24/11/2015
I’m waiting for a reply from Oxford regarding my TSA results. Meanwhile, I’ve been pondering on philosophical thought. It’s 5.06 pm now, and I’m waiting to book out.
I was thinking about what I would do if I was given free reign over an economy or country. How would I run the country, what kind of tenets would I want to build it by? What kind of questions and decisions would I have to make?
And here are some of the thoughts I fervently scribbled down while thinking about this. Now I’m assuming I somehow inherited the country – I don’t have to fight a democratic battle or justify my decisions yet. Maybe I will in future, but right now I’m just a young dreamer, aren’t I?
What kind of society do I want?
Freedom, free market capitalism.
Equality of opportunity, not outcome.
People will vote with their dollars, leading to efficient outcomes. The right goods will be produced for the right people, in the right amounts due to the invisible hand. Good, efficient companies that will be aligned with the social good.
Taxation would serve a Pigovian purpose rather than a redistributive purpose. I want to have my society be run by one of the central tenets of “equality of opportunity, not outcome”. Sounds very similar to Singapore so far, huh? However, I’ll implement a high estate tax because I would want to level the playing field for the younger generation thus far. I believe this is one of the central problems of unfettered capitalism – that wealth begins to pool in the hands of the elite few. This is what I wouldn’t want to happen within my society – wealth and happiness should a reward be for the individual largely on his own level and not meant as a way to gain power over others in a dynastic manner. I’d be pretty uncompromising on this.
Small government. The government’s role would be to provide essential services such as the police force, the military, and emergency services. It would also be to regulate key industries such as the healthcare industry, education, and nudge the polity in the direction of I would also tax traditionally sinful products such as gambling, cigarettes, alcohol and drugs – the harmful kind. Careful regulation of the drugs and narcotics industry would lead to higher quality, safer consumption, Of course, we will want to nudge our citizens away from these no matter what.
Only those who work hard should be able to afford such ‘luxuries’, shouldn’t they? Just as those who work hard should be the only ones who are able to afford expensive cars. This view might be flawed and require more polishing.
This brings me to the question: does my ideal society value freedom of the individual more or do I really just want to mold my people into ideal citizens? Am I taking a more utilitarian or paternalistic approach then? We’re still desperately trying to find a way to make citizens align with helping the social good without taking away their liberty. As such, fiscal policy would be centered around pushing the social good.
This is because I believe that dollar votes will eventually lead to efficient outcomes for the individual and will maximize utility for all parties involved – it incentivizes you to work for your fellow man, to provide a service that others seek, and get rewarded in due kind for it. If you can contribute more, and people value your contributions, they will reward you with their dollar votes. Might sound barbaric to some. I think it’s beautiful.
For example, if enough people value the social good – to combat global warming for example – they will reward those who are willing to do work towards combating global warming. In reality, we are not all self serving, rent seeking individuals, so why argue like we are such? However, I do not dispute the point that perhaps we are not serving the social good enough, if the vast majority of us remain apolitical and even ignorant, which is why I believe that education can be our great social leveller.
In this society, how would I encourage research and development and discourage rent seeking (for example, of pharmaceuticals)? That’s another important question to answer.
You are free to disagree with me, friends. Different strokes for different folks, after all.
I'd vote for you, cunt. Meet up and play chess soon 🙂
didn't know you had a blog haha.
Its a very idealistic world you described and I'm sure we would agree the realities in which we live isnt ideal. The paragraph about dollar votes caught my eye. I believe dollar votes would not necessarily incentives individuals to work or contribute for the benefit of others, even if they did, the motivation is only temporary. Many successful entrepreneurs and innovators did not start out with wealth as their source of motivation, but rather, the desire to create something and the passion do do what they love. If you contribute to people lives nobody else can, you will be reward with dollar values, but wealth is only the by-product of the implicit value you created.
I wouldn't say with affirmation that we are not all self-serving individuals but I do believe that most of the time we are driven by selfish and prideful reasons and in doing so, we fail to consider the larger picture and that is why social good is not being valued enough.
Education has always been acclaimed and lauded as the solution to world problems of almost any kind. But I do not think this is the case, not in its current form and definitely not in Singapore. In fact, its the education system which I feel has made us apolitical and ignorant in the first place.
All the best in your Oxford Placement, I'm sure you would get in. And do catch up sometime before you leave haha.
Gavin