Human ecology, environmental ecology, and value (financial) ecology coincide together either towards a healthy and auspicious stewardly ecological balance or towards an unhealthy and inauspicious unstewardly ecological imbalance.

ECOLOGICAL BALANCE: THE SIMPLE MATH OF "LIMITS TO GROWTH"

Einstein is credited with saying,

  • “compound interest is the greatest mathematical discovery of all time” and
  • “any fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage - to move in the opposite direction.”
It is too bad that Einstein didn't share a vision for how to solve the "limits to growth" imbalance problem of economic sociology:

"Limits to Growth" Problem

Humanity's footprint of consumption on our planet is growing "bigger, more complex, and more violent"ly destructive of our environmental ecology at a pace paralleling humanity's reliance on compound interest, i.e. ( 1 + g ) ^ N (where g is the annual percentage of consumptive growth and N is the year) - whenever that reliance is complicit with depletive or destructive endeavors. While humanity's footprint may start small, as long as consumption-based economic growth continues to expand so does the footprint of our consumption.

EXPANDING FOOTPRINT OF CONSUMPTION IN A FINITE BIOSPHERE

minimal footprint.......................... growing footprint......................... visible footprint......................... dominant footprint.......................... globalizing footprint................ unrecognizable footprint (destruction)..

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One does not need to study each critical world process (climate, fossil fues, water & air quality, the global financial system) in order to realize that perpetuating society's habitual central reliance on consumption-based growth means certain self-annhilation. But there is a solution … one should never underestimate humanity's creative ability and initiative in the face of a known extreme danger … especially if a pleasant solution is offered.

A similar pattern of imbalance is found in other human processes - simply replace "consumption-based" with "monoculture-tending".

consumption-based or monoculture-tending objectivecorrelated consequencealternative objective
consumption-based growth as economic growth through depletion of natural resourcesecological imbalance via depletion of life resources (destruction of the livability of our Earth home)redirection of growth traditions to ones of sustainable growth
monoculture-tending growth as oligopolization of an industryecological imbalance via depletion of diverse creative and inspired industry actors/actionsalternative objective
monoculture-tending growth as oligopolization of the healthcare industryecological imbalance via depletion of diverse creative and inspired industry actors/actionsalternative objective
monoculture-tending growth as oligopolization of the film industryecological imbalance via depletion of diverse creative and inspired industry actors/actionsalternative objective
monoculture-tending growth as financial hegemonizationdestruction ofalternative objective

"Monoculture-tending" growth models are "consumption-of-healthy-cultural-diversity-based"-growth models. The next economic paradigm past "information economics" is perhaps "whole system economics" - or the "economics of ecological systems". Historical orthodox economic policy must evolve to include the bigger economic picture or humanity will suffer the consequences of misdirected economic policy. Perhaps it would be called "permaeconomics" (relying in part on applying the principles of permaculture to economics).

Today, we are riding a freight train of our own design to its logical (if avoidable) end. The only alternative is to re-architect those traditions involving consumption-based growth, which requires changing traditions relating to information asymmetry: people must see the fatal nature of perpetual growth AND ALSO see a reasonable solution before choosing to change tradition.

The (isolationist, micro) strategy of profit maximization breaks down at some point. Unfortunately the embedded tradition of today (power via information asymmetry) renders current systems least-equipped to shift gears to a new evolutional tradition of tomorrow (ill-equipped to shift from micro information externalization to macro information internalization) which requires no longer ignoring factors important to the big picture. Leadership with vision must take the initiative to break regressive traditions … or let nature take its own course.

REDIRECTING ENERGIES OF TRADITION a.k.a. AIKIDO

To overcome the inertia of tradition, it is natural to imagine using humanity's behavioral propensities and its fundamental needs as inertial energies to be redirected towards the development of solutions to the consumption-based growth problem. After all, a solution to the growth problem would offer immense value to everyone!

The solution may be at first a little difficult to see, but only because it is literally right under our noses - the least likely place for one to find something! We can reapply Schumpeter's "creative destruction" theory in a novel way - to more stewardly capitalism from less stewardly capitalism.

