The New Organisational Paradigm

The work that started with the Critical Thinking project in 2012 continues and over the last few years has included deep exploration of money because it is the basis on which we organise ourselves. We tend to view most things through the prism of money. Money drives the three flaws in the global political economy: institutional hierarchy, misallocation of the commons and usury (interest on money).

However, we have seen significant developments in technology that have laid the foundations of a new organisational paradigm which is much more akin to how we sustain ourselves in families and small groups today and how we lived before the adoption of money.

There is an organisational shift underway and much of the current madness, death and destruction in the world is symptomatic of the death throes of the old authoritarian structures that cling to the past. As growing numbers of people become conscious of how they’ve been deceived and abused, “authority” becomes more desperate to preserve itself.

When critiquing the structure and its institutions, we tend to use language that is more applicable to people rather than the institutions themselves. Institutions are psychopathic because they have no empathy. Yes, they can frame objectives in warm, human language but cannot claim to have empathy; they aren’t living, breathing, conscious entities.

However, most of those who work within these institutions are little different from you and I; they do have empathy. Their world views may differ and they probably believe their work is beneficial but they cannot be unaware of the negative aspects of the institutions for which they work.

Alex and I have just finalised a paper which is directed at those working in banking and finance, particularly central banks. Understandably, in activist circles, CBDC has become synonymous with centralised control and further erosion of our freedom and prosperity. This is not surprising because, currently, most people think of CBDC as a progression of the old money paradigm, even the central bankers themselves.

The Emergence of a New Organisational Paradigm and its Requirements
The current level of debt in the global financial system is unsustainable and countries struggle to find adequate resources to fund projects. For example, Bloomberg recently reported that, in spite of its resource wealth, Saudi is forecasting budget deficits until at least 2026 and is having to cut funding to projects like NEOM. A hybridised Saudi CBDC could implement the threatened projects at much lower cost.
We need to think differently and use technology intelligently rather than just replicating exchange money in digital form.
The proposed hybrid approach (Money/Direct Value Handling) can satisfy the needs of individuals and communities by applying resources directly to where they can create maximum impact.
It leverages resources through pump priming projects in which most of the value is co-created and shared locally, thereby limiting requirements for external financial support.

The paper seeks to open minds to new possibilities for CBDC to help smooth the transition to the new organisational paradigm. The transition is underway irrespective of whether central banks embrace and implement what’s in the paper because if they don’t provide solutions to help the transition, these will emerge from elsewhere as have the tools and ideas that have got us this far.

The great advantage of central banks is that they are positioned to be able to effect a transitional CBDC which will help avoid financial catastrophe and the real impacts that would adversely affect most of the global population.

A reset of the global financial system is long overdue. The authoritarian “great reset” as articulated by Klaus Schwab and the World Economic Forum is unlikely to succeed but the hybrid solution proposed in the paper could benefit everyone, including those working in, or reliant on, banks and the global financial system.

For the rest of us, CBDC will cease to be the bogeyman but a tool that brings the structure into line with the new organisational paradigm in which human sustainability is the reality for all. An increasing number of individuals and groups are turning their backs on the institutions that do not serve their interests. By becoming part of the solution, central banks will retain their relevance during the transition while, more importantly, creating space, time and opportunities for the financial community to adapt to the new organisational paradigm.