High-Efficiency Capitalism

High-Efficiency Capitalism:

High-Efficiency Capitalism is a simple concept. The first principle is that the basic necessities of life are guaranteed: food, shelter, water, electricity, and health. People will work hard just to do better than others on relative terms.

Note: eliminating poverty using welfare or a basic income is NOT socialism.  Socialism involves workers owning the means of production.  Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, North Korea, China, Pol Pot’s Cambodia, etc. are/were NOT socialist (or communist.)

1) Ethical Reasons:
a) It is frankly not ethical for people to be homeless and starving when society is able to provide for them.
b) No matter how wicked people are, as human organisms we all deserve the basic necessities of life.

2) Efficiency Reasons:
c) People want job security and even more decent individuals will block progress in technology and other sectors in order to maintain job security. For example, if I am a receptionist I might block phone automation in order to keep my job. If I was confident the basics of life were still guaranteed, I would allow this automation to occur. I could then live off the system until I find a new job. In our society today, jobs require far greater training and are far more standardized than in the past. Thus, there needs to be sufficient time for people to transition from one job to another.
d) Allowing greater automation and for people to transition to areas they are actually needed is far better for the economy overall.
e) People naturally want to work, to feel they are making a difference in the community, to feel they are useful, to look like they are not lazy, to look healthy, to be doing well relative to their peers and people in the community, to keep ahead or keep up with the group etc. All of these factors will drive people not only to work, but to do that which is actually of maximum value to society.
f) On top of this, people will work to have luxuries. Video games, jewellery, and fancy cars are not things the state will be providing for under this economic model.  Market forces are still considered valuable to set prices for these non-essential commodities.
g) Competition can be of value when not overdone. When children play soccer, the competition drives them to do better; but no matter how poorly a child performs, they are still fed at the end of the day and still get to sleep indoors.
h) It frankly isn’t worth it to maintain a level of poverty in order to punish the lazy. Society hurts itself far more than it helps itself in the long run.

3) General Knowledge:
i) Ayn Rand only argued for individualism and detested weakness in men because she herself is incapable of standing alone and these views allowed her to find a stronger mating partner. Women such as Dickinson and Bronte who did not detest the weak to indulge the strong should be the true heroines among feminists.
j) Nobody argues for traditional capitalism with the intent of making the world a better place. People only argue for traditional capitalism because it is the ideology of the strong. Those who argue for traditional capitalism do so out of purely selfish pathology. Selfish individuals such as these still have a place in the economic model of High-Efficiency Capitalism because it is assumed that selfish individuals will still work hard to benefit themselves.

4) Cultural Reasons:
k) Painters, poets, sculptors and those working in other artistic realms should not and cannot be subject to traditional market pressures as this destroys the true nature of genuine art. Many artists only become recognized posthumously and, thus, require social aid in order to continue with their genuine work.

5) Societal Reasons:
l) True radicalism, altruism and social dissidence cannot exist when people feel their livelihood is at stake. This occurs in any type of work environment where people are scared of homelessness or unemployment. Thus, in order for there to be true freedom of speech, natural social support is necessary.
m) True genius in scientific, humanitarian, or artistic realms can also not exist without social support inherently since genius is defined by that which is outside mainstream thought and mainstream academia. Thus, for social progress itself, certain people do need to live off the system as compensation for their efforts.
n) Also, those involved in spiritual realms but who do not belong to a currently established sect must also live off the system for long periods of time.
o) True genius requires far more time than currently provided by the current economic system and cannot be assessed through any type of standardized testing such as IQ tests. True spiritual mastery requires even more time and is even less discernible using any type of standardized measure.

6) Medical Reasons:
p) Healthcare practitioners say time and time again that “an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure.” But how can people be healthy when they are eating out of the trash?
q) Allowing greater human freedom, transition and choice will decrease stress levels which has multiple untold benefits – not the least of which being a decline in the rates of mental illness such as anxiety disorder and depression.
r) Greater sickness prevention saves the system healthcare dollars.

7) Simple Transition:
s) Transition isn’t difficult. You merely tax people more in order for there to be more money to provide social assistance. This also creates more jobs since the poor being denied their rights for so long require an enormous amount of aid to bring them back to a level congruent with a humane society.
t) HE-Capitalism is not about making everyone perfectly equal. People’s current relative economic standing is maintained. For example, the first, second and third richest people in a country will still be the first, second and third richest people in that country after reform. It’s more about closing the gap. Also, for a child to win a sparring competition only because others were underfed and malnourished is not something that garners great praise or respect. Thus, the achievements of the rich are not noteworthy unless there is a level playing field.

8) Illusory Measurement:
u) In order to transition to a model such as HE-Capitalism there will always be a dip in economic performance before there is a gain. This is short-term pain for long-term gain. Naturally economic progress slows as people adjust to new economic systems – both physically and psychologically. However, people who measure economic performance and are bias towards status quo economics will use any initial decline as “proof” that such a system will lead to disaster. People are required to give any proposed model sufficient time to prove or disprove itself in a democratic environment before they truly assess the validity of the model.

9) A Matter of Principle
v) There are certain core values we as people do not step over to significant extent for economic gain. We would not trample over democracy or freedom of speech just because it would be better for business (though obviously our society currently behaves the exact opposite to what they profess to uphold.) Thus, there are certain core principles that must be respected before people are allowed to play around with economics just as children need to be healthy before they are allowed to play sports. Providing the basics of food, shelter, water, and adequate healthcare to other human beings should be one of those core values not to be trampled over for the illusion of greater economic performance.

“Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.”
– Arthur Schopenhauer