The Power of Decentralized Thinking

Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy

I just spent the last two or three hours evaluating the documentary Commanding Heights with the boys. I feel like they have a much better grasp of globalization, free-market capitalism, planned economies, socialism, and communism than I ever had. It has been really fun watching them struggle with economic ideas and their cause and effect relationships and watching how these ideas play out in the global marketplace.

What is even more interesting is to talk about the place they think they would like to play in that economy. Whether they want to make money off other people's work by organizing them? Or if they want to make money by acquiring some skill or knowledge that they can sell over and over again (like I do)? Or if they want to invent or create something that can be sold many times? Or if they want to perfect some process? ... etc. etc.

As I watched the movie, I was reminded of what Ken Bain said about people needing to see that their constructs of reality don't work.  Systems that have too many layers of people paid to manage too many people unmotivated to work by lack of reward simply cannot work indefinitely. Similarly, systems where too few people get ALL the profit because they have figured out how to eliminate middle management AND  relocate them into the exploited class ... and where they have figured out how to externalize costs onto the tax-payer will eventually fail too.

I find myself wondering how I managed to land where I have in the economy. And what choices I need to make to move ahead.