At Last, The Future!

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Syd Hickman. At Last, The Future!

Introduction

Part One: Challenges to the Capitalist Paradigm

Work

Population

The Environment

Ethical Choices

Longer Lives

Enhanced Humans

Foetal Development

Global War

Emerging Issues

Politics & Government

Complexity

Meaning

The Failures of Capitalism

Perfect Markets

The Globalisation of Capitalism

Intellectual Property Replaces Capital as Key to Success

Resource Limits & National Interventions

Rich Nation Response to Competition

Social Dislocation

The Dominance of Finance

Surplus Recycling

Conclusion

Part Two: Paradigms Through History

Influential Early Paradigms. Athens

Persia

The Jews

Rome

The Byzantine Empire

The Islamic Empires of the Arabs and the Turks

China

Japan

India

Russia

The United States of America

Part Three: Europe's Global Paradigms

Feudalism

Paradigm Change Driven by Printing and Publishing

From Feudalism to Early Capitalism

Pragmatic Early Capitalism

Mass Media and the Rise of Idealist Capitalism

Idealist Capitalism and its Idealist Enemies

Digital Networks

Part Four: The 'Kosmos' Paradigm

A New Approach to Economics

Expanding the Social Sector

Revitalising Government, Democracy, and Freedom

End/Beginning

Sources & References

INTRODUCTION

CHALLENGES TO THE PARADIGM. Work

Creating meaning

Population

Environment

Ethical Choices

Politics

Complexity

The Failures of Capitalism

Finance

PARADIGMS THROUGH HISTORY

INFLUENTIAL EARLY PARADIGMS. Persia

Athens

The Jews

Rome

The Byzantine Empire

The Islamic Empires of the Arabs and Turks

China

Japan

India

Russia

The United States of America

EUROPE’S GLOBAL PARADIGMS. Feudalism

Paradigm Change Driven by Printing and Publishing

From Feudalism to Early Capitalism

Pragmatic Early Capitalism

Mass Media and the Rise of Idealist Capitalism

Idealist Capitalism and its Idealist Enemies

Digital Networks and Neoliberalist Capitalism

THE KOSMOS PARADIGM. A New Approach to Economics

Government, Democracy and Freedom

Отрывок из книги

Our world is extremely complex. We necessarily understand it through generalisations, simplifications, and rules. This shared understanding is known as a ‘societal paradigm’. A paradigm - or big picture - is simply the shared understanding that enables a culture or civilization to function in a reasonably orderly way. While individuals will have their own ideas on the world and how it works, a paradigm provides a collective way to make sense of the myriad bits of information we process every day, and offers broad guidance on how to respond to events.

Paradigms are shaped by leaders and by prevailing realities. They are taught by parents and teachers, and disseminated across society in general. In any successful community the paradigm is widely shared and enthusiastically maintained. But during a period of rapid change the standard simplifications work less and less well, so confusion and disillusion start to spread. The paradigm becomes decreasingly useful as an explanation for events or as a guide to future action. At this point a new set of useful ideas and simplifications must be developed if a society is to function effectively. But the transition from one paradigm to the next, the paradigm shift, itself is usually - perhaps inevitably - extremely difficult. It can often be protracted and involve intense battles to decide which ideas and attitudes will prevail in the new era. The nations that become the happiest soonest are those that quickly recognise the new imperatives and opportunities, stop trying to prop up the past, and get on bravely with constructing the future.

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Kuhn’s description of change is relevant to the huge societal paradigm shift now under way. He explained that old paradigms break down when problems arise that the old methods can’t solve, and facts appear that do not fit with the established big picture. Then new ideas are proposed, placing these difficulties in a new picture that makes some sense of them. Younger people, and a few old hands, adopt the new way of thinking. They do this more because the new way offers better prospects for the future of their field than because it is logically superior. Kuhn describes this process as more like conversion than conviction by evidence. Adoption of the new path is based mostly on faith or hope.

With more work by many people the new ideas get stronger and attract more followers. Many older advocates of the previous paradigm never accept the new way but eventually they die out and the new ideas become the accepted paradigm

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