| That would mean moving from a Status Economy to a Productive Economy. Without intelligent oversight, all economies - capitalist, communist, socialist, democratic, fascist, you name it - tend towards status production and social differentiation as a primary product. Sometimes useful stuff falls out in the way of invention and innovation, but more often it doesn't. Even when it looks useful it's likely to be driven by fetishised status display as a primary goal, and not by high-velocity deep innovation. Status economies are fundamentally wasteful and non-productive in any practical sense, because most resources are hoarded by a tiny minority of high-status individuals. You only get real growth when resources - including innovation and intelligence - are dispersed and farmed strategically. This has happened occasionally in the past, and I'd like to think it could happen again. But it's not happening now, and any path from the current system to a productive one is going to be difficult and messy. In a status economy, basic needs are rationed to maintain and expand status differentials. So public infrastructure takes a beating, because 'the public' - by definition - are not high status, and must always be denied easy access to quality resources. |
The parent's thesis was that technology gains in productivity are small.
I work in logistics and there adding some intelligence to a supply chain saves millions relatively quickly. It happens to be ecological as well, as spoilage is reduced.
So clearly there were a lot of gains to be had. In my opinion we operate on quite rudimentary levels in many areas of life and business. We're not limited by currently known physics. We're struck down by organizational inefficiencies and lack of brain resources.
At some point the inter-city council allowed getting into the busiest bus line not just from the front door but through any door. Great, we got a free speedup! It took years to drive that through the councils, maybe because it was a new idea (new idea here).
Now, the distribution of those savings made is another matter. And some changes are perhaps more politically charged than others, true.