There are so many things I'd want to fund. The biggest that comes to mind is:
Cause
Post-capitalist think tank/activist group
Description
The core members of this organisation would be people like Thomas Piketty, Donella Meadows, Noam Chomsky, David Schweickart and Richard Wolff supported by research staff, publicists, campaigners, media experts and a whole bunch of admin staff. The purpose of this organisation would be twofold:
1) Raise awareness of flaws in modern economic theories, in particular conflicts between capitalism and the realities of modern life (unsustainable growth, technological unemployment, rising inequality etc)
2) Provide clear, detailed policy proposals so thorough that they could pretty much be implemented with few revisions.
These goals would be achieved through collaborative research efforts (both internally and with other organisations) with a blue sky goal of producing a document/book outlining how economic and political institutions could be structured to produce a prosperous post-capitalist society.
Reason
I think the majority of big problems that we face can be solved if it wasn't for the deficiencies in our political and economic systems. There's more than enough man power, intellect and resources for us to avoid the worst of the catastrophes were heading towards and ensure a good standard of living for all. Whilst there are a plethora of groups advocating for change in my experience there is a lack of unity and firm proposals for what to do. More often than not there is sentiment but little substance. With a billion dollars a group like this could be kept going for at least a few decades, or less if the money was spent on big projects like large scale studies, conferences and even small scale experiments. Obviously a bioln dollars isn't going to last a very long time but hopefully an organisation such as this staffed with the right people could produce work of sufficient quality with a high amount of awareness so as to attract further funds. Or at the very least provide enough recommendations and inspiration to get the ball rolling.
Cause
Post-capitalist think tank/activist group
Description
The core members of this organisation would be people like Thomas Piketty, Donella Meadows, Noam Chomsky, David Schweickart and Richard Wolff supported by research staff, publicists, campaigners, media experts and a whole bunch of admin staff. The purpose of this organisation would be twofold:
1) Raise awareness of flaws in modern economic theories, in particular conflicts between capitalism and the realities of modern life (unsustainable growth, technological unemployment, rising inequality etc)
2) Provide clear, detailed policy proposals so thorough that they could pretty much be implemented with few revisions.
These goals would be achieved through collaborative research efforts (both internally and with other organisations) with a blue sky goal of producing a document/book outlining how economic and political institutions could be structured to produce a prosperous post-capitalist society.
Reason
I think the majority of big problems that we face can be solved if it wasn't for the deficiencies in our political and economic systems. There's more than enough man power, intellect and resources for us to avoid the worst of the catastrophes were heading towards and ensure a good standard of living for all. Whilst there are a plethora of groups advocating for change in my experience there is a lack of unity and firm proposals for what to do. More often than not there is sentiment but little substance. With a billion dollars a group like this could be kept going for at least a few decades, or less if the money was spent on big projects like large scale studies, conferences and even small scale experiments. Obviously a bioln dollars isn't going to last a very long time but hopefully an organisation such as this staffed with the right people could produce work of sufficient quality with a high amount of awareness so as to attract further funds. Or at the very least provide enough recommendations and inspiration to get the ball rolling.
OA Wish list:
- DNI
- Internal medical system
- A dormbot, because domestic chores suck!