I think we’ve passed an economic singularity and are now enslaved to a system no longer helpful or fit for purpose.
In technology terms, the singularity is a point in the future where technological growth becomes increasingly fast and uncontrollable, resulting ultimately in a super-intelligent artificial life that begins to learn and design its own evolution. This artificial intelligence will surpass the brain power of humans and will be able to think of ideas and concepts beyond that of human understanding. In the worst-case scenario machines become so intelligent that they can take control of government resources, internet functionality, e-commerce, and so on, our societal structures may break down—or change drastically.
It seems to me that in socio-economic terms we have passed that point of economic singularity. We are no longer running the economy, the economy is running us.
Our leaders are designing our social systems and our communities around what best serves economic growth. We have accepted the economy as it is, as an unchangeable fait accompli and governments set about creating a society in a way that best services the needs of this arbitrary economy.
Surely we should be deciding what society we want and creating an economic system that serves that society. We should be building our economy in a way that serves the needs of people.
The latest budget in the UK appears to be a clumsy grab at creating economic growth for the sake of economic growth; a panicked attempt to kick start an economy that no longer seems to serve the needs of the people. We are slaves to an economic system and this servitude to a man-made construct that we are too short-sighted to challenge suggests we have passed the economic singularity.
What are your thoughts?