That looks interesting, but it’s a long read. What’s the TLDR?
- Use direct voting to determine what needs to be done, instead of letting politicians decide
- Incentivize companies to implement what is needed, instead of letting governments contract them
- Correlate personal gains to the Common Good. Companies and individuals only get wealthy as they contribute to the Common Good
- Keep a government only for core functions like defense, diplomacy, justice and policing
- Rekindle democracy, harness capitalism towards ethical goals, enjoy
What problems of our current system does Ethical Capitalism solve?
| Problem in current system | Solved | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| Our politicians do not seem to be the best individuals to make decisions for us all | ✅ | Direct democracy determines what needs to be done, companies have direct incentive to do it |
| Companies maximize profits without consideration for the Common Good | ✅ | Ethical Capitalism correlates profits to Common Good |
| Governments contract companies to act towards the Common Good, but they seem to mismanage the enormous sums of money our taxes represent | ✅ | Ethical Capitalism incentivizes directly company, completely does away with this contracting model, and harnesses the forces of capitalism for maximum efficiency |
| It sometimes feels like the best way to get rich fast in our world is to lie, steal, pollute, destroy | ✅ | Ethical Capitalism ensures correlation between personal gain and collective well-being |
| People seem to have either completely given up on politics, or to be overly aggressive about it | ✅ | Ethical Capitalism provides a straightforward way to act by direct voting. |
| Our society lacks a sense of shared purpose | ✅ | Ethical Capitalism provides meaning to our system |
| There are suspicions of voter fraud in some countries | ✅ | We enforce identity proof via Self-Sovereign Identity |
| People vote without knowledge of the subject | ✅ | Competency test required before voting |
What are the core beliefs underpinning this project?
Humanity needs to spend much more brain cycles reflecting on and improving its systems in general and its governance model in particular.
Humanity needs to ensure that the work it performs is correlated with the Common Good.
Defining the Common Good is hard, ever-changing and critically important. It cannot be delegated blindly to a handful of individuals, but requires our collective best effort.
Human nature needs to be fully acknowledged and taken into account when devising any human system. It is not effective to design systems based on how one wishes human behaved.
The current state of humanity is an alarm call. Authoritarianism, climate change, unbridled technology advancements, loss of shared purpose and violence rises are increasingly loud warnings that our governance system is obsolete. We need an urgent response.
In one sentence, how is this system implemented?
A decentralized voting system sets a Common Good Coefficient δ that determines whether economic agents receive more (δ > 0) or less (δ < 0) money from each good or service they sell.
I see. You are ensuring payment for externality.
Yes. But it’s more than that. This model gets the government out of deciding what the people needs, and out of managing companies that will solve these needs.
People will directly decide what they need, and companies will develop business models to directly answer these needs, instead of being contracted by the government.
It is a revolution : all companies will need to include the Common Good into their profit projections, and individuals will only get rich as they help society as a whole.
Is it meant to replace the taxation system?
That’s the ideal long-term goal. However, it is not strictly necessary for this project to be useful, as this system still contributes good things to the world when ran in parallel with the current taxation system.
It’s a good idea, but such an unprecedented change is scary.
What feels scarier to me is not changing. Democracy is in retreat. Authoritarianism is blossoming. Climate is warming. Violence is rising. The status quo is a path we can’t afford.
Why did you choose Plato as the emblem for this project?
The main reason is that Plato was one of the leading thinkers of our species who carefully exposed the limitations of democracy. He was fighting, as we are, for a better governance model for humankind. His book The Republic is a treasure of insights on political theory because when we land on a criticism made 2400 years ago that is still valid today, we know it’s high time we tackled the problem.
The secondary reason is that his bust looks cool at all screen resolutions.
Is democracy or capitalism responsible for our current problems?
It is irrelevant whether the fault is more with democracy or with capitalism. They both go hand in hand, and one serves the other in the Western world. To the individual citizens, only the results matter. We only perceive the outcome of the system, and it does not matter if the powers influencing the job markets, the ads on TV or climate change think themselves as economic or political. To solve the problem, we need to improve the overall system.
Why do you need a cryptocurrency to do this?
Our lofty ideals translate to a concrete economic solution. A cryptocurrency allows us to automatize the flow of funds in and out of the Common Good Fund when each payment is made. It provides a clear, open source, enforcement mechanism where no trust in a central authority is needed.
I’m sold. How can I help?
Glad you asked! We absolutely need your help.