Equity & Free Market Economics

By Agni Lakshya

Similar to worker’s rights, the idea of equity in a free market seems preposterous if not downright oppositional. How can it be a free market if it is equitable? The very notion of equitable seems to imply it is not free at all and contains rules that everyone must adhere to. Yes, that is true, but that is what we have today, so why not make it better?

Politicians have tried for the last couple centuries to encourage free markets while regulating them to ensure equity, fairness, and the removal of corrupt practices which may harm the economy and individual consumers. It is a balancing act to be sure. Too much regulation and you stifle creativity and competition, without which you have a stagnant marketplace where mediocrity rules.

So why bring this up when discussing the New Atlantis? Well, this is the main topic of this blog right now, and market economics is a very significant aspect of any society. We all want to thrive, but how can we do that on a level playing field with little regulation? It seems impossible, so the politicians, for now, still have a job to do. And so will the politicians of the New Atlantis.

Survival of the Fittest

While I love nature, it would be a shame to believe we evolved through all these Millennia into an intelligent species on this planet only to be ruled by the jungle. We have fought our way out of that jungle and should only accept civilized notions for our society and the betterment of humanity overall.

If we go back to survival of the fittest, we will go back to the most horrible aspects of human society. Yet many cling to this notion while wearing Gucci suits and ties. According to them what makes you civilized is what you wear and not what you do. This type of thinking revolves around one basic idea: amass as much wealth as possible before your die.

Build the biggest business, biggest castle, biggest kingdom, biggest weapons, and you rule the jungle, ensuring prosperity for your pride rather than for all prides. Herein lies the problem. This idea of my pride versus other prides is finally coming to an end and with it the idea of survival of the fittest. We want survival for all, and anyone who disagrees with this will be relegated to the historical dustbin alongside the NAZIs.

The time of fiefdoms is over, and a new age of humanity is rising from its ashes. I realize the gorillas of the past will not accept this willingly, but their world is coming to an end. When full disclosure of our extraterrestrial neighbors finally happens, we are going to look pretty stupid waving our pride’s flag when there are hundreds of different species entering into our free markets.

This is why we must get it right for humanity writ large rather than for your pride, their pride, etc. The playing field is about to expand, and we will not be the biggest or most powerful species out there. As with all great paradigm shifts, great changes in thinking and processes governing our world will naturally occur. Get ready, it is coming!

Putting aside these animal metaphors, we are the new kids on the block, and if we don’t operate as a single species, we are at risk when interacting with those that do. We cannot afford the luxuries of an animalistic past such as crime, corruption, greed, poverty, or idealism. It will be us entering into a much larger Universe with rules, regulations, and treaties we cannot yet fathom.

We must fix our tiny neighborhood first if we want to play in the larger neighborhood with the more evolved adults. In the New Atlantis, every person plays an important role in humanity’s future, therefore, we must support every person. It is at once so simple and yet so complex when viewed through the animalistic lenses we see through today. Time for change!

New Generations

With our new generations poised to take over this world from those who currently control it, we see a very different notion of equity. In the older generations it was equity as long as you “earned” it. While I am a huge believer in hard work, I am not a big believer in survival of the fittest and neither are the younger generations.

Many of these entitled youths don’t believe everybody’s worth is based on their heritage, their physical attributes, or their economic means. The social castes of today can and must be torn down. These younger generations believe a person’s worth is based solely on their existence and nothing more. Huh, how is that for a paradigm shift?

Push these younglings to work feverishly, deny their identities, and force them to tow the party line, and they will run to their safe rooms, take a Zanax, and cancel you on social media. The old paradigms of the past just don’t fit their world view, and it shows up in the strangest ways. Are they all right? No! Are they all wrong? No! But they are here and they will take over. Let’s guide them onto a proper path while acknowledging that their existence does make them worthwhile, because it does.

We are all God’s Souls; therefore, our very existence is based on why God created us. That is our worth! The notion that we are worthless and must somehow convince God we are worthy is nothing more than a fantasy spun by those who wish to control us. Now that we are poised to enter into a much larger neighborhood, that reasoning takes on greater importance. We think, therefore we are, and that makes each one of us the most important thing in this Universe. We were all chosen by God, even the ones you claim to hate.

