Treatise of Teknomix

N. Te'Kannon David

Description

Is capitalism on the brink of disaster?Are we on the precipice of financial doom and gloom?Will the next financial crash be the one that condemns us all to a life of misery?What about an equality-based, new economic operating system for the 21st century?Aren't we all ready to let finance be relegated to being a fine industry running smoothly?Are we not ready to focus on living our lives the way we dreamed they would be?The Treatise of Teknomix might not have all the answers, but it would make life enjoyable again.

Sujets

• Education

Informations

• Publié par: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Date de parution: 10 décembre 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781528960014
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

T HE T REATISE OF T EKNOMIX
David N. Te’Kannon
Austin Macauley Publishers
2022-05-31
UNTITLED About the Author Dedication Copyright Information © Acknowledgement Preamble Preface I: ‘Reasons to Be Cheerful’ II: ‘Finding Our Way’ III: ‘The Wolf in the Machine’ IV: ‘Money and Finance’ V: ‘Analysing a Broken Financial System’ VI: ‘The Final Argument: Capitalism, to Be or Not to Be?’ VII: ‘Introducing Teknomix’ VIII: ‘Delving into the Fundamentals of Teknomix’ IX: ‘The New Role of the Economy’ X: ‘The Job as the Reward’ XI: ‘21 st Century Housing for Planet Earth’ XII: ‘Safeguarding the Environment with a New Economic Operating Model’ XIII: ‘What’s at Stake if We Don’t Upgrade?’ XIV: ‘Getting Started’ Résumé Epilogue ―As I Conclude― References
About the Author
Having a wide experience in a range of trade-related, artisanal and creative professions and interests, David N. Te’Kannon is a university graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in Psychology. Beginning with the aim of being a doctor and heading for a Bachelor of Science degree, the medical profession’s allure quickly faded after a brief stint of working in a hospital on a laboratory experiment. The dream of becoming a sculptor and a painter took hold and after setting up several studios and producing some stone and wood sculptures and creating a unique style in oil paintings, it eventually morphed into having a go at a career in pop music as a singer/songwriter. He has juggled day jobs of all sorts along the way, eventually conceding to the fact that it is a challenge to live off of one’s creative talents. A prolific songwriter, his only single was picked up by PolyGram Records as a distribution deal. The follow-up single was not to be, thereby putting the music career on hold ever since. Sculpture, painting and drawing, however, continue to be a source of inspiration and activity, with several self-published art books on ISSUU.com, for example.
Writing a book on an economic operating system that could one day replace the current capitalist system is another example of attempting to try for a new challenge and this time especially not in his main field of interest(s). The Treatise of Teknomix is a book aimed at the general public as well as the academic world i.e., laypeople like himself right up to the top economists, because it deals with the very intriguing idea of a fairer economic operating model suited to our present needs and conditions, guaranteeing each individual person an equal chance to reach his dream job or lofty ambition without financial compensation being the main reward.
Dedication
In loving memory of my sister, Cami,
From my song.
Sister Blue
Hey there, sister on the wind
this one’s for you
and I hope in your travelling
you’re fine and happy too,
And when you’re out there wandering
with your troubles more than few
take the time to realise,
this song was meant for you…
This book is dedicated to the editors of Austin Macauley Publications, as well as the entire Austin Macauley team, for their belief in this book and their dedication and hard work and without whose help this book would never have seen the light of day.
Copyright Information ©
David N. Te’Kannon 2020
The right of David N. Te’Kannon to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The story, experiences, and words are the author’s alone.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781528912105 (Paperback)
ISBN 9781528912112 (Hardback)
ISBN 9781528960014 (ePub e-book)
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published 2020
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd ®
1 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5AA
Acknowledgement
I would like to acknowledge Kath Lockett who corrected the first draft of the manuscript. She not only gave me instruction on how to write a book, but she encouraged me to write it.
Preamble
