The ancient Greeks, who defined the original meaning of economics: “oikonomia” as the rules of the house(hold), served as the inspiration for western society to adopt and implement that term on their own accord.
The term economics has since been used and abused in many shapes and derivatives, few may argue with the improvement of its relevancy and success. I intend to change that.
So, let’s reinvent our world anew.
Nature’s zero-sum evolution
Nature has a way of taking care of evolution. It has done so on earth for some four billion years. And if we take good care of nature’s “household” and the gradual warming of our sun is our first and only limiting factor, the earth will likely last for another three billion years.
Fauna and flora will evolve without much intervention and we will too – if we do nothing.
The cycle that begins with birth and ends in death is nature’s tool of renewal. With death as the final call from which not we, nor any other living being can escape, our evolution is guaranteed – unless we somehow manage to restrict birth.
Nature is the only zero-sum game that requires no intervention.
A new animal is born
We, as intelligent human beings, have the imagination that we can tempt fate, and somehow control our evolution, or at least control how much time we spend in it. Such is the curse of an intelligent “animal”, born with a proportionately large and developed brain, that is also part of nature.
We have dreams, demands, and expectations as to how we spend our time on earth. We want to live in freedom and be allowed to express our individuality. And be rewarded for the skills that bring that individuality to bear. We want to be loved with reciprocity from those we love. We are compassionate, and at times in need of compassion. We take care of those who can’t help themselves. We want to live as long as possible and pursue that longevity to the best of our ability.
Our wants, needs, and desires rattle the cage of evolution. We want to live longer than nature might have intended initially, and develop cunning ways for us to do so.
Nature’s equilibrium
As we deploy our influence, we must keep nature’s equilibrium intact. We must give back to nature as much as we take. Because without the resources provided by nature we cannot exist.
The air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we consume are nature’s resources we need to replenish to survive. The ability to reproduce those resources is vital to our existence. The cadence by which we give and take from nature can change over time, yet short-term gain can never be allowed to get the upper hand to the extinction of long-term renewal. For reckless short-term gains will lead us into extinction earlier.
Since we as people are part of, and highly dependent on nature it is only logical that the way we contribute to its economics (i.e., nature’s household) complies with nature’s renewable characteristics. That how we interact as a participant in nature’s household is defined by rules of interaction that preserve nature’s renewable evolution, and therefore the evolution of humanity.
Relevant economics
And thus, to ensure our renewal, do I detach the definition of economics from its currently twisted, convoluted and self-serving religion, awash in esoteric financial instruments with no resemblance to our role and participation in the evolution of nature.
Economics, as we need it to serve a more relevant purpose, I will redefine and spell out in my book. Economics, defined as a proxy for the renewable evolution of humanity.
But, I will not stop there. I will explain the new role of innovation, production, and finance, by using the guidelines of the renewable evolution of humanity.
My new starting point of economics changes everything underneath. For it is high time for a new world order that gets us out of our self-induced mess.