Level Playing Field

The idea of a level playing field really came into play when my daughters were playing youth soccer. It turns out that many of the soccer fields they played on were not level at all, some even resembled a dome you had to play on top of. It had a big impact on the teams depending on which direction you were moving the ball.

But what does that mean in a free market economy? Today, we have the notion of no monopolies so other competitors can offer their wares without the big guy underpricing them into bankruptcy. When a company is successful because of an innovative idea or product, that company typically leverages their market dominance to buy out competitors and other’s with newer, possibly better ideas. From there, they may shelve the newer idea in favor of their current profit machine, or they may exploit it to remain dominant or gain more dominance.

By itself, it seems like a great business idea. Here is the problem. When you stifle innovation through unmatched strength and resources, consumers and the markets suffer overall. Innovation comes to a standstill as the dominant company refuses to spend resources for newer innovations. Better for them to ride the gravy train while making only minor modifications to the existing structure rather than radically innovating. That stifles the evolution of the market overall.

When upstarts rise against you, you have the resources to buy their ideas and use it to augment your existing operations or shelve it until you are forced to use it against oncoming threats. Essentially, they become lazy, enjoying their dominance they exert through higher prices and non-competitive practices. This is all basic economics, which is why we have laws designed to control this.

I worked for one of these behemoths called Microsoft. Don’t get me wrong, it was and is a great company, but without competition, it stifled growth and commanded rigid pricing structures to increase the gravy. Then came the internet, and it tried to stifle that by consuming anything that came along to threaten their dominance on the computer. That eventually failed, putting them in a precarious position which required radical changes within the company and their operations.

That means the playing field was leveled and competitors forced their evolution. I don’t want to be hard on Microsoft because I am still a big fan, but the things I witnessed while working there never sat right with me. When new ideas were offered up to change the company’s trajectory, the old guard was resistant and always viewed it through the lens of their existing dominant products. That is not okay, and I watched fruitful ideas wither on the vine because of it.

Like humanity and all things in the Universe, marketplaces must continually evolve, especially now that we are so dependent on technology. Keeping a competitive and equitable playing field is essential if the markets are to grow alongside us. New products and innovations should be rewarded, not shelved or pushed out of the market. That makes it fair while continuing the evolution.

Look, there is enough of a market for all competitors big and small. But when very large companies control regulation through corporate contributions in the political spectrum, we lose that innovation and concentrate all the resources into a very small number of hands. That is not evolution and is the same thing something conservatives complain about our governments. But I don’t hear them complain about it when it is the large companies contributing to their campaigns.

This is greed plain and simple. They are enriching themselves at the expense of everyone else, and that takes us back to the jungle which the New Atlantis will not suffer. So how do we stop this current wealth concentration, market control, and political corruption?

Regulation

The dreaded ‘r’ word. History has amply taught us why regulation must exist to level the playing field and drive innovation. From kingdoms, robber barons, and the current billionaires and soon to be trillionaires, greed drives inequitable markets filled with corruption where wealth is concentrated into the hands of a few who control everyone else. We cannot let that stand because everyone matters, which is why we have a democracy.

The New Atlantis was always designed to provide individual freedoms (liberty), a path for all citizens to be happy and successful while playing a democratic role in ruling the land. It was designed to bring the power of the country into the hands of the people rather than a few elites like kings, dictators, and robber barons. Unfortunately, the robber barons of today once again hold the vast majority of wealth, therefore the vast majority of power.

I have never been a proponent of those who claim communistic ideals about re-distributing the wealth to all people regardless of their contributions. We have seen this fail. On the other hand, the divide between the rich and the poor which is growing woefully large cannot stand and is an unhealthy sign of a crumbling republic. So where does that leave us?

Wealth transfer and limiting the concentration of wealth is not an intractable problem. In fact, it can be accomplished in sensible ways while promoting marketplace evolution and innovation, promoting success for all citizens. Wage laws, worker’s rights, taxation, and strict monopoly laws can all be used to accomplish this without the need for communism.

