I Want To Escape Capitalism, Let’s Start With Profit Sharing & UBI.
What is ‘Human Potential’? It’s the capability that humans have to improve themselves by studying or practicing skills to a level of individual mastery.
“Inherent within the notion of human potential is the belief that in reaching their full potential an individual will be able to lead a happy and more fulfilled life”.
— David Vernon, Human Potential, p. 1.
Does achieving your potential lead to a happier, more fulfilled life? Maslow believed so, and so does most of modern psychology.
How realistic is it to form a system or society that covers the physiological and safety needs of all of its citizens? Can we give them the availability to reach self-actualization?
The U.S military is the closest to a functional ‘Utopian’ system in America.
I previously discussed my time in the military and how I felt it was the closest America has to a Utopian socialist society. The Army reduces the desire to chase money by covering the most basic human needs (food, shelter, medicine). What is also promoted by the military is familial bonds (albeit only by supporting marriage).
You can find esteem by being rewarded for exemplary duty and valor. I believe the military tries to promote the mindset that being a successful member of the military is self-actualization, but not every trooper feels complete by their service.
Have we, as the human race, stepped beyond the need for a decentralized global economy? I think so.
According to a study from Elem Sci Anth, we currently produce enough food to feed the projected population of 9.7 billion in 2050. We have enough food for everyone if we adjusted our diets and economic system.
In regards to housing, it’s not that we cannot build affordable homes in America to house everyone, but we struggle with stagnant wages, rising costs, and affordable labor. [Axios]
Unfortunately, I am too pragmatic to believe that free housing and food for all is a viable solution. Completely deconstructing the system we have in America is not plausible in the near future.
I would settle with a shift to a socialist based profit-sharing system combined with strong unions to promote individual welfare.
We have seen substantial economic growth in most of the major economies in the world. Simultaneously, we have seen wage stagnation in those same countries. The rich are getting richer, and the people they employ are working multiple jobs just to maintain a modest lifestyle.
Millennials and Zoomers recognize the value of socialist societies. They see social policies as a stepping stone to a system that allows people to maintain a quality of life that will enable them to reach for their purpose instead of chasing enough money to survive.
Is it possible to evolve the global economy to a system that values humans over profits? In other words, to build a more socialist global system?
Many great names have historically fought against socialistic theory
The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of Socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.
— Sir Winston Churchill (1874–1965)
Winston recognized the faults of capitalism, but he was simultaneously against the push of Socialism from the Fabians and the likes of Karl Marx. Albeit Fabian’s beliefs were not wholly Marxist theory, Churchill fought against them anyway. Churchill and the conservative party was ultimately defeated by analysis and argument, which were notable traits of the Fabians.
UBI + Profit Sharing — A New Economic Strategy
Universal basic income (See Escape Pod) is a social welfare system that guarantees citizens an income sufficient enough to live comfortably. You may be aware of Universal Basic Income after Andrew Yang built his presidential platform advocating for it. He received a lot of pushback from progressives and conservatives (wow, both sides agreed on something) in America that claimed it would breed a lack of productivity and would be too expensive.
I had a lot of friends who held such criticisms but the same friends were eager to receive their economic impact payments.
Americans had a taste of a system that could reduce the need for monetary gain over the need to help every individual in the community reach their self-actualization.
During this COVID-19 economic slump, corporations were also given compensation to the disdain of many Americans. If we had a social dividend system in place, corporations would have to divide those capital profits not reserved for operations to their employees. We even have research that shows this system can work.
Just imagine profit sharing combined with a UBI system managed by a government. Corporations would be kept in check by unions that advocate fair sharing percentages. Simultaneously, we can tax corporations that provide UBI for every American; we can value all forms of labor.
This doesn’t have to start at the highest level of Government. We could test these economic and social theories at a micro-level and expand when we see it being more efficient than our current.
It could be an expanding system that slowly encompasses a community or city, then a country or region that attracts more people who simply want to escape this inhumane outdated system.
When you see some Instagram influencer traveling or sitting comfortably in a hammock reading a book, are you jealous of their perceived wealth or the perceived freedom? For me, its the latter and that freedom is to pursue their purpose.
You have already volunteered to become a part of a social dividend system. Albeit it does have criteria for compensation. Our writing doesn’t necessarily represent the profit-sharing definition to a tee, but it is an honest attempt in the right direction.
When you are working, the incentive of being productive and efficient should be rewarded with a share in the profits. Facebook, Instagram, or Tumblr provide no profit-sharing incentives while they profit in the billions. Wouldn't you expect a good piece of the pie if you got your hands messy to make it?
Maslow believed only 1% of the population will ever achieve self-actualization. Even if he was correct, on that same pyramid, how many people currently cover the first two sections of the foundation? Go to Los Angeles and observe the thousands of homeless on the streets. While you’re there, talk to your college-educated Uber driver and listen as he explains how he juggles his 3 jobs to pay rent and feed his family.
Is late-stage capitalism a sustainable system for our ecosystem or wellbeing? I’m not sure about the environment. It surely doesn’t give value to our individual potential.
Let’s look into the alternatives to our system; let’s take some risks and see if we can change a system that leaves so many people behind.
Check out this piece for a much more detailed piece on UBI:
I’d definitely check out this study on Profit-Sharing.
@MansaBrice is part expat, part fitness buff, part vagabond, and part writer. With a combined experience of everything from Cultural Anthropology, Sociology, and of course the Black Experience. He’s on Instagram and Twitter.
