Where Is The Best?

L.W. Nicholson

1990

Published in:

The Northwest Technocrat, 4th quarter 1990, No. 321

North Americans have been taught since childhood to believe that their country, their political system, their economy and their opinions are the best in the world. They enjoy their pride in their own accomplishments. And to convince the doubters, they are quick to provide examples of failure in the social operations of other countries. It's nice to be best, but that's no excuse for making no further improvements. So what if we are the best? This alone is no great reason for satisfaction when one considers the state of the world and the present behavior patterns of its people. The fact is, nowhere on this planet is there a society which is operated as the result of an intelligent effort to deliberately design a social mechanism for the benefit of man. We have reached our present state chiefly through the haphazard efforts of individuals attempting to maneuver themselves into positions of advantage over others. This approach has been used all through the ages past, and only recently have there been any indications of possible improvement. This becomes obvious when one stops listening to what we say about ourselves and actually examines what we are doing to ourselves and to others.

All countries, all societies in the world today have their problems, in Africa, Argentina, Central America, China, and yes, even in the United States. We all have problems, serious social and economic problems, which result in social instability. A tidal wave of dissatisfaction is building up in the world today. All the earth's people want a higher living standard, a better life for themselves and their children. The result is the present protest movements and the scramble for more technology, the same type of technology which has given North Americans, or at least some North Americans, better living conditions. Unfortunately, with the present state of knowledge, the earth doesn't have the necessary physical ability to provide a North American type of living standard for 5.2 billion people.

It doesn't matter what type of politico-economic system a country may have, if it doesn't have the physical requirements for the production of the needed goods and services, then it can't supply the needs of its population. Under these conditions, it becomes the function of the "system" to decide who gets how much of what. A high living standard does not consist of ideals, beliefs or opinions; it cannot be distributed by any political or economic system in a country which hasn't the physical requirements for the production required. Political or economic idealogy is not what a high living standard consists of. What is required is food that is grown on that nation's farms, clothes which are technologically woven from fibers, housing which is made from lumber from the forests, bricks made from clay, steel, aluminum and glass. A high living standard is not produced by any political method known to man. The function of a political government is not to produce anything. It is to interfere with the production process, to interfere with the distribution process, and to act as a referee to determine who gets the most or the least.

Any nation which can't produce enough for all its people has no choice but to operate according to the dictates of an economy of scarcity. A scarcity economy is a method for controlling the distribution of goods and services under scarcity conditions. During the long history of man, such a method has been developed, and it affects this distribution by a system of trade, or commerce based on commodity valuation determined by the relative scarcity of the items to be traded. This method is called a "Price System" since the scarcity values are expressed in terms of price. A Price System is now in use in every nation in the world.

A scarcity economy is almost certainly the only type of economy the world has ever known; it is the only type of economy possible in any area which hasn't the physical ability to produce plenty for all its citizens. Throughout recorded history the methods which make up the Price System have been tinkered with, laws have been passed or repealed, sometimes controversies resulted in wars, but the Price System always ends up benefiting the few at the expense of the many. However many changes have been made in the past, however many political methods have been tried, this system for the distribution of a scarcity has remained intact. It remains today in every country on earth.

Only when a land-area that has the necessary natural resources develops the required technology will that land-area have the physical abiltiy to produce plenty for all its citizens. When that happens, it then becomes necessary for that land-area to replace its scarcity economy, its Price System, with a system designed to distribute that plenty to it's people. And what a chore that will be. North America is there! Every citizen who has been educated to believe in a scarcity operation, every "successful" entrepreneur who has "got ahead" and made a fortune for himself in the Price System will resist any change. One would be naive to expect a whole nation of people to suddenly wake up to the fact that this continent can now produce plenty and therefore is ready to make the transition from a scarcity economy to an economy of plenty. All institutions, all the ideals, beliefs and opinions, all the traditions for thousands of years in the past were based on the scarcity conditions existing throughout that time. Those have been the only conditions ever known by man. All the cultural concepts are suddenly antiquated, and man will find it extremely difficult to adjust himself to the new conditions even though it would constitute the greatest single event ever to occur to mankind for his physical benefit. A leadership with far more intelligence than any of the world's existing political parties is required to provide the direction for the installation of an economy of plenty.

These conclusions concerning the social behavior of North America's citizenry are not based on some mythical or idealistic nonsense, they are based on observation of the behavior patterns in the United States and Canada for the past half century. During this time, these two countries have had the technology, the natural resources and the trained technical personnel to provide plenty for every North American citizen. And what has happened?

Everything possible has been done to sabotage the abundance this Continent could produce in order to maintain the scarcity required for the continued operation of a scarcity economy. Everyone knows farm products have been bought up with taxpayer money and destroyed, shipped abroad, plowed under, allowed to rot in warehouses, and farmers have been paid to produce less. This has been going on since the early 1930s. Planned obsolescence of manufactured goods has been in widespread use during this same period. And we still have some 32 million Americans living in poverty, which proves that maintaining this scarcity economy is considered more important to citizens of this Continent than eliminating poverty, homelessness, crime and drugs. The press has often reported these activities, but never does it point out that this Continent can produce plenty for all, and that a scarcity economy is no longer necessary nor desirable for the North American people, nor does it ever point out that any other type of economic system is possible. Only the non-profit organization of Technocracy Inc. has, for more than 50 years, tried to give the people of this Continent an engineered design for an economy of plenty. But how often do you see anything about Technocracy in the daily press or on TV?

Why do we collectively ignore this opportunity for a great civilization? Everyone wants plenty for himself, but few are willing to consider changing the antiquated social, economic and political methods of the past. Few are willing, or able, to make an intelligent effort to understand the physical requirements for the production and the distribution of plenty to all North Americans that would eliminate poverty, homelessness, crime, debt, drugs and the present environmental degradation by eliminating the system which causes these evils. Where is the land of the free and home of the brave? Where is the great North American courage to fight for what's "right" when it comes to solving these problems? Where are those who believe in freedom to use what we can produce, and where are those who believe in the distribution of plenty to the citizens of this Continent? Where are those who believe in the freedom of the press to publish the necessary blueprint for the distribution of plenty? And where have they been for the past half century?

If the citizens of this Continent are unable to provide the intelligence and the will to inform themselves concerning the requirements of an economy of plenty, then there is little chance that the transition can be made without the chaos which will probably result when this Price System can no longer be made to operate. Already the crime rate is increasing as more people can't make it legally and turn to crime. Our jails are full and overflowing; the drug business has overwhelmed the police in many areas of the country. Many Savings and Loans have folded as a result of financial crimes or poor management, the debt structure is beyond repair, and if we continue fouling up the only environment which can sustain life, this planet will soon be dead. This trend may be expected to continue until we, the citizens of this Continent, are willing to correct the condition which causes such behavior.

Technocracy does not ask anyone to believe anything. However, it does suggest that if the North American people are to solve their social and economic problems for the benefit of all citizens, then they must make some great and unprecedented changes in their own social concepts. They must learn to depend on factual information rather than political rhetoric. The transition from a culture based on scarcity to a culture based on plenty is not a problem which will solve itself automatically. It will be necessary for people who have the intellegence, the will and the necessary factual information to provide the leadership for the survival of the species. It must be the people -- living here and now because no one else can. Think about it. Then look into Technocracy's Technological Social Design.