Humanist Economics

A new page has been added the Manifesto, it relates to economic policy. This is capitalism but not the version of capitalism we have today. Instead it tries to address some of the systemic problems of the current system. I call it Humanist Economics.  Humanists because there is no such thing as an economy, just people interacting together as actors, creating a system based on a single planet.  And that is the framework for this ideology as its based on these traits.

What do I mean by this?  I mean that Humanist Economics recognises that humans are not perfect, humans are greedy, humans are short term, equally, humans can be incredibly altruistic, careful and considerate to each other and to people they will never meet.  The point being that we are not perfect, we are all just human.

Equally, no system invented by humans can be perfect.  So as it moves between states of imperfection, change and re-balancing may always be needed.  One version is never right.  So a new system needs to recognise that.  Economists and economics have tried to move their subject into becoming a science. But it can never fully be a science, economics is about people and therefore will always need change and adaptation.

And finally, we are on a planet with finite resources and we need to consider this in our economic system, essentially the price of these resources needs to be factored in.

So in summary, humanist economics is:

• People create markets, people need checks and balances.

• Markets are not perfect, they need regulation and adjustment.

• Finite planetary resources come at a cost and need to be factored in.

I would struggle to hear anyone argue with these points because I believe they are self evident truths.

Planet

Even if you don’t believe in global warming, you cannot argue that we only have 1 planet and it only has a certain amount of resources, this is fact.

System

You cannot identify any example of any perfect system, systems always benefit one person or group more than others, and those who defend a system, typically benefit, or perceive that they have benefitted, do benefit, or may benefit from it whether this is true or even if there is evidence otherwise.

People

And markets do not exist without people, people are the creators of markets and people are imperfect.  People as individuals or groups need oversight and alteration.  If you do not accept this its usually because you are currently benefitting and want the status quo to continue and you fear the potential of damage caused by conflict and things change and adapt. You fear change.

Capitalism

Humanist Economics is a capitalist system.  Why capitalism?  Because elements of capitalism have been shown over time to be beneficial for a large portion of the population.  Other economic systems have been less beneficial and have been combined with death and suffering.  Death and suffering comes with capitalism, it just presents in different ways, lets not kid ourselves about that.  But nonetheless, I side with capitalism as a system over other systems and worth keeping, mainly because it reflects human nature more closely than other economic systems.

With Differences to Today

That is not to say that Humanist Economics is the capitalism we see today, its not, this is because I believe that the capitalist system we have had in place for a few hundred years has been changing constantly over that time and I do not believe that the version we have reached today is the perfect and best version.  Humanist Economics is about acknowledging that we may never reach perfection, so all we can do it make alterations and changes to make things better today.

As always, none of these ideas are new or mine and credit for much of this manifesto goes to Grace Blakeley and her book, Stolen How to Save the World from Financialisation.