A New Paradigm Shift in Wealth Creation
Creating and amassing wealth is more than just a necessity. For
centuries, the practice of climbing the ladder to richness has
led to wars, influenced literature, and shaped cultures. Whether
wealth comes in the form of money or food, all civilizations
have pursued it.
The system of wealth creation is based on the current worldview,
which in turn is based on the way science is studied and
perceived. Most people will not be aware of existing paradigms
of wealth creation. They will be too busy accumulating and
creating wealth rather than being concerned with the process
which they and their wealth underwent.
Existing paradigms in wealth creation drive economies, and any
shortcomings in existing paradigms can lead to changes being
made in the wealth creation background. A new science can pique
the interest of people and shift investments in different
directions. A shift in interest and investments can create new
worldviews. With new science and worldviews, a new system of
wealth creation can be developed. This paradigm shift can be
sustained for as long as the system is relevant. Again,
shortcomings will be found, and again, changes will be made. The
process goes on.
Primitive humans were nomadic. They moved around and lived from
day to day, saving little for stores and subsisting on what food
they could come across. As soon as they settled down, and as
soon as agriculture became a way of life, humans learned to keep
provisions. Keeping provisions meant keeping wealth. Holding
wealth gave humans the chance to hold sway over those who held
much less wealth. The gap between those who had between those
who had none grew and widened.
At this point, localized wealth creation was rampant, and
nowhere is this more obvious than in the Medieval Age. Rich
landowners employed poor farmers to work as slaves or fiefs.
Wealth was amassed by force. Compensation came only if a harvest
was successful, and if the fruits of the harvest could be sold.
Only a few people had wealth, and they were not very charitable
to begin with.
As human skills stretched beyond agriculture, the Industrial Age
began, and centralized wealth creation became the paradigm.
Slaves became employees who were compensated with wages and
salaries. As payments were standardized, so were companies.
Monopolies abounded, and competition was low.
Science, however, was on the upswing, and as more and more
people were educated in science, more and more people began to
understand industry and its workings. Slowly, competition rose,
monopolies were broken, and jobs once given to a few people
could already be held by many.
With the spread and abundance of industries came advances in
science - and with these advances came discoveries that created
more jobs. With vaccination came epidemiologists. With the
discovery of DNA came molecular biologists. With the Internet
came web designers, graphic artists, and database creators.
With the rise of the information age came mass privatization.
The wealth creation paradigm consisted of communities without
boundaries, where everyone could specialize in everything. A
scientist could be a journalist but specialize in nuclear
physics. An academician could be an economist consulting with
the government on the feasibility of introducing new
agricultural crops. As the World Wide Web crossed slowly through
the world, careers crossed paths with each other and merged.
If the Medieval age brought power to the hands of the
land-wealthy, and if the Industrial age bowed to those who were
industry-wealthy, the Modern age shifts wealth to those who
possess brains. The world's wealthiest man is Bill Gates, a nerd
who is still laughing all the way to the bank.
The mass privatization of the modern age has seen companies
helping each other move forward. If a food company wants
progress, it must consult with scientists to conduct safety
tests on its products, nutritionists to proclaim its products as
superior, advertising agencies to market its product, and
complete eBusiness solutions to move the mortar-and-brick office
to the Internet.
The paradigm is all about teamwork - to create wealth, everyone
must help each other succeed. No longer are the lesser indebted
to make the greater richer. Everyone has to run the race, but
everyone must hold hands to reach the finish line together.
Some researchers have called this the age of free intraprise,
the age of mass decentralization of wealth creation. This is an
age where anyone and everyone can be rich, and where anyone and
everyone can do so without being answerable to a higher power.
People not only receive salaries or wages - they can receive
compensation based on their worth, or a percentage of what they
have sold. They can make wealth and receive it in various ways.
With the Internet bringing people together, the world has become
one large family. The potential to create and amass wealth is no
longer with one person - it is given to many, and yet these many
elements working apart must still work together in order to
succeed individually.
For the moment, with knowledge readily available, and with
intelligence prized, the current paradigm seems suitable. How
long it will last, and what will happen next, however, is still
beyond the predictive powers of today's brain-driven society.