D.M. Barach
Stories
1
Chapters
18
Words
86.4 K
Comments
0
Reading
7 h, 12 m
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Rational self-interest presumes a desire for preservation. Vengeance discards this premise entirely. It is the rapid, uncontrolled liquidation of an asset's total future value to purchase a single moment of destruction. In this state, the economic actor ceases to be a productive component and becomes a kinetic projectile. It is a transaction where the final cost of the purchase is the purchaser themself. —Naomi Feld, The Liability of Emotion: Human Factors in Economic Collapse The chime at the…-
86.4 K • Ongoing
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The ultimate hubris of centralised planning is the belief that the planners themselves are infallible. A truly self-correcting system must have protocols to protect itself not just from external shocks, but from the rational, well-intentioned, and catastrophic errors of its own leadership. —Naomi Feld, Systemic Integrity and the Harmonious State Benjamin sat on the tall stool in the workshop in what he now thought of as Ari's corner. He'd been coming here since the Gathering. Since Ari and…
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86.4 K • Ongoing
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Ambiguity is the engine of inefficiency. It is the social friction that slows allocation and causes the misdirection of resources. We must therefore strive to harmonise our social structures, and even our own identities, into defined, logical, and productive roles. An ambiguous actor, an unresolved identity, or an unclassified emotional state is, by its very nature, a source of economic friction. —Naomi Feld, The Frictionless Economy: Principles of Resource Allocation Alene stood in the doorway of…
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86.4 K • Ongoing
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A system does not become fragile when it can no longer act, it becomes fragile when it can justify anything. The moment emotion permits exceptions and derogations, utility ceases to discipline power and begins instead to excuse it. What follows may still call itself order, but it is no longer harmony. It is merely controlled deterioration. —Naomi Feld, Systemic Integrity and the Harmonious State Francis sat with her fingers interlaced in front of her on the council table. Councillor Ekwueme from…
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86.4 K • Ongoing
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A balanced society must understand that trust is not the suspension of control, but its most efficient form. The most reliable component is not the one that feels loyalty, but the one whose available choices have been so carefully structured that loyalty and obedience become indistinguishable. Trust, in that sense, is not the absence of control. It is control made inexpensive. —Naomi Feld, The Collective Balance: An Introduction to Macro-Societal Utility The coffee had gone to cold sludge in a mug…
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86.4 K • Ongoing
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Any large-scale economic disruption, whether it be an environmental disaster, a supply chain collapse, or a public health crisis, is not merely a logistical problem to solve. The core danger of the situation is that disaster invites a crisis of narrative. The public's faith in the economic system is its primary asset. In such moments, the greatest danger is the political entrepreneur who views the disruption as a vacuum of authority to be exploited. Such individuals do not seek to restore equilibrium. They…
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86.4 K • Ongoing
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A common error of economic liberalism was the equation of morality with preservation. A rational economist understands that the preservation of the system is the highest moral good. To sacrifice a single component to ensure the function of the whole is not a failure of compassion; it is the ultimate expression of systemic utility. —Naomi Feld, The Economic Renewal Fallacy: A Theory of Replacement The phantom sensation of Santo's hand tearing from his grasp looped throughout Ari's fitful REM cycles…
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86.4 K • Ongoing
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In the dominant economic models, purpose is an individualistic pursuit of passion and as such a net drain on societal resources. In a harmonised economy, purpose is redefined as the fulfilment of one's optimal function. The individual who is useful—the farmer, the manufacturer, the scientist—is the one who achieves true integration. It is only in serving our designated function that we find true economic and social peace. —Naomi Feld, The Collective Balance: An Introduction to Macro-Societal…
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86.4 K • Ongoing
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People often confuse transparency with truth. They are not the same. No institution can function if it is forced to present every contradiction, every cost, and every unfinished decision all at once. Public trust depends as much on coherence as on disclosure. The question is not whether information is managed, but whether it is managed in service of the many or in service of private power. —Naomi Feld, The Collective Balance: An Introduction to Macro-Societal Utility Sleep came in thin increments,…
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86.4 K • Ongoing
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Capitalist societies romanticise the individual who takes matters into their own hands. They call this initiative, or innovation. In fact, such an individual is interfering with a systemic solution and undermining confidence in a system's inherent reliability. A healthy society must depend on an implicit trust in its systemised responses, not sporadic personal intervention. It requires shared standards, coordinated response, and the confidence that no individual should solve a collective problem…
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86.4 K • Ongoing
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