A Vision for the Future
What I’d Suggest As A Party Platform....
Where are the US and world going and where should we be going? It is important to think about what we want the future to look like to get there.
Both the left and the right seem to be focused on short term, often reactive politics and policies. Let’s take a moment to look at the big picture. This is mine.
Sharing of Our Wealth
Let’s start with the economy. People are starting to realize that the economy of the US, and indeed the world, has fundamentally changed and we’re not going back. So, what is the new reality and how do we deal with it?
Already back in the 1960’s articles came out noting the tremendous increase in productivity – the ability to produce more with less labor – in US manufacturing and agriculture. These articles speculated that “soon” people would only have to work six months out of the year for us to have an economy that produced all we needed. They suggested investing in the stock of companies catering to leisure activities.
These rosy predictions didn’t come to pass. Yes, we produced more than ever, but instead of working fewer hours, many people ended up working more hours for less money as they lost their jobs. The statistics on this are clear. Since the 1970’s the economy has kept on growing but wages for most types of work have stagnated. Artificial intelligence (AI) continues this trend. The growth in the economy went almost entirely to the top. The bottom half of US workers share ten percent of national income pretax and benefits. People simply cannot get more for their work when there is a surplus of labor thanks to automation.
In my vision of the future, we distribute the benefits of increased productivity more evenly. We all share in the wealth created by our amazing technology. That doesn’t mean we don’t “work” but rather that we get a productivity dividend and can perhaps spend time on activities that are more meaningful to us. Universal basic income is the simplest and best way to make sure we all share in the growth of our economy as we did in the period after World War II. It can help guarantee that technology change benefits us all regardless of how many jobs it displaces. Think how great it would be to share our growing prosperity—and have more choice about how we spend our lives!
That’s one pillar of my vision of the future.
Climate Change Action
A second pillar is dealing with climate change. Basic economics is already doing the heavy lifting on that. Wind and solar are the cheapest sources of energy. Electric cars have lower lifecycle cost than gas ones. The transition away from fossil fuels is happening by itself, despite the concerted attempts of fossil fuel companies to put up political roadblocks. But government clearly has an interest in dealing with this threat to our future – a threat that is far greater and more damaging than any military threat could possibly be. The Biden administration did great work on this and it needs to continue after the Trump/Heritage Foundation interruption. Think how great it would feel to build a sustainable world—and leave that to our children!
Universal Healthcare
A third pillar of my vision is dealing with healthcare in the US. I’m a big proponent of the managed capitalist market economy but there is virtually no “market” in healthcare. You can’t shop for healthcare the way you shop for groceries, and we can’t import healthcare the way we do clothes. It is only the 800-pound gorilla of the Federal government that can bargain effectively on healthcare costs. There is a reason that Medicare pays the lowest rates for services. Healthcare coverage needs to be universal in the US as a human right and as the only effective way to control costs. Think how great it would be if none of us had to worry about healthcare and it cost less!
Limiting Money in Politics
Money in politics is fundamentally corrupt. A constitutional amendment to limit political spending is a great long-term goal but not likely to happen anytime soon, if ever.
But there are actions that can be taken now. One is public financing of campaigns. New York, both state and city, has a great program whereby smaller in-district contributions are matched at rates up to eight to one (one dollar of contributions gets up to eight dollars of matching funds). Combined with raising taxes on wealthy donors, this would help to level the electoral playing field. The election of Mamdani shows how popular political outsiders stand a chance when the money playing field is somewhat levelled. Think how great it would be if people could get elected because of what they say rather than what big money says about them!
Tax the Rich
Income inequality and even more so wealth inequality is at historic levels in the US and world. I already mentioned sharing some wealth through universal basic income (UBI), and that will require the well-off to pay more. In my vision, we don’t need a wealth tax. We just need to treat all sources of income as income, regardless of whether it comes from wages, capital gains, dividends, or an inheritance. Once we do that - using a steep progressive income tax rate like we had after World War Two - inequality will decline. Of course, we also need to drastically simplify our byzantine federal tax code to eliminate as many of the loopholes as we can. Wouldn’t it be great if rich people paid their taxes!
Summary
So, there you have it. Part of my vision for the future. Political parties are free to adopt it!
Since 1900 we have seen vast increases in wealth brought about by industrialization and incredible strides in science and medicine and technology. We really all could live better now than ever before, despite the naysayers. We are living in an age of plenty. Let’s make it feel that way for us all. As Captain Picard says, ‘Make it so!’