We live in a primitive world. Things are not nearly as organized as we were taught in school; they just seem incredibly complex because no one understands what's really going on. Most of what we think we know is wrong.
Basically, this is a crap planet. Humans ultimately exist not to enjoy themselves, but to procreate. To do that, they need to survive, and sometimes eliminate other humans who are irrevocably different.
Most individuals are stuck in an unpleasant stable state. Change is difficult without destroying everything they've built up so far.
There has always been progress, but historically it has been very slow. Many bureaucrats, gangsters, and legislators are in fact incredibly efficient and hardworking. It's what they do, not how they do it that matters.
Solving mankind's problems will require something very difficult: permission from the entrenched interests.
To create a real change, whether it's a drug habit or a new economic policy, the first step has to be easy. A few simple principles have been discovered through the ages:
1) Do Nothing!
There's a conspiracy so vast no one acknowledges it: a conspiracy of the mainstream.
The clearest example is homelessness. There's no need for it. A tiny house on its own plot of land could be sold for a few thousand dollars - except for the fact that society wants homelessness to exist. That even includes the homeless themselves, for reasons that are almost never discussed (except in this article, of course).
Most forms of poverty could be solved with technology. In fact, it would be child's play. For two hundred years, an industrial revolution has doubled the world's economic potential every thirty years.
The reason things aren't better is simple: people are evil.
That's not necessarily a bad thing. It's the very basis for economic behavior. What matters is that people don't act evil; often by doing nothing. What could be easier?
Unfortunately, for politicians and many others it's not easy at all. It comes down to human nature, an evolutionary adaptation.
When a person or a group has achieved success, often against long odds, usually after heartbreakingly hard work, they want to protect their investment.
Everyone else can enjoy the same benefits, but only after they put in a comparable effort, after a decent interval.
The world needs more stuff, and it would be easy to make, but instead the poor countries have to export low-cost junk. Those products in which they have a natural advantage, like agricultural goods, are blocked by tariffs and other trade barriers.
There is a simple solution: don't make things worse than they already are. Most attempts to modify human behavior do exactly that.
Doing nothing is often the hardest thing to do. It simplifies the economy, makes trade more predictable, and reduces the role of hidden motivations. It also threatens the status quo.
2) More stuff!
Historically, the best solutions are unplanned. They usually involve cheaper technology.
There are many choices. The hardest one may be deciding which tools not to use. A massive new oil find would create more problems than it's worth.
Mass production: economies of scale
The assembly line remains humanity's mightiest tool. It has won wars and transformed nations.
Ideally, there would be only one factory in the world, in a place with ample solar energy. Alternatively, every existing factory could join a worldwide production network.
Micro-manufacturing: rapid customization.
Computer aided design and manufacturing could turn any apartment into a factory. If tools could be miniaturized into a "Universal Assembler", countries would soon become obsolete. Eventually, this would involve robotics and nanotechnology. The first step is to form local skill networks and rapid prototyping shops.
Standardization
Things would be easier if the whole world was the same. A well-defined open market (like the USA) encourages investment.
In many fields no competition is currently allowed, like medicine, law, and infrastructure. Every country builds its own type of roads. Insurance would be cheaper if all companies shared their actuarial data.
Open-source design could help evolve different ways to solve common problems.
Communism
Certain things are nice to have, but it's not clear how free trade can provide them. Every country already uses force to transfer private property.
Central planning could provide long-range vision. Its role would be to define an emerging consensus. It wouldn't rely on force, but use slow but irresistible social pressure, in the same way language and money become standardized.
Diversity
You never know where the next big idea will come from. Encourage competing groups to flourish.
3) Less stuff! - Simplify everything.
The world sucks, but there's no permanent reason for that to be the case - except that certain influential groups enjoy their present advantage.
There's only one way to give everyone on Earth a tolerable living standard: allow them to buy low-cost versions of life's necessities.
Tiny cars and houses at high densities to accommodate population growth; narrow roads and fewer possessions of all kinds.
Current laws and regulations protect entrenched monopolies by setting arbitrary standards. Bureaucracy and regulations prevent innovation.
Encouraging less consumption would shrink the economy, but people are competitive, and some would always want to upgrade. They would drive a continuing expansion.
4) Birth Control - Life sucks, why make more of it?
Humans still live in a state of nature. As more resources become available, organisms tend to increase in number until they're all used up. Whatever remains has to support the largest possible population.
History is a cycle of marginal utility, the perpetuation of pain.
The price for ending poverty could violate some of the most ancient instincts, taboos, and religious proscriptions. Many cultures would outright reject such notions.
To prevent creating ever more poor people, societies need to encourage many of their members not to have offspring. This would apply to both highly productive and less productive citizens.
Many people (perhaps most) would gladly pay that price to avoid having to work, if the option were available.
5) Virtual Reality - Living in a box.
Everyone wants to live in luxury, but it's very expensive. Only a few people have the opportunity.
Once the crucial breakthroughs have been made, ultra high resolution screens, full-motion frameworks and force-feedback clothing will transform the human experience. It may also involve drugs and brain stimulation.
When technology can fool the human senses, society will collapse, to be replaced with something potentially much better: Heaven on Earth.
A Virtual Reality lifestyle would require much less energy and land. VR would devastate transportation and tourism, but a century from now every beach may be underwater anyway.
People would lose most current incentives to work hard. Instead they would try to develop themselves and various simulated environments. It will be a stepping stone for the coming merger of human and software consciousness.
6) The Free Market - Property rights and education.
People will only work hard if they can benefit from their labor.
Free trade is the only proven method to increase wealth over the long term. It requires a society with at least two properties: the rule of law and a culture of self-improvement through education. This in turn requires an established middle class, which is tied to a perceived high life expectancy. Stability is everything.
The marketplace can be very unfair, worse than many alternatives, but on average people will benefit greatly.
The first step is to create a civil society based on the rule of law, something which many primitive countries simply refuse to do. Instead, tribal structures, blood feuds, and insurgencies may even be strengthened. The age of terrorism may just be getting started.
Eventually, these lands will fall so far behind they will be infiltrated and changed by economic forces beyond their control.
Capital can flow in millions of strange ways if permitted, from microloans to entire sovereign entities being purchased and sold. It may become profitable to abolish all countries, and form a world market.
People may be allowed to choose the laws they live under. Mind altering drugs like anti-depressants will be available without a prescription, or maybe with electronic monitoring.
7) Social Science - It would be handy to have one . . .
The most important truths are rarely talked about. What do people really want? Why do they put up with so much crap? How important is happiness?
There has been some progress in experimental psychology and econometrics, popularized in books like "The Tipping Point" and "Freakonomics".
The answer probably involves status. To allow everyone to have a chance to achieve it, humanity may need to become even more fractured. Millions of communities will develop their own cultures and conflicts.
Which brings us to the most important aspect of a successful civilization:
8) Nerd Culture
Once people are allowed to pursue knowledge for its own sake, it's hard to regress to a more primitive state. It's a fundamental shift. The biggest threat is an outside invasion or an ecological collapse.
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Infinite Thunder
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