|
|
| PURCHASE ON AMAZON |
"Charity is the great channel," it has been well said, "through which God passes all His mercy upon mankind. For we receive absolution of our sins in proportion to our forgiving our brother. This is the rule of our hopes and the measure of our desire in this world; and on the day of death and judgment, the great sentence upon mankind shall be transacted according to our alms, which is the other part of charity. God himself is love; and very degree of charity that dwells in us is the participation of the divine nature." Morals and Dogma
Morals and Dogma VIII Intendant of the Building
Adam Smith overlooked the fact that self-interest is not the sole motivator of economic systems.
The study of economics must have begun much earlier than historical records suggest. Given its obvious importance, thinkers across ages should have explored this topic more thoroughly than what we see today. Although Deuteronomy contains some banking laws, very little has been said on the subject over the centuries.
Our modern understanding of economics emerged in the 18th century, a period marked by new political realities, democracy, and individual freedoms.
During this time, science challenged the authority of the Church, and free thinkers began to govern themselves. For the first time, it was discovered that our actions are governed by our brain. Prior to this, people generally believed that God and the Devil were responsible for their actions, driven by spirits and divine connections. Madness was often explained as demonic possession. In philosophy, it was the age of reason, where questioning everything became fashionable. Capitalism replaced the dogma of the Church that had previously enforced ignorance.
These were the times that brought us Adam Smith and the dawn of capitalism. EDITED BY COPILOT see comment below for original text
"Political economy, considered as a branch of the science of a statesman or legislator, proposes two distinct objects: first, to supply a plentiful revenue or product for the people, or, more properly, to enable them to provide such a revenue or subsistence for themselves; and secondly, to supply the state or commonwealth with a revenue sufficient for the public services. It proposes to enrich both the people and the sovereign." Adam Smith 1723-1790
The most basic concept of capitalism is that greed is the "invisible hand" that moderates free markets.
"It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we can expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest." Adam Smith 1776
It is believed that the intent of Adam Smith was not to create mathematical model of supply and demand, nor to create tools to make personal wealth. His goal was to improve moral and ethical structure through wealth and good statesmanship.
Sometimes over looked is that 17 years before Smith wrote "The Wealth of Nations" (modern translation) he had written a thesis on morality called, "The Theory of Moral Sentiments' It is from this line of thought that we have these first ideas of capitalism, and free markets.
See the connection between the two in the comments below.
If Adam Smith were able to know what we know now, he would have seen that a society can be smothered by its wealth. That self interest is not the only invisible hand or the only motivation we possess.
Replace greed with charity
Times have changed, Adam Smith was living in times of economic scarcity, today we live in times of over supply, the future will be times of population shrinkage along with over production. In a free state, self interest is not the only possible motivator to economic systems.
I think that micro socio/economic units that operate within free economies could be operated from a basis of charity rather than greed. Organizations would focus the economic power of a community to reach specific social ends.
A "competitive socialism", business specifically designed to enhance the quality of life. Designer villages that operate on altruism rather than self interest or greed. Small communities that provide economic and social protections from the larger forces of a capitalistic environment.
Large economic systems tend to maximize profit at the expense of the individual.
The study of macro economics functions shows a similarity to the laws of thermodynamics. After all, energy runs society, we burn everything from oil to steaks to make our social-economic system function.
Chaos theory can be used to predict large variable activity like the weather and can also be used to predict economic activity. We know that there is uncertainty in it's predictions. The world economy is so large that it has become like the weather. A small change across the world can have unpredicted effects in sectors that appear unrelated. Our world economic system based on greed and consuption will form regular storms and disasters. What amazes me is that certainly economists know these relationships, yet tell us that the regular storms of economics are not predictable. Unlike the weather we create our economics, and have several powerful tools to avert, or create storms. Yet, economist will stand before congress and claim they did not know the crisis was coming, or had the ability to manipulate it.
Production and supply will no longer be the problems of the future. Our choice for quality will hopefully supersede quantity. The disorganized system of free markets works well in macro scales, as well as in micro scales when there are shortages. It does not work well when there are surpluses, particularly for the individual.
The effect of a surplus on an individual is that it replaces our economic motivation for real and basic human needs with a glut of useless material objects.
The individual gets lost in large scale free market economies. Competition forces the entire family to go to work, isolating people, eliminating the family unit. This works very well for the income tax system, for this generates more consumption, and with more individuals working there is a larger pool to tax. To compensate, gangs and cults develop, and individuals find themselves quickly marginalized and without community.
The only safeguard are smart communities. Communities that use the best and most reasonable options to innovate, and create well being. The application of a cohesive ideology and moral structure within a tight and small community. Small sized independent economic communities within a free market system.
An economy dedicated to charity instead of greed.
Books.....
