Core Beliefs

Fundamental beliefs about humankind and a well-functioning society might differ between individuals. To ensure the discussion about the legislative measures is based on agreeing on fundamentals, the main ones are described here.

‚Obvious‘ ones like equality of gender and race are not included.

If a reader feels disagreement with any of these, I would be happy to hear about it and explore the difference in opinion.

Fundamentals about human nature and behaviour within society

⦁ People differ in intelligence, energy, drive and innovative capacity. The ones blessed with a great deal of them should not be hindered, however, fruits of their labour also have to be shared with the less fortunate ones

⦁ Hard work, resourcefulness and risk-taking should be rewarded, nevertheless, the focus of all activity should be advancing both, societal and individual prosperity, not just the latter

⦁ The intrinsic motivation of healthy individuals is not primarily maximizing personal gain, rather a mix of purpose, actual impact, social recognition and a fair compensation of efforts

⦁ While the sum of the work of all individuals is limited, the human capacity for invention is limitless. However, it does tend to follow the predominant paradigm of the time (e.g. maximizing profit by finding loopholes in tax law), hence its necessary to create certain laws that channel it towards progress (e.g. introducing resource consumption taxes to develop more sustainable products). It clearly makes more sense for a society to have 10,000 genius leaders working on pragmatic solutions for today’s problems than 10,000 genius financial experts on both sides of the tax system fighting over the last dividend

⦁ The limitations and peculiarities of economically disadvantaged people and countries have to be appreciated and genuinely understood. A higher tendency for corruption, lethargy, addiction and irrational behaviour are most likely consequences of poor education, unjust environments and bad experiences. They are not inherent qualities of ‚the poor‘ and can be changed for the better with patience and incentives

⦁ Humans display a mix of free riding and hive behaviour, meaning they try to maximise their gain but also have the capacity to help their kin (family, tribe, group) without direct benefit for themselves

⦁ Without moral incentive or expected consequences for misbehaviour, people tend to act in selfish ways. This means that a society either needs direct control (which is likely impossible or at least impractical) or a moral framework that is based on mutual trust within a group (which may be of spiritual nature or having a common purpose)

⦁ Humans have the tendency to simplify issues, actively reaffirm their current believes and act as experts for everything if they are an expert in a particular field. This leads to an inherent and subconscious draw towards populism and simple (but often wrong) explanations for complex phenomena. Government officials, publicly funded media and any individual with public function should strive to not fuel this behaviour and always encourage to consider The Other Story

Fundamentals about a progressive civilized society

⦁ Basic rights, separation of powers, individual liberty, political tolerance, freedom of press and speech as well as pluralism of opinion constitute liberal vehicles that have to be cherished

⦁ The existence of private property causes inequality but the absence may reduce motivation to excel based on our nature. Hence, effects of unequal distribution of wealth have to be curbed and equality of opportunities ensured (according to the proverb: „Capitalism is great at creating wealth but bad at distributing it“)

⦁ No business has the right to exist if it is only profitable as a consequence of exploitation of either labour or the environment

⦁ Capital tends to monopolize if left unchecked. Anti trust laws and cartel offices have to be supplemented by legislation that favour organic growth and innovation over mergers and acquisitions

⦁ The sustainable prosperity of an economic society depends on a functioning infrastructure (reliable and efficient transport of people and goods, emergency services), trustworthy governmental institutions (e.g. tax, building and other authorities, courts, customs), laws that fuel entrepreneurship (tax benefits and subsidies for small companies as well as incentives to tackle societal problems), a healthy consumer base and workforce (focus on resource efficiency, fair working conditions and compensation, broad middle class) and a fair, equitable society (equal treatment before the law, equality of opportunities and high levels of education)

⦁ The antagonistic nature of ideologies (such as socialism, liberalism, conservatism) may be compromised by allowing private property and radical entrepreneurship while at the same time remaining vigilant that social achievements, safety nets and environmental protection aren’t slowly eroded by wealthy people in the background

⦁ Laws should not only promote Liberty, Equality and Fraternity but also Friendship, Charity and Sincerity (the less successful competitor slogan in 18th century France) as well as Appreciation, Affection and Animation (see Theodore Zeldin)

⦁ New forms of economic entities (social enterprises and cooperatives) as well as extended means of participation (citizens collectives, see under „civil“) create active, democratic and entrepreneurial citizens

⦁ There should never be subsidies or other forms of publicly funded competitive advantage for practices, businesses or technologies that cause harm to the living world or parts of society