We'd Best Go Big

“I’m a hard-core capitalist, and my son’s a socialist. We argue about this stuff all the time,” said a friend after reading my last piece. 

I liked the sound of that. Engaging a teenager in rigorous debate is a great reason to adopt an extreme stance, at least for the duration of a meal or a long drive. 

“But tell it to me straight,” I said. “You’re not really opposed to public services, are you? Imagine it: if we were to provide everyone with the basics—healthcare, childcare, eldercare, lifelong education, plus a robust infrastructure—it would be a massive unlock for capitalism.”

(I try to use phrases like “massive unlock” when I’m speaking with other MBAs; it soothes them.) 

I went on: “Think about it: More people could launch businesses or take on paid work. Small companies, many of which are hobbled by the current cost of benefits, would have a better chance of surviving. Big businesses providing private options in these critical areas would inevitably innovate.”

What’s not to love? 

Turns out: lots. 

“Hard-core capitalist” wasn’t a debate posture; this friend of mine believes almost everything DOGE has been selling: not only that public programs shouldn’t be expanded, but that the federal government needs to be ripped out at the roots. Privatization, he says, is the answer.

Privatization is not the answer, but it is the goal of the current regime. Privatization reduces accountability and consolidates power. And in an AI age, when the political clout of human labor is diminishing by the day, that consolidation could happen at lightning speed.

We are meant to have three co-equal branches of government. Obscuring that balance is a new triad: an aspiring emperor, a highly-organized team of ideologues, and a handful of techno-oligarchs. It’s hard to imagine a lot of common interests—triad meetings must be very weird—but there is at least one shared ambition: amassing untold wealth and power.

Over the past 80 years, the U.S. has fostered more peace and prosperity for more people than any organization in the history of the world. But our best hope is not to look back; our best hope now lies with big ideas that will help the vast majority of the country—ideas so big they suck the oxygen from tyranny.

Photo by Kelsy Gagnebin on Unsplash