An Argument Towards Reform

An argument towards reform - a manifesto for change.

Systems are fashioned by their parts and the wider context they act in. As part of one, we can and should mould it - together, through what we believe is right or wrong, by what we want to be - and more importantly what experiences we want future generations to have decades, or centuries in the future. Humanity has an opportunity to reach for greatness, but if we don’t put enough time and thought into where we place our feet we could stumble onto a different path.

By a series of accidents and discoveries we have ended up here, but rather then passively letting life happen to us, we can step up and take the reins.

Collectively we can remake it…

Compromise is of course necessary, without it will be hard to make any progress, trapped in a constant circular flow of wasted actions, a tug of war.

We need to look at how to fashion our system in a way that creates long term improvement in metrics that actually matter. This may not be measured in financial gains for the few, but in a general standard of life and opportunities offered for all.

Humanity has possibilities that way beyond what any of us can conceive now — reaching for the stars may not always be science fiction.

All people can not have equal outcome in any system and nor should we attempt to make this happen. People should be rewarded for doing things that are of benefit, and given as much of a platform to push off as possible. Those that don’t work for common good, have the right, but no effort should be no reward.

Cold pushes us to build shelter. The system needs to push us forwards.

The capitalist system is a good example of a ‘reward’ system. People are rewarded for taking risks, finding productivity improvements, and creating real lasting technological improvements to society. This system however has flaws — it can overlook key metrics of long-term human wellbeing, the intangibles of cultural pursuit and creativity. It can be too focused on short term gains, because short-term rewards are attractive for human instinct. Short-termism however leads to ever reducing gains. We need to plan longer into the future.

Some may argue free-market capitalism has been successful at finding growth over the last centuries, but how do we know it is still guiding us in the right direction? How can we realign our system to the direction we want?

Resistance and Rebellion

Resistance to a status quo is likely to occur in any system. Push back and opposition is not a bad thing — sometimes resistance demonstrates that things need to change. =Any= system should listen to the voices of its citizens. Deciding the line carefully between natural opposition or protest, and what counts as criminality can be a hard line to walk. It is the line that separates despotic and free regimes.

If behaviour is expected to cause damage to others, we should carefully weigh up the cost, before cracking down hard. Some behaviour is negative to society, and when behaviour causes damage to others, the cost of the restriction of the freedom of one has to be carefully balanced against the damage they can cause to others.

What looks like a risk to a system may instead be an opportunity to adapt to the changing status quo. A system should not act to restrict opposition lest the system become stagnant.

Sometimes people break the rules not because they particularly oppose them, but because they think they can get a better deal outside the lines. When people break the rules, the system has to deal with them. This is the argument of isolation versus rehabilitation. No system is perfect and there will always be crevices people to fall into, and the system should aim to help them out where it can. Sometimes people are too dangerous or unpredictable, and then society has to make the hard decision to isolate these offenders to protect the rest.