As we continue to make the shift from our Agricultural, Industrial, and Informational methodologies into the Revolution of Wisdom, our understanding of Business has to change.
While old school economists may continue to cite employment as the highest economic aspiration, the reality is that one of the goals of the industrial Revolution was to decrease labor. Now that we are incorporating even more automation, although economists and politicians continue to rally for more jobs, the truth is that AI and robots are minimizing the need for them. and in the grand scheme of things, most of us are okay with that.
As French political economist Charles Gide told his students in 1898, “The 19th century has been the century of producers. Let us hope that the 20th century will be that of consumers.” Now that our market economy has flourished in the last 100 years by turning people into consumers, and specializing in disposable products and planned obsolescence to keep the market active, many are seeing the flaws in this sort of economic activity and realized the need to minimize the mindless consumption we have for so long venerated.
Especially as people open their eyes to the finite Earth economy, the practices of the last century are revealing themselves as more burdensome than necessary and industry must respond accordingly. No longer can we continue to make business about keeping people busy merely turning our time, talent, and other resources into money. We must use the money we’ve created and the resources at out disposal more wisely.
While many Americans are still very proud of the Protestant work ethic, in many ways it has become a quite mindless pursuit of merely seeking work for the sake of work. Just as we must seek a fuller realization of participating in our Communities to live a richer life and seek our Citizenry beyond being mere consumers, we must also realize our Business as service, to our fellow humans and the rest of the planet.
Rest assured, there will still be work that needs to be done. But we must reimagine our goals so that’s our work seeks for the highest good is not nearly profits for a few. No longer can we squander all that is precious to us to merely raise the number of the GDP, and ensure that the majority of the prophets go toward the most wealthy while the rest of us still scramble for survival.
Part of our business must be to see that our currency continues to flow instead of being damned up by those who just can’t get enough of it.
The vision for ABC2 Economics is that it will allow people to direct the flow of their currency to fluidly support the Artistry of life. It is done through the Business of good service, by practicing responsible Citizenry, and creating a more sustainable Community with a higher quality of life. Artistry. Business. Citizenry. Community. These are the why’s and how’s of ABC2 Economics.
The basis of ABC2 Economics is having the ability to channel energy toward our internal and external goals in order to develop a more vibrant overall economy for individuals and the collective. The New Economy, as outlined in ABC2 Economics, offers a more holistic realization that the Market Economy does not exist in a vacuum between merely buyer and seller, but in a vast, interdependent network of Artists creating Businesses to establish a more resilient Citizenry in the development of a stronger Community.
It is a work in progress, but you can find out more about it in Steve’s latest book Steve McAlphabet Explains ABC Squared Economics.
