By

John Wright

I decided to conceive a world that is mostly the opposite of what we are experiencing today. Why would I do such an apparently irrational thing? Is it my failure to accept reality and thus wishful thinking? Perhaps not. Perhaps we need an entirely different way of looking at possible paths for the progression of Humanity.

As most of you know I have written so many articles calling for mandatory birth control, wealth control and the destruction of socialism, and a basic society that rewards high performance, a meritocracy, that you simply must be tired of the same old story. I certainly am. Sure, I can be kind to myself and claim raw fear of society breaking down as my primary reason for writing those articles. I may be correct also, but I want to look at an alternative world within this article that shows much of what the socialists want to achieve while maintaining a level of practicality about total human population and rewards based on performance.

Fellow capitalists, relax. I have not gone round the bend. What I am about to do is describe a paternalistic world in which the masses are treated like children and cared for and kept from harming themselves. In that world power does coalesce into the hands of the most capable people. For the sake of argument, I am claiming that our advances in technology that are responsible for making such a high percentage of Humanity obsolete already can be extensively developed and used by a subset of Humanity, the capable ones, to provide for all.

In this New World voting rights and power are a function of applied intelligence, contribution and position in the society. That means, for instance, that our concept of one vote per person is entirely eliminated. Initially, only about ten percent of the total population will be permitted to vote on a scale based on ability and contribution to the smooth functioning and growth in quality of life of the global society. Thus, the most capable will have the most votes. Put simply, the most intelligent humans will assume their rightful place to make all the decisions about the progression of Humanity, with no part of the masses left behind to starve.

Those same leaders will be responsible to the masses in the paternalistic way I mentioned earlier. That means the masses will basically be provided everything they need without doing any labor, just like a child. Yes, free food, free transportation, free shelter, free clothing, free medical care, and on top of that a nice allotment of privileges to use well equipped public facilities for play.

Mostly these things are possible by using full automation and robotics virtually everywhere, from mining to industrial production to agriculture to transportation of goods and people to medical procedures, etc. A major increase in the development and application of sophisticated technology is necessary, but we are well on our way already.

In a capitalistic society production is driven by demand from paying customers. In the New World the masses will be the primary customers in terms of product or service consumption, but they will not pay using any currency like we use today. It is only the paternalistic leaders who will operate with currency, in effect, business to business and government to/from business. The masses will be the responsibility of the leaders as a child is to parents who provide sustenance but who make all the important decisions for the child.

Clearly it will not be a classless society. What makes it different from earlier examples in history is the lack of relationship between the needed labor of the masses and their compensation. There will be no labor on the part of the masses.

What is in it for the leaders? What would drive them to produce for the masses? First, the enjoyments they have will far exceed the goods and services available to the masses. I am talking about opulent lifestyles with great social lives as compensation for working to operate society. Second, there will be no population related political pressure to stop the development and use of technology, anywhere and everywhere. Politics becomes the domain of only the leaders.

There is of course one very important requirement, which is the limiting of the population of the masses, such that they do not overrun the land or over consume production by population expansion. Actually, the long-term goal is to reduce the global population for all people to a maximum of one billion. This will be accomplished with a very gradual limiting of reproduction of the masses, such that over eight or so generations the number of families having more than two children will be reduced first to a two child limit and in later generations to having only one child. This will be very politically popular among the masses because it will be the ticket to a life of no labor and complete security with everything being free. No majority vote is necessary to implement the plan. One simply signs up after having, initially, two children, then being voluntarily sterilized and given everything free for the rest of their lives. Those who choose not to join the plan are on their own, for there will be no welfare in the conventional sense, and we all can see where the job markets are headed for the least capable people.

There will be no limiting of reproduction for the leaders, the top ten percent of society in terms of intelligence plus contribution. There will be controlled but not strongly limited reproduction for a middle intelligence range group not considered part of the masses, but working and being given the free access to sustenance, but that group is not considered part of the leaders group and will not participate in the use of currency, but will instead have some of the material and social perks of the leader class, free. This will gradually change the composition of society with ever-higher percentages of people of higher intelligence. Thus, over an extended interval of about 200 years, overall population will decrease towards one billion people with the percentage the masses represent of the total decreasing. There will then be, incrementally, an increase in the percentage of the total population eligible to vote, as increasingly more of the total population will be high achievers.

Let it be known that the only determinant for belonging to any of the three defined classes is the combination of high intelligence and contribution. Excellent quality education will be available to all that show high native intelligence. This means children from the masses and the middle group can readily change class and move into leadership positions and children from leaders or the middle group who do not measure up will become part of the masses.

Thus, once we start looking at this hybrid of capitalism and socialism, with very specific goals and rights and obligations, it is possible to gain support across society from where we are today. Can this really work? Simply consider how much food we really can make, easily, and how inexpensive it really is to produce material goods, incrementally, in a fully automated agricultural and industrial society. Yes, it can be done.

There can indeed be a New World … one that addresses all needs and also provides incentive to lead and to work for the top ten percent of Humanity and to work for the middle group. It depends on our development and application of technology combined with a global population plan. War will become irrelevant in all its forms. The planet Earth will evolve into an unstressed physical environment.

Now, how was this article for a dose of optimism? Quite a change for the better … But I wonder what might need to happen politically to turn this idea into reality? Has any fundamental right been trampled compared to what we are doing today? Have I not figured out how to solve world hunger in a humane manner? Have I taken away the incentive system for capitalists and other people with high intelligence and ability to contribute in areas like education and medicine? Have I not set the stage for our eventual harnessing of genetic engineering to advance human intelligence across all humans?

I thus wonder what it is that is keeping our best and our brightest from pursuing this societal direction in concert with each other across all disciplines, globally? Think about it. Some variant of my stated plan may already be underway, being done quietly.

If you stop to think about the apparently irrational behavior of the Congress regarding being owned by business interests yet passing ever more legislation supporting socialism and globalization you start to get the picture. These seemingly conflicting behaviors make sense in the early stages of migrating from what we were globally to become what I defined in this article. Now you really have something to think about.

Is it reasonable to be optimistic? Perhaps.