Could Pentanomics Change Politics Around the World?
Learn what the Politics section of Affolter Academy is all about.
In the Politics section I look at issues based on evidence. I try not to be for or against any political party. I admit to being a member of the Republican Party in the 1980’s. In fact, I was a precinct officer, secretary of the Whatcom County Republican Party, and newsletter editor. I dropped out when Pat Robertson packed the caucuses in 1988.
As a practicing chiropractor, I had to pay attention to governmental changes. Nationally, I was paid by Medicare. I also took care of injured workers. Washington State Department of Labor and Industries paid me. I had to be aware of changes there.
Washington State has the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) that is passed by the legislature. The Washington Administrative Code (WAC) is passed by agencies to implement the RCWs. I had to be aware of how those laws affected my ability to practice. I also had to be aware of the law that controlled my Limited Liability Companies, Professional Limited Liability Companies, and Professional Services Corporation.
I paid social security and Medicare taxes on my employees. I paid into Labor and Industries and Employment Security so that my employees were covered if they were hurt on the job or had to be laid off.
My point is that I have more experience in politics and law than the average citizen.
This article is about Pentanomics which was discovered by my friend Rick Raddatz. He starts with logic. We can’t decide any course of action by emotions because we feel differently. We can’t decide based on beliefs, because people can choose to believe anything. Actually, even if we agree on a fact, like poverty, we don’t agree on what to do about it. Facts don’t help us. Rick gives us laws that govern society.
Universal Law #1 - We have no choice about the laws that govern society. We can make many laws, but the laws of economics will ultimately prevail. Consider the laws favoring electric cars. In spite of the laws, not enough people bought them. Auto makers had to react and continue to make gas powered cars.
Universal Law #2 - The only way to maximize the good is to minimize the harm. We begin with the premise that humans act. The action can be perceived as helpful or harmful. Value is subjective. Different people will value the same action differently.
We don’t worry about helpful action. We welcome that. We want as much helpful action as we can get. We are concerned with harmful action. We should be able to agree that if we minimize harm, we gain freedom from harm. We can use that freedom to do whatever we want as long as we don’t harm others. Freedom to negotiate is a fundamental freedom of economics. If you can’t steal something you want, then you must negotiate for it.
If people are incentivized to negotiate without harming others, then their position is improved without harm. If we scale that up, we improve the world. By continuing to improve the world, over time, we come closer to reaching the maximum good.
Can we prove that is the only way to maximize good? Consider governing too much, a benevolent dictator. The benevolent dictator can never maximize the good. No matter how much good the dictator does, greater good can always be done through the process of continual improvement.
What if we govern too little and allow harm to run amok. Allowing harm to run amok cannot be maximizing the good.
Good cannot be maximized by governing too much or too little. We must minimize harm.
Universal Law #3 - Societies have five economies. Rick gives “The Genesis” experiment to prove there are only five types of action. I think it is genius.
The Genesis Experiment. Start with a world with no people. Then add one at a time.
1. With one person in the world, private action is possible.
2. With two people in the world, they can act as a group, a mini society, and that means public action is possible.
3. With three people in the world, two people can outvote one, meaning it is now possible to apply political force, political action is possible.
4. With a single person outside the society, foreign action is possible.
5. Imagining a single person in the future makes governing action possible.
Rick then develops the Pentanomic Table. The columns are Action, Harm, Minimizing Harm, Freedom, Sustainability, Negotiation, and Maximum Good. The rows are Private, Public, Political, Foreign and Governing.
The harm from Private action is theft. One person can steal from another. To minimize that we have police. We gain economic freedom and environmental sustainability. We negotiate prices. We maximize prosperity.
The harm from Public action is waste. We minimize the harm by prioritizing. We gain priority freedom and fiscal sustainability. We negotiate priorities. We maximize social justice. This gives us the freedom to try different solutions and change priorities. Perhaps one solution wastes too much and we decide to try another solution.
The harm from Political action is oppression. We minimize the harm through checks and balances. We gain political freedom and political sustainability. We negotiate compromises. The maximum good is maturity.
The harm from Foreign action is invasion. We minimize the harm by defense. We gain national freedom and geo-political sustainability. We negotiate alliances. The maximum good is harmony.
The harm from Governing action is bad government. We minimize the harm through education. We gain ideological freedom and ideological sustainability. We negotiate ideal justice. The maximum good is our best future.
Pentanomics gives us something to guide us. I won’t always use it as we look at political issues. However, I think it is a great guide.
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