Defending Problems

In well-functioning markets, things get cheaper. This is a key reason you should not define your worth by your salary. Your salary is the price of your labour, it is not your worth. No one, anywhere, gets paid what they are worth. In markets that are clearly broken like education, health, law, and housing, prices do not go down for the honest reason that we do not really want them to. A high price can also be the product. Like the record prices paid for paintings. The product is the signal of what the buyer can afford. If we want affordable housing, you do not need to be Elon Musk to figure it out. Build more houses. We misname skilled and unskilled labour. It is not about the level of skill. It is about the supply of people who can solve the problem. Spread the skill and the price comes down. The second level problem with problem-solving, is what do you solve next? What do we do with our time and sense of self if the problem we solve gets solved permanently? We live in a world where we need problems to eat, and have a firm handshake. We manufacture problems and defend the walls around the containers we solve them in.

"Salvator Mundi" by Leonardo da Vinci

Most expensive painting sold in 2019

$450 million

Being Able

“The Forwards win the match. The Backs determine the scoreline”. Sometimes what is true in Rugby, is true in life. In 117 appearances for the Springboks, prop forward Tendai Mtawarira (“The Beast”) scored just two tries. That wasn’t his job. The Corona Virus has brought to the front of our consciousness the importance of Endurance and Resilience. The importance of a strong Base. Being able to hold still. With strength. It has highlighted the importance of being able to take the hits. Being able to push forward a few centimetres at a time. Human Beings aren’t simply productive assets in a chain of pass-the-parcel hand-to-mouth living. The foundation is simple. The foundation is being. Being able. Health, Housing, Education, and Food win the match. Meritocracy, Property Rights, Incentives, Passion, Trade, Free Movement, Supply and Demand determine the scoreline.

First, Secure the Base

World of Scarcity

The cost of things separates us. If we progress, the cost of things should go down. Price is a crude clearing tool in a world of scarcity. The numbers should get smaller as we get better at doing what needs doing. If they don't, something is broken. If they don't, it means we are artificially keeping numbers up so we can signal our superiority over others. Health, Education, Transport, and Housing should be getting cheaper. To a point where the basics are abundant. In a world of abundance, the rules are different. Perhaps we are scared of that? Perhaps we are scared of a world where we can't signal our success with a bigger number?

Kids and Mortgages

Bosses love it when a Breadwinner buys a house and has a baby. There is nothing that kills activism like a roof and a kid. If you are living hand-to-mouth, both a mortgage and a child share the characteristics of a long-term fixed financial commitment. In the UK, you can even get 35 year mortgages. Some kids don't leave home till 35. 

Salaries also have bond like commitments. Particularly if there is a 'job-for-life' culture. If you work in a job where you have to do something pretty bad to get fired, and the company doesn't take too many risks. This means you can match a job to the life-style you have become accustomed to.

As the Breadwinner, you become a vital cog in the wheel. It is the reason people take out life-insurance. Since if you die, it isn't only an emotional loss. If you die without insurance, the people under the roof will have a big problem.

The rules are different for people with Engines. If you have an investment that earns more (on average) than you spend - you can take more chances. There is nothing stopping you from working. The story is just slightly different. If you want to retrain and do something else. You can. If you want to take a chance at starting a new business. You can. If you want to stay at home with the kids and dog. You can.

Obligation is a great incentive. Sometimes you just do what you have to do. For most people in the world, this is what drives our decisions. Get a job. Pay the bills. Provide. There is however another option. Gradually you can build up a Buffer. If you can get a gap between your spending and your income. If you can put that money to work. If you can let it grow.

Beyond Financial Security is Freedom. Beyond Freedom is Fulfilment. Fulfilment is a better incentive than obligation.