The Coding Revolution—a combination of the Digital Revolution and genetic engineering—has had a destructive effect on society. It has created a platform for extreme views that is loosening our economic, cultural, and political moorings.
This book provides a systematic approach to policy and management to promote societal collaboration and unity. It describes the changes caused by the Digital Age, including the Internet, Artificial Intelligence, and various other technologies. The author then offers a new framework, Religious Humanism, which incorporates covenants of the Bible, the US Constitution and other sources of wisdom to foster collaboration and create a revitalized and inclusive global society. Narrative and analytical tools are offered as well as case examples.
Author(s): Victor Glass
Edition: 1
Publisher: Springer Nature Switzerland
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: xii; 373
City: Cham
Tags: Economics and Finance; Business IT Infrastructure; Public Policy; Business Ethics; Religious Humanism
Contents
1: The Roots of Political Gridlock and Foreshadowing a Way Out
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Book Sections Overview
1.2.1 Part 1: The Ideologies
1.2.2 Part 2: Coding Revolution Disruptions
1.2.3 Part 3: Pathways to Reconciliation
1.3 Background Information on America’s Ideologies and Disaffections
1.3.1 America’s Three Ideologies
1.3.1.1 Freedom
1.3.1.2 Law
1.3.1.3 Equality
1.3.1.4 Property
1.3.1.5 Security
1.3.2 Disaffection with America’s Ideologies
1.3.2.1 Hubris: The Government’s Belief It Had the Power to Eliminate Social Ills
1.3.2.2 The Specter of the Military/Industrial Complex
1.3.2.3 Disillusionment with Material Progress
1.3.2.4 The “Me” Generation: A Revolt Against Authority
1.3.3 Anomie in an Axial Age and Its Implications for Rational Reconciliation
1.3.3.1 Filtered Reality
1.3.3.2 The Great Disruptor: The Coding Revolution
1.4 A Strategy for Reconciliation
Part I: Respect: Uncovering the Wisdom of America’s Ideologies
2: Libertarianism: Centralization Can Lead to Serfdom
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Friedrich Hayek: The Road to Serfdom
2.3 Milton Friedman: Free to Choose
2.4 Other Contributors
2.5 The Republican Platform Reconsidered
3: Conservatism: Cultural Dissolution Can Lead to Despotism
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Burke’s Reflections on the French Revolution
3.3 McCaulay’s Belief in Cautious Government Experimentation
3.4 De Tocqueville’s Warning About the Pursuit of Wealth
3.5 The Supporting Cast in This Portrayal
3.6 Back to Policy
4: Liberalism: Economic Instability and Exclusion Can Lead to Riots and Revolution
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Keynes: In the Long Run We Are All Dead
4.3 Samuelson: The Fallacy of Composition
4.4 Schelling: Not My Job
4.5 Minsky: Speculative Excesses
4.6 Berle and Means: Separation of Ownership and Management
4.7 Rawls: Fairness
4.8 The Liberal Mindset
5: Assessment: Common Goals Different Narratives
5.1 Introduction
5.2 The Conservative Mindset
5.3 The Libertarian Mindset
5.4 The Liberal Mindset
5.5 An American Mindset Reconsidered
6: Radicalism: from Babel to Sodom
6.1 Introduction: American Victimization
6.2 The European Breakdown
6.3 The American Challenge
Part II: Coding Crisis – Existential Threats to Core Values and Human Nature
7: Cyberspace Capitalism, Part 1: Introduction to the Online Economy and Its Fragilities
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Prelude to the 2008 Financial Panic: Revolutions in Data Processing and Communications
7.3 New Complex Financial Instruments Misunderstood
7.4 Lack of Oversight
7.5 The Crash
7.6 Hindsight
7.7 A Retrospective on Crashes in the Digital World
