Open Letter to Chrystia Freeland
Dear Ms. Freeland,
At the end of your TED talk you said "We need a new New Deal", and I think I have an idea for one but I don't know what to do with it.
As you said the money is concentrating at the top and the influence of the few is out of control, and any talk of wealth redistribution sounds pretty scary to them, and I don't blame them. Who would want to give up something so good. The key to the new New Deal (NND) or selling any idea for that matter, is to make it better than what they've got. The only way to get someone to follow you or buy your product is to convince them that their life will be significantly better if they do. So I think the key to the NND is to focus on one thing that everyone wants. The one thing that everyone thinks money will bring them.
Happiness
If we come up with a new wealth distribution platform that focuses on everyone being happy, we might have a chance.
Luckily the latest research I've heard says that the way to buy happiness is to buy things for other people (Mike Norton). And the two keys to happiness are 1) meaningful/satisfying job and 2) strong close relationships (Barry Schwartz). So what do you get if you put these together?
A society/economy filled with people working hard at satisfying jobs, but with a good work/life balance, and spending their disposable income on others.
This is pretty radical and I don't see it being rolled out as the new way of doing things for everyone. I see it as needing a small start up, perhaps an employment agency type company with the mission to make those who join as happy as possible as cheap as possible (share resources, reduce consumption). Right off the bat people signing up have the mindset that the company will be taking part of their wages, and the agency can do more and more for the person while claiming more and more of their wages. They could provide housing, transportation, and food options and as it grew they could benefit from economies of scale. Over time the people will start to disassociate their annual salary and consumer goods with happiness or status. And people on the outside looking in will see normal people living in parallel with them but significantly happier, following a crazy system that goes against what they have always thought, and they will want in (hopefully worldwide).
It would be a significant redefining of what people think is important. A redefinition that I think is important not only for the economy but for the health of the individuals and of the planet. I've read that the pursuit of money is insatiable, so by sticking with money as the benchmark for happiness we're preventing ourselves from being content, and this pushes us to push the planet and others beyond what we know we should, in a reckless pursuit for more money.
I really think this idea has potential but I need a second opinion from someone like you. Am I crazy to think something like this should be tried out? And if I'm not crazy what do I do now?
Sincerely,
Spontaneous Cooperation
At the end of your TED talk you said "We need a new New Deal", and I think I have an idea for one but I don't know what to do with it.
As you said the money is concentrating at the top and the influence of the few is out of control, and any talk of wealth redistribution sounds pretty scary to them, and I don't blame them. Who would want to give up something so good. The key to the new New Deal (NND) or selling any idea for that matter, is to make it better than what they've got. The only way to get someone to follow you or buy your product is to convince them that their life will be significantly better if they do. So I think the key to the NND is to focus on one thing that everyone wants. The one thing that everyone thinks money will bring them.
Happiness
If we come up with a new wealth distribution platform that focuses on everyone being happy, we might have a chance.
Luckily the latest research I've heard says that the way to buy happiness is to buy things for other people (Mike Norton). And the two keys to happiness are 1) meaningful/satisfying job and 2) strong close relationships (Barry Schwartz). So what do you get if you put these together?
A society/economy filled with people working hard at satisfying jobs, but with a good work/life balance, and spending their disposable income on others.
This is pretty radical and I don't see it being rolled out as the new way of doing things for everyone. I see it as needing a small start up, perhaps an employment agency type company with the mission to make those who join as happy as possible as cheap as possible (share resources, reduce consumption). Right off the bat people signing up have the mindset that the company will be taking part of their wages, and the agency can do more and more for the person while claiming more and more of their wages. They could provide housing, transportation, and food options and as it grew they could benefit from economies of scale. Over time the people will start to disassociate their annual salary and consumer goods with happiness or status. And people on the outside looking in will see normal people living in parallel with them but significantly happier, following a crazy system that goes against what they have always thought, and they will want in (hopefully worldwide).
It would be a significant redefining of what people think is important. A redefinition that I think is important not only for the economy but for the health of the individuals and of the planet. I've read that the pursuit of money is insatiable, so by sticking with money as the benchmark for happiness we're preventing ourselves from being content, and this pushes us to push the planet and others beyond what we know we should, in a reckless pursuit for more money.
I really think this idea has potential but I need a second opinion from someone like you. Am I crazy to think something like this should be tried out? And if I'm not crazy what do I do now?
Sincerely,
Spontaneous Cooperation