Operator’s Manual: Civilization

Disparities of wealth and power are fundamentally information asymmetries – it is the interest of those with any competitive advantage (be it intellect, inheritance, or vicious capability) to nurture the disparity of information above all else. Competitors’ innate abilities and capabilities cannot be controlled so easily as information.

Ours is a system which favors the incumbent elite. A member of the lower class will win the lotto and return to poverty in a matter of time whereas a wealthy individual whose assets are forfeit may assume new wealth and status with relative ease.

The cornerstones of historical and present-day civilization – religion, government, and business – are control structures which incorporate information asymmetry into their tenets, policies, and daily operations.