Priorities

The more I learn about history and political economy, economics in general, and technology, and try to apply this knowledge to understanding our current situation, the more obvious it becomes that what we have is problem of priorities.

Whether because of the "tyranny of small decisions" or outright self-interested manipulation (greed), we are in a unique situation. We are in a disjointed paradoxical society that is spiraling further out of our control as size and speed reduce our capacity to understand, study, plan, and direct our course.


Central to the dilemma is our priorities. Corporativism or free-market capitalism, call it what you will, the global economy has had its rules written by ideologues whose priorities are not the societies for which they create policies but ideological free-markets that theoretically produce efficient results for their societies. Worse still, they've ensured to the greatest extent possible that these rules stay immutable.

This economic trap's purpose is to purportedly purify capitalism of government intervention and control. But the real effect of unfettered capitalism is acquisition or destruction of anything opposing it. Regulations, social programs, public institutions and infrastructure, and even government itself are all exposed to the unrelenting attacks of capital.

As we witness the publicly bailed-out economic elite purposefully destroy and cannibalize local, city, and state governments and their programs think of the priorities that we, normal working people, believe in. Do we really believe in: pushing people to their breaking point? destroying societies and forcing them to rebuild in the image that we chose? undercutting our allies' economies? our own? punishing and killing people with ruthless policies? I don't believe so. Yet this is precisely the legacy of this country for the last forty years.

First the theories were tried out on other countries, but now, we face our own crises. The shocks that have changed the world have returned to their birthplace and they're changing this country in ways that we, it's citizens, will regret for many years. Collectively, we must ask ourselves, what are our priorities? Once identified, we must be steadfast. Those who benefit from the current state of affairs have capitalized at every juncture and consolidated power to an unimaginable extent, and they intend to pursue their agenda mercilessly. So we must be ready, with ideas, and policy, and power so that when the time is ripe, true democratic reform can take place.

So the first priority is to have a plan. This plan must be as robust as the world we live in and must enshrine the real values and priorities of human society. These values have been documented (in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights) and are common to all humanity, yet they have been ignored and even assaulted by those charged with their protection. And any workable plan must attempt to restructure trade in an efficient manner, since the current system is only efficient for the few who have appropriated the wealth of the nations.