I have been thinking about the psychology of the human relationship with money, social provisioning, and humanity’s advancement. In recent articles I have explored the connection between economic migration, both nationally and internationally, and the negative political and social consequences we observe in many Western countries.
I conclude that as a consequence of centralisation and globalisation, there is a failure at the government level to recognise the connection between geographically-focused investment and a surge in nihilism and lack of purpose, pride and meaning in communities outside of this zone.
The reliance on the myths of trickle-down economics and of taxpayer money since the Thatcher era has left many council areas starved of funds and scrambling to sell publicly-owned assets to stay afloat. Political leaders seem certain that by concentrating on growth of GDP, the resulting income will lubricate the entire national economic engine. In pursuit of this goal, economists and politicians see profit as the only game in town and determine that the business sector is of the highest priority and profit is at the peak of the value pyramid.
A highly simplified mathematical representation of current political thinking is:
Profit = Revenue/Income – Expenditure
When profit is King – society is right-wing
To the established view, the higher the profit created, the more tax will be provided for the exchequer to spend on improving living standards for the populace. There will also be more income in society to invest in future ventures providing much-needed employment.
It is obvious that to increase profit, revenue/income can be increased, expenditure, or costs, can be reduced, or both functions together. When the sole goal is profit increase, the real effects of increasing revenue/income or reducing expenditure are in danger of being ignored.
Historically this has been the realm of the political right. Conservative politics has the reputation of being pro-business, and favouring landowners, and the wealthy in society.
Political balance comes from the left, epitomised in the traditions of the original Labour party in the UK. The focus for Labour leaders was the welfare of the workers, the plight of whom could be easily forgotten or ignored in this concentration of the will on increasing profit. As one of the major ‘costs’ on the right-hand side of the above equation, there was constant pressure to squeeze working conditions and/or wages to glean a little extra on the left-hand ‘value’ side of the equation.
Labours’ foundational mission is supporting workers’ rights and conditions
The Labour party looked to British law, and the religious teachings that the law was built on, to highlight the ‘divine’ nature of every individual human life. The capitalist providing the investment for a productive venture was an integral part of the process and deserved consideration in return. This should, however, include a recognition of the essential impact of the other human skills and input integral to the valued production.
The Labour party influence required the above equation to be re-arranged as follows:
Profit + Labour remuneration = Revenue/Income – Expenditure
This expression recognises and values the human aspect of the process to its full and ethical extent. The human input of the worker is at least as essential as the investment from the capitalist, which is returned as profit and distributed to investors -but the equation now recognises that labour should also have a share in the profit.
From this understanding, a debate can ensue on what the balance of the distribution should be. A dialogue on how the resulting financial excess is most fairly shared out. Society values more than mere profit, people work to improve the collective standard of living. The capitalist may understand and value the profit that can benefit the individual’s family, however, society understands and values universal human advancement.
Societal advancement brings life-enhancement
It takes a deeper perception of the purpose of society to view the layers of value this style of thinking employs. The profit-motive is completely reductive and the ‘tax to spend’ narrative results in the scarcity and affordability rhetoric so prevalent today in the UK. With today’s Labour party completely abdicating their traditional responsibility to the human aspect of industry and production, there is no balancing influence in UK politics.
Despite the advances in technology, artificial intelligence and automation, workers today suffer extended hours and stagnating wages because no political party with influence has their backs. The Labour party should highlight the deficits in healthcare, public services and work/life balance in opposition and promote policies that will mitigate exploitation and suffering as a major part of their election manifesto. Instead, political cowardice results in almost identical business-centric manifestos from the only parties with any real chance of being in power in the UK parliament.
The values of society should be the desires of society
The layers of the economy continue well below the human aspect. The left-hand side of the equation should include everything we value as a society. The impact on the environment should also be taken into consideration and be part of the debate on the share of financial excess. The environmental conditions that are fundamental to a healthy lifestyle should be protected and valued accordingly.
The equation now becomes:
Profit + Labour remuneration + Environment enhancement = Revenue/Income – Expenditure
By simply amending and adding to the societal goals the economy is constructed to achieve, we widen the scope of what is practically possible. The capitalist still receives a return on their investment, but not without addressing the requirement for improved living standards and ensuring no harm to the environment in the process. The layers of complexity could continue through energy consumption and waste output to provide information on the impact of the productivity.
This process has the potential to illuminate more of the unintended consequences prior to negative outcomes and allow mitigation proactively. The local community not only benefits from being adequately rewarded for the time and labour expended on the project but also, assuming that this is a productive endeavour, a share in the societal benefits of the final product or service.
The advancement of the majority should be the economic priority in a society
The idea that profit is the be all and end all in an economy is a myth promulgated by private capital to maximise the return on investment. In reality, all production, whether private or public sector, is for the sustenance and advancement of humanity. Profit is not all-important in the grand scheme of human endeavour and a flourishing society.
Modern economic thinking has been encouraged to ignore the reality of life-affirming values and concentrate instead on maintaining the satisfaction of shareholders with profit the king of the value hierarchy. We must open the dialogue, explore the depths and layers of society’s balance sheet and discover where the true value resides.
There are winners and losers with every economic decision. Open debate is the only way to find compromise on the share of the benefits and mitigation of negative outcomes. Coalition in politics, reciprocity of resources and thinking, co-operation towards productive collective goals, and collaboration in planning and evolutionary advance will propagate a more secure, relaxed and meaningful existence for everyone.
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