Human-Centered Capitalism

As an economic system, this much is clear: capitalism has brought us unrivaled transformation and advance in the human condition. While many may deem capitalism to have “won” the war of ideas over socialism, that is an oversimplification which ignores the reality that no pure Capitalist system actually exists. Another factor here is that the current version of institutional capitalism and corporatism we see today is a fairly new invention.

The prevalent emphasis on corporate profits just isn’t working for a great majority of Americans. This unfortunate situation will only be exacerbated by the onset of automation and AI technology.

Accordingly, it’s time we transitioned to a new type of capitalism, Human-Centered Capitalism, which aims to expand human well-being and fulfillment. Human-Centered Capitalism has several central tenets:

Human beings are more significant than money
The unit of a Human-Centered Capitalism economy is each person, not each dollar
Markets exist to serve our common goals and values

Augmenting human welfare should be the primary focus of our economy, yet that is decidedly not the case. Occasionally this view aligns with a purely capitalist approach, whereby disparate entities vie for the best ideas. Yet there are a multitude of situations when a capitalist system results in dissatisfactory payoffs. One example of this would be when a pharmaceutical company charges exorbitant rates for a life-saving drug simply because their customers are desperate for the product.

Currently, the Market routinely manages to undervalue many of the people, activities and things which are essential to the human experience. With equality and well-being as guiding principles, we should leverage Human-Centered Capitalism to make the economy work for the American people, rather than the other way around. The aim will be to generate measurements encompassing people, not dollars. We should also direct capital to investments to boost human prosperity, instead of to enrich the wealthiest Americans.

If elected, I will support:

Curbing corporate excesses by designating regulators who are paid salaries commensurate with senior positions in the private sector, but then are prevented from going to private industry afterward. Regulators should have their sights set on making the right decisions and policies for the American public, with no concern for their next position clouding their judgement.
Altering the way we evaluate the economy, from the stock market and GDP to a more all-encompassing set of measurements that ensures human beings are flourishing, not just merely scraping by. Novel measurements such as Childhood Success Rates, Mental Health, Median Income and Standard of Living, Health-adjusted Life Expectancy, Social and Economic Mobility, Absence of Substance Abuse, and others will provide us with a better and more substantial sense of just how we’re doing, both individually and as a society.
Driving individuals as well as organizations to discover fresh ways to raise the standards of living for individual people and families. To prompt development, our government should issue a new type of currency called the Digital Social Credit. This can be turned into dollars and utilized to reward people and organizations which propel notable social value. With this new currency, the American people would be able to calculate the amount of good they have achieved through various programs and actions.

Human-Centered Capitalism allows us to reshape how we measure progress and value, helping us reconceive why we do what we do. The time has come to build an economy that actually makes our lives better and Human-Centered Capitalism will help us do just that.