Why Power, Innovation and Economics?

Why a Power, Innovation and Economics Blog?

We can all agree that there is something wrong with the school system. "How is this going to help me?" "Why do I need to learn this?" As students (mid-career, university and of course high school) we struggle to make connections with what we learn and how it will make us marketable in the job market beyond showing that you have some kind of degree. For example, as a former strategist at Harvard, no one has ever asked me in an interview ( or later when I interviewed potential hires) to solve for "a" in the Pythagorean theorem. Yet algebra is rigorously taught in school. I will say algebra is important but it along with other topics like the sine, cosine and tangent of a circle, fill the hours in the classroom. These hours in our younger days should be filled with the valuable topics that provide value like getting a job that can provide so you can buy groceries. Having this shared understanding we can finally say that our current school system is an awareness based system. All these hours are filled making you aware that the a² + b² = c². In this awareness based system we are not taught to use knowledge to make something new.

In the age of artificial intelligence we need a quantum leap in our school system. This is the reason why I am starting this Power, Innovation and Economics blog. As a strategist, educator, and academic I have arrived at these three topics as topics that must be taught to ever person to make a person, community, province and country resilient and able to thrive in our new multi-polar world. "Knowledge is the absence of ignorance but strategy is the command of knowledge", Carlos Fernando Romero, Founder & CEO Averiguar.org .

Why Power?

We have all felt moments in our lives where we have been powerless. Events moving around us and deep down feeling as if we are just there to watch and be carried away. Being born and raised in the late 1980s / 1990s version of New York City, I could feel the atmosphere of powerlessness. My religious parents did the best they could to navigate me through difficult times. Yet one can always feel the tension of an argument starting on the train. Voices rise so loud my immigrant mother covers my ears. The sound penetrates her warm and sweaty hands. Loud voices turns into shoving back and forth. "Next stop Myrtle Avenue", says the muffled voice on the speaker. My thoughts race, "I'm scared", my heartbeat quickens. The train begins to slow down. A punch is thrown, everyone pushes against the door. "Ouch, I'm being squished", the doors opens and everyone runs out. That is one example of being powerless.

Not having power makes one quickly sense what it is. As a society we need to take next step and understand what power is, how to acquire it and how to manage it. And it is not for an egotistical reason that one should acquire power. The reason should be to prevent irresponsible people from amassing power, to protect the innocent from the misuse of power and to use power to improve society.

Why Innovation ?

The discovery of new innovations have always lead to prosperity as well as inequality, depending how the innovation has been managed. Thus innovation and power have deeply intertwined throughout history. In the 17th Century Dutch ships dominated the market leading to Dutch power at sea. At that time, England would lease Dutch ships for use. As time went on England began adapting its own ship designs, strengthening its own ship building industry, eventually developing their own innovations to challenge and replace the Dutch as the preeminent sea power. A more recent example is the innovation of nuclear energy. The United States developed the atomic bomb, uses it during war thus becoming the preeminent power for about 80 years. As time goes on more countries develop the same, or similar technology. Those countries, Iran, China, Russia, are not bullied by US power. Going forward we will see the power and innovation theme unfold in the brand new innovation of artificial intelligence.

Therefore schools and society must understand how to innovate. How to look at the world around them, see a need and using the technology and brain power at their disposal to adapt or create something new. This blog will present cutting edge innovations with vetted sources so more individuals have the best knowledge at their fingertips.

Why Economics?

To understand "why economics?", we need to parse out the difference between a business and an economics.

Business would entail the study of how a business is run. This would include aspects such as: the finance of the business, creating profits for shareholders, marketing, accounting, personnel management. Economics deals with the behavior of economic agents. The type and quantity of economic agents depends on whether we are looking at microeconomics or marcoeconomics. Microeconomics deals with how and why individuals or organizations allocate resources within an individual market or sector. Macroeconomics deals with the aggregate performance and behavior of a population, a nation and a region across different markets or sectors.

Right now we are living in a world where capitalism is under review by the people of the world. Capitalism, as an economic system, has caused the improvement in the quality of life for some and created poor conditions for others, including allowing the US to fund genocide through its Mediterranean proxy. Therefore, understanding economics puts the everday individual in a position to act, to disrupt supply chains and these actions, in the aggregate, have a higher probability to bring about a better world than violence does.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we are at a moment in time where understanding the interplay between power, innovation and economics is imperative for the everyday person, regardless of age and profession. The schooling system, as it stands today, is not equipping you to enter world of artificial intelligence, not equipping you to invent anything and to just be a tool to help other make money. Over the coming weeks and months we will dive into various topics under these three themes. We will learn, grow and change the world around us together. Welcome to the Power, Innovation and Economics (P.I.E) blog. Next week I'll bring you more tasty ideas to thrive in this new multi-polar world. ¡Ciao!