Позитивные изменения. Тематический выпуск «Экономика будущего» (2023). Positive changes. Special issue «The economy of the future» (2023)

Throughout their history, the humans have always been striving to develop the theory of a fair economy and to implement it in practice. All these numerous attempts generally fall into the following two categories:

• individualistic

and

• collectivist

The former is best described by the concept “everyone is responsible for their own life,” which received different wordings in different epochs: “survival of the fittest,” “nothing personal, just business,” and even “homo homini lupus est.”

The latter prioritizes the concept of human collaboration, which has also been demonstrated through various models of social organization, from tribal alliances to more recent endeavors such as the ambitious global socialist project.

The economy, being a reflection of the prevailing worldview, naturally aligned itself with the broader division into two dominant lifestyles. The individualistic concept persistently advocated for the economic model of a free market and entrepreneurship, which exerted its influence on every individual within society. Conversely, the collectivist ideology led to an economic model characterized by centralized regulation, management, and distribution of economic benefits, operating from the top-down.

Naturally, both approaches had their strengths and weaknesses; both were also inherently biased. The individualistic worldview, while granting more autonomy and maturity to individuals within the society, often did so at the expense of ethical considerations. This created extreme levels of egocentrism among the privileged few atop the social pyramid, perpetuating vertical hierarchies and exploitation of the weaker social groups by the stronger ones, sometimes as much as seizing control over the entire society. On the other hand, the collectivist ideology consistently upheld high moral values and proudly emphasized the priority of altruistic beliefs over financial gains. However, it also resulted in diminished individual autonomy and greater dependence in thought and action, suppressing the objective impetus for social progress by discouraging any individual development beyond the average level. This inevitably led to a standardized approach to personal growth, homogenization of individuals, societal stagnation, and ultimately, self-destruction of the society.

The confrontation between the two ideas and approaches has always been more or less fierce. Sometimes they coexisted without a visible conflict, but most of the time they were conflicting one way or another. The reason is they are actually two sides of the same coin – the human nature, split into two parts that form two opposing poles of the worldview, with all their strengths and weaknesses, which were reproduced again and again on the global scale throughout the departing historical period. As the society progressed, these opposing positions became more and more pronounced, crystallized as the positive and negative poles of a magnet, and today we are witnessing their ultimate battle.

If we look carefully, throughout history the West has always adhered to the first position; the second position was held by Russia and certain parts of the East and South. In most cases, the centers of power within society remained relatively unchanged, despite the presence of followers for both models in various regions. Although isolated parts of the global society attempted to adopt alternative perspectives repeatedly over the course of history, the deeply entrenched stereotypes associated with their respective worldviews endured. Consequently, these attempts often proved temporary, ultimately reversing to the established order. Nonetheless, they served as valuable lessons, providing insights and knowledge that proved beneficial in many ways.

How can we solve this conflict? Is there a way to reconcile the parties, or does one opponent have to beat the other? Who is right? What model is better? To answer these questions properly, we must first understand the logic of life in general and the logic of its development process.

To this end, it is only fair to remember the general matrix of life applicable to the development of the humans and the society, which contains a sequence of levels that must be mastered step by step, from the bottom up (see Table 1).