An Introduction

...Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment…This is because the rulers of the exchange of mankind's goods have failed through their own incompetence…The unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion. They only know the rules of a generation of self seekers. They have no vision and when there is no vision the people perish.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt, First Inaugural Address - 1933

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First Principle

Water, food, and energy are the three necessary components sustaining civilization and are thus a universal value of every human.

This fundamental truth is the first principle of human development.

And if the production, distribution, and consumption of any three is disrupted, social unrest follows.

War and peace are inherently tied to abundance or scarcity of these key elements.

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Political Economy

Political economy is the study of production and trade and their relationship with government, law, national security, and the investment and distribution of national income and wealth.

Politics and economics are fundamentally inseparable.

Unfortunately, political economy was overshadowed by the myopic term “economics,” around 100 years ago, obscuring how power and politics ultimately determine the organization of our economy as the real invisible hand guiding the so-called free marketplace.

Despite this obscurantism, the fact remains that powerful political factions continue to shape the economic policies of the government and set the parameters of currencies, markets, trade, and contracts.

And the organization of our political economy will also determine production, logistics, infrastructure, science, research and development, communications, education, healthcare, and most importantly, whether we have secured our water, food, and energy.

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Labor, Capital, Oligarchy

One goal of the political economy project is to reconnect the causal relationships inherent in economics and politics so we can better understand the dynamics shaping our world and organize around policies that will lead to broad-based human flourishing.

Another distorting relic of the 20th century is a misplaced tension between labor and capital, when both are necessary for civilization. For when the political economy effectively organizes labor and capital, real surplus value is created that can be used to promote human prosperity and peace.

To move beyond the entrenched binary that pits capitalism versus socialism, the political economy project will spotlight the oligarchical structures of entrenched wealth and power expressed in cartels, monopolies, oligopolies, monopsonies, and influence operations that asset strip labor, capital, and surplus value for the malignant gain of a few to the detriment of human freedom and civilization.

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Principle Above Politics

In this darkening age of growing division and impending tragedy, I humbly seek those of good will and magnanimous spirit who are willing to set aside petty squabbles and factional differences and unify our fight for a future where no human goes without water, food, energy, housing, education, healthcare, communication, transportation, and social security, while producing broad based prosperity for today and future generations.

And with this guiding vision, let us begin developing the political economy blueprint that will unify our fellow humans to work together and create a new renaissance of the human spirit.