Forum Post: Economic growth should be based on human growth
Posted 13 years ago on Nov. 13, 2011, 9:04 p.m. EST by zorno
(386)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
For the economy to grow, to produce more and better paying jobs and create greater wealth for all, we have to think in terms of helping the individuals who make up the economy to grow.
That is, workers need to be paid enough to maintain their physical health at optimal levels, and enough to educate themselves and their children. This way, they can produce the inventions and discoveries that are at the core of economic growth.
Also, the infrastructure within which the individual exists needs to be developed in conjunction with the development of the individual. In this way, all individuals are enabled to work cooperatively towards greater prosperity.
This is an interesting thread - what zorno has proposed in terms of enabling people to live their best lives is something everyone would agree on. That then brings forth the best of human offerings to the world. But to what end - economic growth? Is that the end goal? There's an increasing debate that in fact once growth passes a certain point it becomes uneconomic (costs outweigh further benefits).
These points are expressed in this article:
http://postgrowth.org/occupy-a-cultural-strike/
What do people think? Is economic growth the end in itself?
Or is it the means? If its the means, is it still delivering what we think it does, and what it has previously done?
I don't think there is an end, but rather that this is a cyclic process. Personal growth enables economic growth, which in turn enables personal growth.
That all sounds interesting . . . right up to the last paragraph.
Infrastructure - exists - developed in conjunction with
I live in the sticks. That is the infrastructure. I don't exist, I live. I breathe. I could stand a bit more development - but the fact is I'm getting kinda old and I smoke too much.
I'm not sure I could stand any more development . . .
Can we use terms that don't sound like they came from a complex systems specialist?
All right then, we could say that people can improve things by working smarter and working together.
Ah - that is the only way we can improve things. I think it'll take all of us. There are some entrenched interests that will not easily be . . . curbed.
I've got an essay that uses Valerie somebody - I've forgotten her last name for the moment - as an example of American oppression - it is . . . subversive . . . but there is a certain credibility issue I'm not sure yet how to deal with . . .
But as an investment strategy - if I ever get it properly written and get a few dates pinned down, might be effective . . . .
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So we should not pay people on the supply and demand of their usefulness and performance?
I think we have to consider many things, but the priority should be development both of the individual and society. We can think in terms of creating a demand also.
If we know that having better scientists and engineers in society is beneficial, we should demand more of them. The money that government invests in these people would pay of like any good investment.
They are in huge demand, so much we import those idiots from Asia that may be brilliant but are personally awkward. The average college student gets a worthless degree because they beleive education is not about employment but about personal development
Yes, there needs to be quite a reorganization of the educational system. Ever here of Wilhelm Humbolt? He developed the Prussian educational system which lead Germany to be an industrial power house. His system was also once used as a model for the US educational system.
He believed in classical education, including training in sciences, languages, classical history, classical art. By learning to master these fields, students became capable of mastering any advanced knowledge or skill in a very short time.
How are you going to teach a blcak kid classical history?
There's no reason why you can't. I believe that if you start young enough, all races have an equal potential to learn things.