KEY DISTINCTION

It is important to distinguish between merely diffusing choosing (what today’s capitalism does) and diffusing inspired choosing (the Aikido Capitalism model). When our best individual values are better reflected in the values of our collaborative institutions, then when we choose to participate in such collaboratories we not only become empowered by, but also empower, inspiration – and so advance inspired living. Inspiration is absolutely necessary for life, which is the diffusion of inspired choosing.

Consider how this view contrasts with orthodoxy:

CAPITALISM'S CURRENT OVER-FOCUSING ON GROWTH

Today’s capitalism has the primary aim of economic development or economic growth. Free-markets – driven by perceived self-interest – are commonly regarded as the most efficient and democratic way to achieve economic growth. But is growth the right target today?

Economic growth has united many to work together rather peacefully. But, in a finite biosphere, uncurbed (consumption-based) growth is like a cancer that progressively inhibits inspiration and cuts off circulation until destroying its host.

There are increasing signs of growth-induced changes in the biosphere.

DEBUNKING FREE MARKET THEORY

A growing number of independent-minded economists (notably Joseph Stiglitz) have debunked the theory of efficient free markets, because of the erroneous presumption of information symmetry. In reality information asymmetry is the norm. Part of the proof of Stiglitz's new information economics - and the new information paradigm in economics he advocates - could well be the disparity in Goolge hit counts for Adam Smith's following statements:

Google HitsAdam Smith Statement
1,060"He intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention."
24"He is certainly not a good citizen who does not wish to promote by every means in his power, the welfare of the whole society of his fellow citizens."

The asymmetric hit count between these statements of Adam Smith reflects a confused pro-information-asymmetry interpretation of "invisible hand", and so an asymmetric preference for the former statement. Re-symmetrizing information promises to correct the confusion between these symmetrically true and consistent assertions by Adam Smith.

In "Looking for Spinoza", Antonio Damasio writes, “The biological reality of self-preservation leads to virtue because in our inalienable need to maintain ourselves we must, of necessity, help preserve other selves. If we fail to do so so, we perish and are thus violating the foundational principle, and relinquishing the virtue that lies in self-preservation. The secondary foundation of virtue then is the reality of a social structure and the presence of other livings organisms in a complex system of interdependence with our own organism.”

So we are all in this together - increasingly so as we globalize.

Such re-symmetrizing information involves leadership in vision in understanding both the origins of current tradion and the origins of future tradition, choosing the latter. Our "information society" and the "global information age" have arrived just in time to make (and to propagate) this election.

LEADERSHIP OF INSPIRATION

Is the capitalist tradition found advancing the truth that persistent economic growth within a finite biosphere is impossible and ultimately completely self-destructive? No, the inertia of tradition is powerful in behavioral economics, so it must be true leaders who reveal the information asymmetry manifest in the suicidal illogic of the growth objective, and to lead with evolutionary inspirational behaviors, projects and policy advocations.

A persistently rising tide may lift all boats, but most people don’t have boats and that rising tide eventually drowns the biosphere on which we all rely - which inspires a vision resonant through "information paradigm economics" with another of Adam Smith's statements:

“By acting according to the dictates of our moral faculties, we necessarily pursue the most effective means for promoting the happiness of mankind.”

The rape & pillage and then give back model together with the government tax & spend model have been the primary traditions of stewardship. But global scale imbalances – again largely due to information asymmetry (or information toxins) – present risks of uncorrectable exploitations as globalization advances. Global cycles of consumption are pushing earth’s biosphere towards an irrecoverable position … may destroy part or all of earth’s resources and habitability. Therefore, asymmetric-information-based macro-growth is neither reasoned nor rational as human systems and processes begin to reach global scale.

A more reasoned economic, sociological, philosophical, inspirational vision and plan is necessary to curb - and reverse - cancerous growth. Imagining how to proactively evolve centuries' old traditions is perhaps the most difficult of all the things discussed here in this wiki; so please read how the applied science of Aikido Activism morphs growth into fruition and, especially if you are a creatively reasoned heterodox economist, please consider advancing the economics of toxins vs. inspirations in the information economy, to add due weight of diligence to the obvious - that information toxicity is fatal, whereas inspired information fuels life.

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