Decision Makers

Ideally, we would have a very transparent relationship with asking and offering. Money is made by solving problems for decision makers with money. The challenge is making sure everyone is a decision maker. That is a foundation stone for the idea of Universal Basic Income. Information gets lost in central decision making. The more layers there are between where the knowledge lies, and where the power lies, the poorer the decision will be. Central decision makers also rely on concealing information. The true nature of problems. The resources allocated to those problems. This makes it harder for people to develop the skills and knowledge necessary to find solutions. It is hard to ask. It is hard to offer. It is hard to know with clarity what you need to do to help, even if you want to. Part of this is due to trust and communication skills. Being prepared to clumsily iterate through the questions and answers needed to nail what needs doing. Trusting that being open will not bring down the barriers to entry that maintain the illusion of your superiority. Trusting that other people will make different decisions, while respecting yours.

Nailing the Problem

Discovering Fire

A foundation of our superiority challenges is a core belief in Second Class Citizens. It is hard to separate out some of the complex problems around sexism, xenophobia, racism and classism from things we hold to be true. One of those is that we get taught preferences from a young age. We overhear stories about successful people and unsuccessful people. The voices of people we admire soak into the voices in our head. We question if we are good enough. Then we start seeing the strengths of others through this view. Engineers hire Engineers. Accountants hire Accountants. South Africans hire South Africans. Oxbridge graduates hire Oxbridge graduates. Even when we superficially break from these categories, seeing the strengths that don’t resonate is challenging. Wealth creation is a team sport. But if you have a God Complex thinking you are the source of value, and everyone else is there to support you, then clearly you are not going to see the strengths of mortals. Till they discover their fire and topple you.