The difference between market Capitalism and Social Capitalism is that factors of production are reversed. In Social Capitalism, creative capital, intellectual capital, and social capital are the “tangibles” while land, labor, capital become the “intangibles”.
But the currency for social capitalism must still represent productivity – otherwise nobody would “work” for it. Productivity is defined as “all the stuff we can make within a certain period of time“. Market capitalism is built on “stuff” while Social Capital is built on “Time”. Waste stuff and you’ll lose money. Waste time and you’ll lose social currency. Every living person is allocated a certain amount of time on Earth. Time is impossible to forge, debase, or otherwise counterfeit – unless stolen from someone else – as such, Time makes an excellent currency.
What is the ROI on Land, Labor, and Capital in Social Capitalism? ROI is wholly dependent on the knowledge assets deployed upon that Land, Labor, or Capital.
So what exactly is the underlying asset that supports Social Currency?
WIKiD Tools introduced the idea that everything we produce will ultimately come as a result of transforming data into information, or transforming information into knowledge, or transforming knowledge into innovation, or transforming innovation into wisdom. We can articulate a very powerful Equation to model productivity in Social Capitalism. This equation can be translated as follows:
Wisdom is proportional to the rate of change of innovation with respect to time. Innovation is proportional to the rate of change of knowledge with respect to time. Knowledge is proportional to the rate of change of information with respect to time. And Information is proportional to the rate of change of data with respect to time.
Note that in each case, the “rate of change” (hence, time) is the underlying asset.
The creation of Social Currency:
Sounds complicated? Well, it happens every day in every city where a person sees an important issue and convenes a conference where they invite relevant speakers and guests into the discussion. It happens when a manager notices people talking about something important to them and incorporates it into their job description. It happens when a teacher helps a student to the next level. It happens when someone spends some of their time so that you can enjoy more of yours. It happens with stay at home moms. It happens with volunteerism. It’s created by mentors, parents, neighbors, civil servants, and everyday citizens. It is created in Communities, not factories. It is created by time.
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Please Vote for The Ingenesist Project to present at SXSW 2011
The Ingenesist Project specifies an Innovation Economy built on a platform of social media as the next economic paradigm. 60 minute solo presentation in the advanced technical track. Your help is deeply appreciated. All comments welcome. Material based on video series here
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