Idea Capitalism

Idea Capitalism says that the best ideas bubble to the surface of a free community. The more free the community, and the larger and more fluid the idea-spreading mechanism, the better the ideas will be.

It is no small wonder that the free West is the home of soo much innovation in nearly every Human endeavor. Our culture, while not perfect, is one of the best at providing for the free exchange of ideas. We invented the Airplane - why? Because the Wright Brothers were free to ask questions, learn from others, share ideas, and tinker freely and without fear. We went to the moon first. The Internet was invented here. More medical, bio-tech, electronic, aerospace, and software happens in the US than any other country on Earth. This is not due to some special natural resource. It is due to the framers of the Constitution of the US believing that a government should enable people to better themselves and their community, rather than the other way around.

Since I was born, any person in the US could freely start their own business of any legal kind. If they were successful and didn't break the law (and all of our peace-time laws are open for all to read), they got to keep their profits less taxes. The government could not take away their winnings. If a person has a good idea, and uses it to profit, good for them.

This may sound simple to those living in a free society, but imagine for a moment living in any of the Middle East dictatorships. First, most of the Musilim Middle East doesn't allow a Woman to work outside of the home - there goes immediately 50% of the brain-trust of your people. Wonder why the Arab world is suffering from poor economics & last-millenia technology? Try the fact that you prevent half of your people from contributing to society beyond the walls of the home! Next, let's say you are a successful man in Iran, running a really great chain of Falafel stands. You're doing great, when suddenly the corrupt, closed, non-written-law-observing police crack down on you for fines that you violated a newly interpreted section of the Koran on Halal food preparation. Bam - most of your business is gone, and all of your profits from years of labor is taken by the corruption that is your dictatorship. Let me ask - in which country are you going to see more innovation? US 2, Ira(q|n) -1.

Idea Capitalism is the force that good ideas win. The global stage is forming in which the US is far more powerful in her ideas than in her military might. The UN for example, the body supposedly for worldwide peace and stability has turned out to be nothing more than a sounding board for militant dictators and human-rights abusers to sound self important in front of a non-elected body (the UN). It's no small wonder that the UN does not apportion votes on any basis to the populations of the countries it serves. The Ideas that the US has already embraced however are spreading like fire thru the Middle East and Asia. Even with the best efforts of China to censor public comment (blogs, Western media, etc) the hard-line communist government of China is slowly relenting to the forces of Capitalism.

Idea Capitalism has yet to be perfectly defined. It is not simply a plurality vote on an issue, nor a weighted vote or any kind of vote at all. The current mechanism by which ideas win or lose is by their implementation in the world. In limited use, Idea Capitalism is working wonders in Open Source Communities around the world. It is also working on various moderated forums such as blogs, slashdot, etc... where although one side of an argument may post/vote more often, an other side has such a clear winning Idea that it is inescapable which Idea "won" in the discussion.

Idea Capitalism is already the mechanism by which the West makes decisions. It is not perfect, and the medium is not entirely fluid. We have a two-party system of representation - an Idea many are seeing as flawed, and if enough interested people take notice, we will change our system with a better Idea.