As a kid I never really had a grasp of economics, of the "way business gets done". I had no real interest, that I remember, of starting a lemonade stand or any other kind of business. I enjoyed doing the work, and just kind of expected that I'd be rewarded for it. Yeah, it was as interesting as you might think it was.
Interestingly, I ended up in the U.S. Army which, contrary to what you may think, was one of the most socialist, command economies out there. Everything was provided (social welfare), and in turn you produced for the good of the Service based on what your leaders dictated and your role in the organization. (I've been off active duty for a while, I believe it has changed a bit. Perhaps subject to the "enshittification" I'll mention later.)
Once I started studying complexity science, starting back in the early 1990s when I came across M. Mitchell Waldrop's Complexity: The Emerging Science at the Edge of Order, I found my way into so many different fields. Physics, of course, especially quantum mechanics. But economics found its way into the mix as well.
In a recent Mastermind session with Design for Good, I heard Don Norman refer to "the current economic system", specifically avoiding the use of the term capitalism to describe how today's economy works. I think the moment I really started thinking hard about this "current economic system" was when I saw the original Story of Stuff video more than 10 years ago. Talk about questioning all assumptions. This is where I got hooked (1:12):
Interestingly, I ended up in the U.S. Army which, contrary to what you may think, was one of the most socialist, command economies out there. Everything was provided (social welfare), and in turn you produced for the good of the Service based on what your leaders dictated and your role in the organization. (I've been off active duty for a while, I believe it has changed a bit. Perhaps subject to the "enshittification" I'll mention later.)
Once I started studying complexity science, starting back in the early 1990s when I came across M. Mitchell Waldrop's Complexity: The Emerging Science at the Edge of Order, I found my way into so many different fields. Physics, of course, especially quantum mechanics. But economics found its way into the mix as well.
In a recent Mastermind session with Design for Good, I heard Don Norman refer to "the current economic system", specifically avoiding the use of the term capitalism to describe how today's economy works. I think the moment I really started thinking hard about this "current economic system" was when I saw the original Story of Stuff video more than 10 years ago. Talk about questioning all assumptions. This is where I got hooked (1:12):
You can't run a linear system on a finite planet indefinitely.
What really hit home with me in that video was the extent of negative externalities that "capitalists" don't
I'll share some more readings about capitalism, post-capitalism, capital in general, socialism (yes, you knew that was coming), but for now I want to leave you with two things to read. First, subscribe to and read Cory Doctorow's newsletter, Pluralistic. From his most recent post,
As someone who writes a lot of fiction about corporate crime, I naturally end up spending a lot of time being angry about corporate crime. It's pretty goddamned enraging. But the fiction writer in me is especially upset at how cartoonishly evil the perps are – routinely doing things that I couldn't ever get away with putting in a novel.
And it was from that post that I found my way to The Rentier Economy, Vulture Capital, and Enshittification at the Center for a Stateless Society. A good, if long, read, a nice introduction to a lot of ideas that you will, if you are like me, want to go deep on.