U.S. Election; United States Going Forward, Part 2

 U.S. Election; United States Going Forward, Part 1, contains a broad brush enumeration of the totality of challenges that face the United States in the near to midterm future. Looming just beyond public comprehension is the Technological Singularity, with the hazard of concentration of inhuman power in the successors to biological life.

Please prove me wrong. To do so, you have your wits, and some time, at your disposal, hopefully focusing on the broad brush issues. Should you decide to accept this assignment, your obstacles are national myths, traditions, and about half  the electorate.

You’re busy biting your fingernails this election night, so I’ll keep it short. One of the easiest simplifications is to divvy part of the problem into different types of “capital.”

  • Economic capital is the traditional sense of the word.
  • Human capital is potentiation of human potential to facilitate, among other things, creation of more capital.
  • National capital consists of hard and soft power. Hint: U.S. soft power is eroding rapidly.
  • National myths can be helpful or hurtful. Sadly, there is no arguing with the true believer, the person who has swallowed the myth whole, and finds it inseparable from reality.

Spiritual values, of  which I particularly  cherish those of the Declaration of Independence, can conflict with the above. In a very real way, they exist partly inside and partly outside the question of optimizing a society for capital creation.

It wouldn’t be helpful to be more specific. I’ll permit myself one exception: Students in  public school systems should be paid for academic performance. I find it a particularly interesting idea, since adults I try it on frequently respond with a smirk.