We Live in an Economy, Not a Society | Hinesight....for Foresight

Bizarre when you think about it. The means have become the end. Instead of the economy being a tool for a healthy society, it has displaced it. I remember hearing this years ago from then Labor Secretary Robert Reich. And the point was made strongly in my review of Karl Polanyi’s wonderful Great Transformation. This may be my favorite insight from the After Capitalism research as it gets straight to purpose. Any look to the future ought to start with purpose. Why are we doing what we are doing? Is this what we want to do? if not, what should we be doing instead? Let’s apply to capitalism:

Why are we doing capitalism? Inertia, momentum. It is fair to argue that despite its faults, it has been a successful system in delivered on economic growth and wealth creation [for some].

Is capitalism what we want to do? More and more people are answering no; the massive challenges from growth, inequality, and how to deal with powerful technologies, e.g., AI, are leading people to question what we are doing and where we are going. Perhaps an equal amount are simply giving up on the future.

What we should we be doing instead? This is what Imagining After Capitalism is all about. — Andy Hines

Reminder: Imagining After Capitalism Book Launch on Thursday (Event link)

About Andy Hines

Dr. Andy Hines is Program Coordinator at the University of Houston’s Graduate Program in Foresight, bringing together the experience he earned as an organizational, consulting, and academic futurist. He is also speaking, workshopping, and consulting through his firm Hinesight.

Before that, he was Managing Director of Social Technologies/Innovaro, and served as an Adjunct Professor with the university since 2004. Hines enjoyed earlier careers as a consulting and organizational futurist. He was a partner with Coates & Jarratt, Inc., a think tank and consulting firm that specialized in the study of the future. He was also Futurist & Senior Ideation Leader at Dow Chemical with a mission of using futures tools and knowledge to turn ideas into new business opportunities. Before that, Hines established and ran the Global Trends Program for the Kellogg Company.

Hines is motivated by a professional hunger to make foresight practical and useful, and he believes that foresight can help deliver the insight that is so needed in today’s organizations and the world. His goal, he says, is to infect as many change agents as possible with this message. Thus, he has honed a skill set designed to make foresight more actionable in organizations.

In this pursuit, he has authored five books: Teaching about the Future: The Basics of Foresight Education (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012); ConsumerShift: How Changing Values Are Reshaping the Consumer Landscape (No Limits Publishing, 2011); Thinking About the Future: Guidelines for Strategic Foresight (Social Technologies, 2007); 2025: Science and Technology Reshapes US and Global Society (Oak Hill, 1997); and Managing Your Future as an Association (ASAE, 1994) and has another in the hands of publishers: Teaching about the Future: The Basics of Foresight Education. He has also authored dozens of articles, speeches, and workshops, including the 2003 Emerald Literati Awards’ Outstanding Paper accolade for best article published in Foresight for “An Audit for Organizational Futurists” and the 2008 award for “Scenarios: The State of the Art.” He has appeared on several radio and television programs, PBS Houston, KRIV-26 News, and the CBS “Early Show.” He also co-founded and is former Chair of the Association of Professional Futurists.

Reminder: Imagining After Capitalism Book Launch on Thursday (Event link)

About Andy Hines

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