. It only stifled growth.

The rules of the market are a powerful antidote to the greed of men.

Before the private phone companies entered the market in India, phone calls were costly and service was poor. One paid Rs 24 for a three-minute STD call to Madras from Pondicherry. Phone repairs had to wait for days and demanded several reminders. Still the workmen had to be paid extra.

Now when the competition is allowed, service is readily available and call charges are more than halved.

Competition is necessary for keeping the market healthy. Even such a competition turns unhealthy often. Those who are flush with money reduce the price of the product below the cost price with a view to wiping out the smaller fries in the market. They die in vast numbers and quickly too.

In a field where there are about a hundred small producers, unhealthy competition wipes out most of them, sometimes all of them, except one or two.

Coca-cola faced such opposition from Pepsi Cola. Each year the cola wars have their own season. Smaller fries quickly vacate the field.

Competition ensures fair price to customers. It stimulates the opposition to become efficient. The unhealthy price wars are ruinous to cash-starved companies. Also, ill-organised companies cave in under the mighty blow of an adversary armed with efficiency, enormous capital and unscrupulous motives.

Is it all? Is there something beyond it? As usual, there is more than meets the eye.

A fully ORGANISED company cannot die whatever the competition is, however unscrupulous they are. Organisation is health, vitality. It is healthy irrespective of the environment.

There are various levels of organisation. The company that faces stiff competition will survive if it is organised enough to survive in the environment. A company that is integrated with the society will be vibrant.

Any society is moving on certain lines. On those lines, the society will carry great force, as the Indian society is moving towards greater education and greater prosperity.

To minister to THOSE needs consciously is to be vibrant. That vibrancy is a vibration of growth. Strong competition will stimulate that vibrancy.

At a time when companies are dying like flies crushed by the competition, a vibrant company will find itself growing. Competition is a welcome stimulus for an organised, vibrant company.

Forty new entrants in the scooter market twenty years ago struck terror in the heart of Bajaj. That year, he grew 100 percent. (MSS)

How Socialism's Values are Being Adopted in Capitalism
 

 

To Be Categorized

 

III

Economics,

History,

Spirituality

The Invisible Movement of Rights in History, & the Emergence of Spiritual MAN in the 21st Century
There is an invisible movement in the air all over the world which espouses the Rights of the oppressed. Now it is the Blacks who are in favour, next it is the women. The street children get their turn. The poor suddenly come into the favour of the world and the whole world sings the chorus of the Right to Food, Right to water, Right to Peace, etc. All types of Rights have emerged as the target for the awakened world. It is a balm to the hearts of idealists and visionaries the world over as the have-nots, downtrodden, the oppressed and the invalids have now their share of the limelight. The UN is the spearhead for most of these movements. The world is awakened enough in her conscience that the world opinion readily swings to this call. This development is imperceptible but unmistakable. I see behind all these urges that MAN is emerging as someone to be counted hereafter. The Spirit in MAN seeks expression, peeps out from its hiding place. The symptoms are well-defined. He who seeks expression is no longer the social man, but the Spiritual Individual. The 21st century will be his century. (MSS)

 

 


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