Capitalism covers so many fields and disciplines that it hard to fathom the entirety of the issue. This hack takes a broad view of long-term capitalism and shows that capitalism itself is not a single independent construct. It is an interdependent part of the world and as such needs to be responsible to play its part in the future of the human race.
Capitalism is a divisive topic. Only a cursory understanding of politics and social issues is required to realise there is a basic split in opinion; the absolute Free Market proponents versus the social justice anti-globalisationists at the extremes. However, this over-simplified view tends to ignore some of the basic challenges being faced on a global scale. The primary issue that should be concerning everyone is: how can we continue to grow our population if our resources are diminishing? What does this have to do with long-term capitalism? Everything.
Capitalism has a long history, from the birth of the company in the 1600s to the Bretton Woods conference where GDP made its grand entry, to the neo-liberal version of recent times. Adam Smith’s child has evolved from a function for sifting the ‘efficient from the inefficient’ in to a continuous growth apparatus, using GDP as a measure far beyond the scope it was designed for, while ignoring the very real possibility of fiscal game over. This latter state is one in which the United States has a chance of reaching within 100 years if some of the modelling is to be believed.
Where does this leave the human race when this neo-liberal model of consumption is greater than production (in terms of GDP and disposable income)? How does capitalism survive when the resources used to support it are diminishing exponentially? Can the individualistic West reconcile the power-shift to the collectivism-values of the East? So many questions so little time. State Capitalism reared its head during the Global Financial Crisis with Governments rescuing companies that were deemed too big to fail. Yet this model of capitalism is not sustainable as it is unlikely to find two states that share identical policies and aspirations.
Moving out of the macro realm down to company attitudes we may have some other initiatives for capitalism’s future. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a great concept, but is it just a fashion? Are too many listed joint-stock corporations just using CSR as ‘window dressing, green dressing or corporate candy floss’? There is also the noise around shareholder responsibility extending beyond the ‘electronic herd’ of micro-trading stocks. Isn’t one role of finance to help secure future funds for such things as private pensions and children’s education funds? How does holding stocks for as little as seven months help to insure for that future? This reality seems a little inconsistent with the goals.
From the company let’s take a quick sneaky-peak at the individual, what is colloquially known as self-leadership. How do we determine the validity of leaders when MBA students blew the chance to show their morality with only 20% of them signing their names to the oath of conduct? What does it say when many corporate executives believe that social initiatives create value but are too concerned with how their market commentators may respond?
So after 300+ words of consternation surrounding the current state of capitalism what is next? Strategy requires analysis of the situation, determination of a solution and implementation of the plans. Capitalism 3.0 or long-term capitalism needs to realise that continuous growth with our current resources is not sustainable. The global population is growing too fast and as such there are only two available options. Reduce the population or grow the resource base. On current estimates 1.4 Earths are required to support humans; therefore the young space industry holds the key to human survival; we need to expand our environment. This strategic goal has to be dove-tailed with modifying the current resource consumption policies that are currently in place.
To achieve this, the World should start to view itself as a dysfunctional organisation that needs some severe change-management in order to meets its objectives. Aligning communication methods to cross the cultural differences, while putting in place all of the behaviour modification theories that work for organisations is just the start. Reviewing the goals of global management and incorporating effective measures for performance (and not just GDP) will go some way to legitimising leaders who can communicate the vision. The primary objective is the survival of the human race. It will take top-down and bottom-up leadership to help bring about empowered change. It will take the individualistic self-preservationists and socially interdependent collectivism to achieve a heightened state of entrepreneurialism that can grow capitalism from the self-obsessed place it is now to something beyond. Entrepreneurs working in the space industry will help to advance the human race, and this in itself is part of the long-term capitalist function. The new frontier is no-longer the eastern Spice Route, or the South American silver mines or prairie plans of the US. Space has resources and an environment that is being tamed in order to accommodate long-term colonisation. This is a new era for human history and therefore a new era of thinking is required. Capitalism 3.0 may not have all of the answers, but it starts with a dream and then a goal, with details and actions that follow.
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