7.8 A Need for New Models
7.9 Ideological Perspectives Need to Change
8: Cyberspace Capitalism Part 2: The Rise of Platforms and Antitrust Policies
8.1 Introduction
8.2 The Economist’s Perspective
8.2.1 Product/Pricing Differences
8.2.2 Cultural Differences/Structural Differences
8.3 The Engineer’s Perspective
8.3.1 Network
8.3.2 Edge and Applications
8.4 The Evolution of the Online Economy: Operating Systems, Search Engines, and Cloud Computing
8.4.1 Origins
8.4.2 Microsoft
8.4.3 Google
8.4.4 Apple
8.4.5 Amazon
8.4.6 Facebook
8.4.7 Cloud Computing
8.5 The Data Ecosystem Evolution and Privacy Concerns
8.6 Suggestions but No Solid Answers
9: Digital Overexposure
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Death of Privacy in the Digital Age
9.3 Exposés of Public Officials Have a Long History
9.4 Exposure Is Now in Real Time
9.5 The Digital Herding Effect
9.6 The Challenge of Protecting Against Digital Overexposure
9.7 Gauging Digital Exposure Is a Starting Point for Policy Reform
9.8 Digital Overexposure Threatens Democracy
10: Palace Intrigues and Stealth Security: Uncomfortable Tradeoffs Between Liberty and Security
10.1 Introduction
10.2 A Brief History of Covert Operations
10.3 The Security/Privacy Tradeoff
10.4 Security Restrictions on Private Enterprise
10.5 Dangers to America’s Democratic Process
10.6 Questionable International Intrigues
11: Designer Eugenics: The Nearsighted God
11.1 Introduction
11.2 A Brief History of Genetic Engineering
11.3 The Ethical Challenges of Genetic Engineering
11.4 Government’s Role
11.5 Genetic Engineering Is Re-engineering Core Values
12: Unsettling Perspectives
Part III: Reconciliation and Collaboration
13: Religious Humanism Defined
14: Elements of Religious Humanism
14.1 Introduction
14.2 Rational/Pragmatic: The Economic Man
14.3 Romantic: American Heroes
14.4 Deist: Grand Designers
14.5 Mystical: Soulful Covenants
14.5.1 Rational and Mystical Perspectives Compared
14.5.2 Romantic and Mystical Perspectives Compared
14.5.3 Jewish Mystical Model
14.5.4 Comparisons of Jewish and Eastern Mysticism
14.5.5 The Need to Update Jewish Mysticism
14.5.6 American Mysticism Is Alive But Needs Revitalization
14.5.7 Proposed Mystical Updates
15: Dynamic Integration of Ideological Perspectives
15.1 Introduction
15.2 Mapping America’s Ideologies to Religious Humanism
15.3 America’s Ideologies Evolve
15.4 The Coding Revolution Challenges
15.5 The Value of the Soulful Ladder Technique for Promoting Ideological Reflection
16: Drilling for Oil in Alaska
16.1 Introduction
16.2 Rationalist on Drilling: A Problem of Setting the Right Price
16.3 Romantic on Drilling: A Problem of Defining America’s Message
16.4 Deist on Drilling: A Problem of Defining Man’s Stewardship
16.5 Mystic on Drilling: A Problem Harmonizing Human Needs with the Cosmic Plan
16.6 Integrating the Four Perspectives Using the Soulful Hierarchy
17: Case Study: Sustainable Growth
17.1 Introduction
17.2 The Domestic Policy Case Study: Updating the National Power Grid
17.2.1 Sustainable Growth
17.2.2 Instability
17.2.3 Distribution
17.2.4 Privacy
17.2.5 Security
17.3 Binding the Nation
17.4 International Relations with Theocracies that Control Large Oil Reserves
18: A Macro-view Using Systems Analysis
18.1 Introduction
18.2 A Systems Approach to Public Policy
18.2.1 Addressing Economic Instability
18.2.2 Addressing Anticompetitive Strategies
18.2.3 Policy Challenges
18.3 Building Trust in a Networked Society
18.3.1 Building Trust in the Private Sector
18.3.2 Building Trust in the Government Sector
18.4 Learning from the Platforms
18.5 A Coordinated Multidisciplinary Approach to Policy Is Crucial
18.6 A Creative View of Public Policy
19: Summary, Conclusions, and Outlook
Selected References
Index