Demand equitable compensation for workers, tax those who have the most, and break up large entities works as long as the people and those who represent them enforce this ideal. The problem is political corruption, and that must be solved first, or people will pick up their pickaxes, and the French Revolution will occur all over again. Nobody wants public beheadings of the rich and powerful!

There is so much wealth available in the USA, it begs the question why we have so many poor people, a dwindling middle class, and a shrinking small business marketplace with so many people living paycheck to paycheck. It is greed and corruption all over again, just as it was during the historical times when the law of the jungle ruled. No more!

I do not have all the ideas for how to resolve this, but I have some ideas where we should start. Strong anti-corruption laws which govern corporations and politicians, fair wage and compensation laws so everyone benefits from their hard work, and strong anti-trust laws to limit corporate overreach and unfair practices in monopolies. We have done this to some degree in the past, but the rich banded together to overturn these ideas and return us to the robber baron days of the past.

One last idea seems far-fetched, but amazingly, it is growing stronger every year across all countries not dominated by tyrants. That idea is the notion that businesses love and support their workers, sharing the corporate wealth generously so everyone is happy and successful. That is where the gorillas of today have failed, and that will end as more and more of the younger generations take over and the gorillas die off.

This idea is not idealistic, it is realistic, and the changes coming in the New Age will begin to support this idea even more. No more greedy corporate executives and boards. How can anyone be happy when their fellow humans are suffering? It boggles the mind how much the gorillas don’t care. Well, the people do, and soon their voices will lift up and demand an equitable playing field. It all starts at home.

Yes, you have heard it before: love thy neighbor. This is something we can all do if we unplug from the gorilla controlled social media and begin to interact with each other respectfully and honorably. This nation was built on honor and dedication to those who live within it. Yes, we have had our problems, but we have evolved over the last couple hundred years, and compassion was integrated into our laws and policies. That is currently under attack.

Change yourself and you will change those around you. Change those around you and you will change your society. Change your society, and you change the world. It can and will be done so we bring back the very foundations of our democracy. But it all starts with you!

Kriya Serpent Yoga

While I realize this looks like a shameless plug for my book, the book is the basis of my purpose on this world: to awaken humanity from the delusion of maya. Maya is the cosmic illusion, the divine power that creates the phenomenal world and makes it appear real, concealing the true, singular reality of Divine Creation.

This is very ancient and comes from the Vedic philosophies. However, it promotes the evolution of each individual to Christ Consciousness where you live within the power and grace of the Divine Creator. It is within all of us, and once revealed, changes the person into the holy vessel we are. Greed is replaced with sharing, hate with love, and suffering with happiness. This has been and will always be the evolutionary path for all humans.

It is the delusion of Maya that makes this world what it is, and in the New Atlantis, that delusion will be cured so humanity can live as we were meant to live, in peace, harmony and balance. That is the second coming of Christ. Change yourself first, and that change will spread throughout the world. Kriya Serpent Yoga isn’t the only method to awaken; it is just my method.

The spiritual evolution spreading across this planet is not going to stop until all people are uplifted into Christ Consciousness. It is part of the Divine plan for all beings and all worlds. It is written in the Bible, the Vedas, and every historical religion which purports to commune with the Divine. We were all created as an expression of the Divine, it is time we embrace that and evolve. That doesn’t mean more religion, it means personal growth and spiritual evolution.

As I said, it all starts with you. Try Kriya Serpent Yoga, or any yoga or spiritual practice to connect with the Divine within and begin the transformation of yourself and this world. Our problems are solvable, our republic salvageable, and our humanity unstoppable. The Divine wants us to succeed, and with that kind of backing, we cannot fail?

Today, it may seem fringe and infinitesimal, but in the New Atlantis, it will be the norm. Join the change that is coming and enter into Christ Consciousness to open the Universe to you and this world. Remove the delusion of Maya from yourself, and you will begin to remove the delusion from this world. Only then will humanity be prepared to enter into the Galactic Neighborhood to take its rightful place among those who have already evolved. Goodbye gorillas, we won’t miss you!

We truly are as the Lotus flower, born in mud, but emerging to bloom into something wondrous. Our time in the mud is over, and we will emerge the beautiful creation we are, an expression of Divine Love!

Peace Profound