Inert America–Excerpt from Chapter 7 on Political Economy

 

Our political and economic leaders seem perfectly willing to debate the problems facing America, especially middle-class America by standing firmly on their philosophical and political ideologies, so long as they and their families have food to eat. When the average American has nothing to eat, time seems to matter little. However, if our leaders had nothing to eat, they would find themselves in a position where they are a little more humble and a little more willing
to compromise their principles, since principles won’t fill a belly.

In the twenty-first century, individuals are the producers. In order to produce, they must also be free, that is, they must have liberty. Not some liberty, but absolute liberty because freedom of choice is what makes liberty possible. Choices are what drive a style of living or lifestyle, and a lifestyle is made possible by a standard of living.

Of course, this type of liberty is not unrestrained and anarchistic as some would portray it. To maintain a civil society, we must adhere to the rule of law and due process otherwise anarchy would rein. This would not result in a productive society. Liberty such as this would also mean the elimination of time and space management instilled by industrial production process and Charles Taylor. This was necessary in the industrial society, but it is a dead idea in the twenty-first-century information society. We can no longer manage based on
time and space, for they have no meaning. When you pick up a cell phone today and call someone on the other side of the planet tomorrow, then you know that something has changed. This is the final point: production processes have become decentralized. This is made possible by globalization.

With the decentralization of production processes, the nature of such an arrangement makes it impossible to manage people based on time and space. They must now be managed based on performance or outcomes. This also means that people must be held accountable for the outcome and their actions. Responsibility is the new word for this century. If society truly had an Age of Enlightenment, an Age of Reason, then now is the Age of Responsibility. While it seems few want to take responsibility for their actions, it must happen if twenty-first century America is to remain competitive in the world. Making this type of transformation in our style of living also has other advantages. This transformation of work literally makes it possible to produce twenty-four hours a day. This is what I term hyperproductivity, and this condition will take America into a new
age. Why is his necessary?

Read Inert America to find out why.

 

Gary W. Griffin, Ph.D.