The Genetic Imperative

THE GENETIC IMPERATIVE Life must reproduce itself, not some random outcome. Genomes provide instructions for the procedure. To survive the rigors of natural selection, life forms require energy from some resource the environment can provide without destroying itself. The more complex the life form the more energy it requires. The means of procuring the energy required has evolved from muscle to machine. The algorithms used by humans for acquiring energy have not changed for millions of years. The choices are: divisions of labor based on merit where all share in the production and distribution—a utopian dream to some—or do we steal other people’s labor by force or deception—a strategy embraced by many who may or may not be conscious of that result. Primitive man could not steal other people’s labor without taking the risk that the exploited cannot produce enough for more than one, thus killing the source of labor. The ability to steal other people’s labor improved with technology and the evolution of private property. Both make it possible for a small percentage of the population, an elite, to accumulate most of the wealth—labor and resources. Governments were invented to deal with inequality generated by privatization and wage slavery. Once the king even owned the wild animals. Corporations have taken the place of kings. The compensation of their directors exceed the dreams of kings. Similarly, technical elite enjoy great rewards. The result is feudal capitalism. That result can be easily avoided by progressive taxation and community ownership of resources that rightfully belong to everyone, like water and oil. All that stands in the way of justice are philosophies and ideologies and economic theory that have traded wealth for money. That which has intrinsic value is traded for worthless pieces of paper that, through ephemeralization of wealth, commands all resources. The nonsense of an Ayn Rand or Milton Friedman justifies inequality. The religion of money makes public policy. Thomas Jefferson knew what government was for and said it in the Declaration of Independence. Abraham Lincoln understood the genetic imperative, the struggle for the right of everyone to enjoy the fruits of their labor. He put it most succinctly: “It is the eternal struggle between these two principles—right and wrong—throughout the world. They are the two principles that stood face to face from the beginning of time; and will ever continue to struggle. The one is the common right of humanity, and the other is the divine right of kings. It is the same principle in whatever shape it develops itself. It is the same spirit that says, ‘You work and toil and earn bread, and I’ll eat it.’” The great problem before us concerns the nature of work, which has changed so dramatically that it hardly exists anymore. Machines do the work and the owners of the machines see themselves as the producers. Labor has no bargaining power. Without a division of labor that includes everyone, corporate feudalism will emerge. The class entitled to exploit other people’s labor will again gain its wealth through inheritance, the return of royalty. The many pieces of the puzzle creating the religion of money are stitched together in Natural Selection’s Paradox, by Carter Stroud.