I often wonder how (if?) we can move beyond a competition based economy into something which can robustly absorb change without causing harm to people. We do need change after all.
Myself I sit on the side of Ecological Modernisation (meaning that we need to move into technology to solve our problems caused by population growth and our desire for more modern stuff). You know, stuff like this electric bicycle which would really effectively answer many of the commuting needs of people in big cities, while at the same time drastically reducing the need for power.
It has occurred to me that one of the failures (for humanity) of the competitive system is that if any industrial innovation which makes old technology obsolete (or drastically reduced in effectiveness) will be seen as a destructive force (bad) by those invested in the old (because it is going to be devalued or obsoleted by the new).
However if we were not engaged in "competition" (with one business as being a winner or loser) then we could more easily adapt and adopt newer technologies, thus making innovation in the business cycle a bonus to society (rather than a horror story for investors and employees).
The Machine is like a social ladder, some climb it, some fall down it, and most fail to see its existence.
Knowing the Machine is there (in the form of corporations) is the first step, understanding that it was made by us and can be therefore redesigned by us to better suit us (not better suit it) is the second step.
Now, all I need is an epiphany on how to move towards step 2...
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