The Great Recession of 2008 impacted the entire world. When it happened, I was working in Switzerland as a private language teacher, my students were for the most part working adults with English as their second or third language. One day, in an English conversation class I was giving in a Geneva-based French bank, I had the students read out loud an interview from the Nobel laureate in economics, Joseph E. Stiglitz. We often read business related articles in that class and then later discussed them. In the article the interviewer asked Mr Stiglitz what had inspired him to become an economist. He said that he grew up in a (well-to-do) family in Gary, Indiana, USA, and that when he was a young boy, he remembered asking his nanny if she had any children. She said that she had two children, and that made him wonder why she was taking care of him and not her own children. It was the spark, or the revelation that made him realise that inequality existed, and from that experience he later became an economist to see if he could help make it a more equal world.
Far from being the dismal science historian, Thomas Carlyle called it, Stiglitz’s anecdote made me see the human face of economics. And from the myriad of economists I have read about, their work has been the spark that has given me the momentum to tackle a book project of this magnitude. Inequality is unfair; and yet it persists to this day. As a layperson I have come up with a sketch of an economic operating model that perhaps in some way can contribute to addressing the problem.
Some people have had the good fortune in life to have met remarkable human beings who have influenced them when they were young and starting out―and there were a handful of people like that in my life. I was one of those lucky kids who had good parents, a happy family, one or two trustworthy friends and many acquaintances. However, one person in particular who helped me find my way in the turbulent times of my late teens… and someone I could call my first mentor… was the late Mrs Meymo Sturges, the mother of a girl in our circle of friends. She had a way with words, and most of all she believed in me in a way no one else did. Because of her I tried to make it as a sculptor. She knew what to say and when to say it. Her wise counsel shone a light along the dark path of life often cluttered with seemingly insurmountable obstacles we all strive to overcome; and that led me to discover that the real and probably only purpose of life is to go for one’s ‘greatest challenge’.
As far as this book is concerned, because it is my first book, the very best thing I did was to contact a copy editor after I had completed the first draft. Kath Locket, an Australian author living in Geneva, Switzerland, used her copy-editing skills to fine tune the early manuscript. Kath’s enthusiasm and focus on the essentials are extraordinary, and thanks to her correction and tips and thought-provoking suggestions on the first draft, the result is the completion of a book I am very proud of.
No matter what you write or which way you say it, nothing is done and dusted in the world of publishing―a manuscript doesn’t become a book―until you meet an editor like Rebecca Ponting, whom along with the ‘Austin Macauley Publishing’ team decided to accept to publish The Treatise of Teknomix. There are a few ‘métiers’ one could count as noble, but publishing certainly has to be near the top of the list. What divine inspiration Ms Ponting and the ‘Austin Macauley Publishing’ team must draw upon to be able to ‘showcase’ the written word so consistently well is perhaps only theirs to know, but how they invest their creative know-how and expertise into making every book they publish a real gem is a tribute to their dedication to the craft.
Preface
“The last thing one discovers in composing a work is what to put first.”
― Blaise Pascal, ‘Pensées’
Economics has never been the topic of choice for discussion in most of the social circles I have had the pleasure of frequenting. If ever there was a subject that few people really understand and even fewer enjoy talking about more than the economy, it could only be politics or religion. Yet, economics has a profound effect on every one of us. The free-market economy has been a subject that has probably permeated public discourse ever since the first pay check was issued, and in today’s―hustling and bustling―world… it’s no different. It is talked about in every household, and in every place of employment, as it finds a way into many people’s everyday discussions. In a nutshell, it affects everybody in the world, because everyone has to make transactions of some sort in order to live in the society. The Treatise of Teknomix is a synoptic report about a utopian economic system called teknomix―an invented name. The goal of the treatise is to offer an upgrade or replacement for capitalism. It makes a motion to describe an alternative economic model that could be a working solution or a step in the right direction towards formulating an alternative economic system. Whether or not capitalism is in its ‘death throes’ is up for debate. Although there are many who would wish it so, time will tell if it is going to be replaced.
The aim of writing a book is to make it as entertaining, unequivocal and informative as possible, and that is what I have taken as the mission statement for The Treatise of Teknomix . It has been conceived in the form of a classic manifesto and it is meant to be read as a metaphoric ‘two-way conversation’ between the reader and myself. The premise of the teknomix econom