Economic Equality Boils Down to This One Thing
The conversation over economic equality is probably the messiest in all of human history. We’ve spent thousands of years, knowingly or not, figuring out which economic system works the best in different levels of civilization. While we’ve gone through many systems we’ve more-or-less landed on the most stable ones. Some people reduce today’s conversation to Socialism vs. Capitalism although that misrepresents the problem. Many people today favor different parts, a combination, of ‘socialism’ and ‘capitalism’. In a way, every major civilization on the globe today is a combination of these systems that simply lean one way or the other. One could argue they are the most complete economic theories of society and that they both at least address the major problems but the debate still rages on over one central issue: wealth creation. Pure capitalism touts meritocracy, success by work and effort, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. Socialism says wealth creation is an issue of society as a whole, not each individual.
In my opinion, the modern conversation has reached a point where we’ve at least realized that equal opportunity is an important concept meaning pure capitalism doesn’t work. Unfortunately, we have yet to achieve this because we are still arguing over wealth creation. Some people are stuck too far left in socialism and stick to the idea of equal outcome. Modern conversation has also reached a point where we realize that the pursuit of something greater is important to human well-being and thus pure socialism doesn’t work. Unfortunately, some people are still stuck too far right and refuse the idea of government aid in any situation. In simpler terms, the argument over wealth creation hasn’t made much advancement recently because some people think we should have equal wealth no matter what and others think no wealth should come your way unless you’ve earned it.
The sensible among us of course realize that both equal opportunity and the meaning of work are important, but also that forcing equal outcome is a bad idea and that a true meritocracy doesn’t exist.
The sensible among us of course realize that both equal opportunity and the meaning of work are important, but also that forcing equal outcome is a bad idea and that a true meritocracy doesn’t exist. Emerging from these facts into a coherent system has been a struggle, however, and still doesn’t answer the question of how to approach wealth creation. I, of course, support a Universal Basic Income where every citizen 18 and older gets a no-strings-attached monthly check to cover basic needs and to serve as a safety net when unpredictable things happen. This makes tremendous progress on equal opportunity while still allowing for people to work for more.
How do we deal with the fact that the richest among us get to experience nice things, amazing things, and amazing places while most people never get any of this?
In a system like this, the only question left to ask is that of wealth creation. How do we deal with the fact that the richest among us get to experience nice things, amazing things, and amazing places while most people never get any of this? As I covered here, some of this problem is just natural. Rare things will be rare, at least until we create printers that can print anything. Some people will need to work lower-paying jobs, at least until automation takes over. And even when these things happen we still need a social system in which we can succeed as that is part of our psychology. This means that the answer to wealth creation is that it isn’t a problem. In all reality, a system in which there is some sort of competition for wealth is extremely optimal for us. This means a system where we can create a true meritocracy, where creating value gets valued, and where no one goes without what they need and are able to start at least at level-ground is perfect.
In the current capitalistic, faux meritocracy we live in the highest value of the land is some sort of intelligence which means higher intelligence typically means higher income. Aside from the fact that even this system is broken by the existence of massive corporations participating in anti-competitive behavior and aside from the fact that we currently fail to value many types of intelligence in our education system, intelligence is still the foremost value you can count on to “succeed” and earn wealth in the U.S. People who favor the socialist solution to wealth creation tend to disparage this because people are born at different levels of intelligence and they think everyone should be living equally. People who favor the capitalistic solution just see this as an unchangeable fact: what creates value does and intelligence happens to be the highest value. However, if we fix the listed current problems and give equal opportunity I believe leadership will become of a higher value than intelligence.
When this happens we will begin to value types of work we previously haven’t and we will start to do actions that add new types of value. Rather than the only sector that’s valued by money being products or services, we’ll expand this to all sorts of humanitarian actions, creative endeavors, and who knows what else.
The reason behind this is because the values of our society as a whole will shift. When this happens we will begin to value types of work we previously haven’t and we will start to do actions that add new types of value. Rather than the only sector that’s valued by money being products or services, we’ll expand this to all sorts of humanitarian actions, creative endeavors, and who knows what else. Meaning what creates value can be better embraced and valued in return. When our day-to-day lives aren’t driven by the need for money to stay alive we will start to value those who have a vision that inspires us. Leaders. Not only will we have the time and headspace to value them but also to follow them. This will lead to unimaginable movements, feats, and wonders.
Getting held up with this problem has stopped us from starting the preliminary steps to get to where this is the only issue. However, if we take care of these preliminary steps and allow for value to naturally shift we will see the solution to wealth creation is simply a shift to a value that everyone can manifest or would be happy following someone who has manifested it.
The conversation around wealth equality, once the value of work and competition is acknowledged and once the value of equal-opportunity is acknowledged and solved, is really about wealth creation. Getting held up with this problem has stopped us from starting the preliminary steps to get to where this is the only issue. However, if we take care of these preliminary steps and allow for value to naturally shift we will see the solution to wealth creation is simply a shift to a value that everyone can manifest or would be happy following someone who has manifested it. This furthers the value of equal opportunity while creating a true meritocracy that can value something that almost everyone has the potential for, unlike with intelligence.
So while the problem of wealth creation doesn’t end with equal wealth nor a raw world where work providing a product or service equals the only value it ends with the value of work and the equal possibility for wealth. Furthermore, even those who do not pursue a leadership role would still have their needs met and would have a massive selection of which project they want to work on and which leader they want to follow. This solution leads to a better world. A world where our values are shifted, where no one is struggling just to get by, and where all it takes to experience the nicer things in life is a vision that will help others either suffer less or experience more joy. We currently value intelligence because the visions that come from that are the only ones money can flow to but if we allow money to flow to every value we will experience a fundamental shift in the way wealth is created and consequently a fairer playing field further establishing equal opportunity.
The problem of wealth creation is an issue of reframing what we value, reframing how money arrives in people’s hands to something that a lot of people truly have the potential to access if they want. And even if they can’t or don’t want to it’s a place where everyone is still living a dignified life.
