Writing Prompt: Fix Capitalism
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Writing Prompt: Fix Capitalism
By September 30th.
As you may have noticed, my current topic of study is capitalism and how we can make this system work better for humanity.
I have a few more posts coming out on the subject but I’d love your thoughts as well. Please respond or write a post on this topic (in either fiction or nonfiction) and include your response in the comments of this post by September 30th. I’ll share my favorite responses in a roundup in October!
I can’t wait to see what you come up with! Thanks for thinking through a better future with me,
Love the community brainstorming idea! Off the top of my head: 1) Capitalism needs to come with sentience rights. We have fixed this for humans, we still haven't fixed it for other animals. It's sad that due to price optimizations that don't take into account welfare (eg debeaking rather than giving sufficient space) the median chicken is worse off in 2024 than in 1924, and there are a lot of chickens. 2) Probably we should focus nearly as much on national assets as on GDP - would avoid a lot of the bad short-term incentives for politicians. 3) We need to start preparing the social security system for the machine age - that's in part what my AGI economy series is about https://machinocene.substack.com/p/the-agi-economy
I love this prompt idea and have been working on the stories around how we reimagine or fix capitalism. Hope you enjoy!
~Natural Capitalism~
Imagine a world where every kid’s report card wasn’t just grades in math, science, and history but also in something called “Earth Credits.” In this world, your backyard, your neighborhood park, and even the small patch of flowers outside the local grocery store are all part of the new economy—Natural Capitalism. This is the world young Sam grows up in, and to him, it’s all he’s ever known.
On weekends, Sam doesn’t mow lawns for extra cash; instead, he and his friends get paid in Earth Credits to plant wildflowers along the riverbank to help local pollinators thrive. He’s got his own little Earth Credit card that tracks all the good he’s done for his community's green spaces. His dad jokes that Sam’s “richer” than the whole family, even though the credits aren’t like real money—they can’t buy video games or candy, but they can get you discounts on a new bike, a free movie pass, or even a class on how to make your own rain garden.
Every day on his way to school, Sam passes a solar orchard. Not an apple orchard, but rows and rows of solar panels, surrounded by sheep grazing on the grass that grows between them. The orchard is owned by the community, and the energy it generates powers Sam’s school and the houses nearby. Everyone gets a share of the energy credits, and Sam loves to brag that the electricity used to power his favorite video game comes from the sunlight those sheep are napping under.
In science class, Sam’s favorite subject isn’t chemistry or physics; it’s what they call "Eco-Economics," a subject that doesn’t just teach kids how to balance a budget but how to balance the needs of people and the planet. They learn that a tree isn’t just a tree—it’s an air filter, a water manager, and even a community gathering spot. Sam’s class is in charge of a small section of forest near the school, and they compete to see whose section can sequester the most carbon each year. They’re not just students; they’re little land managers, building a better world one tree at a time.
One day, Sam’s class takes a trip to a “Living Factory,” where they watch engineers turning mushroom roots into biodegradable packaging. Sam’s friend Mila points out that the walls of the factory are covered in green moss that captures rainwater and cools the building naturally, saving energy. Their teacher, Ms. Rodriguez, tells them how everything here is designed to be part of a cycle, not a straight line to a landfill. Sam can’t help but think it’s like a giant Lego set where every piece has to fit perfectly with the next—no waste, just endless possibilities.
When Sam asks his mom about what things were like before, she tells him stories of endless plastic, smog-filled cities, and strip malls that paved over parks. It sounds like a dystopian video game, one where you play on the “hard mode” of life. But that’s not Sam’s world. His world runs on the idea that nature is not just a backdrop—it’s the main character. The better you treat it, the better your life becomes.
So, when Sam looks at a tree, he doesn’t just see something to climb or shade to cool down in. He sees a teammate, part of the grand game of life they’re all playing together. And in his world, winning isn’t about having the most stuff; it’s about leaving the Earth richer than you found it, one Earth Credit at a time.