Incentives = Destiny: How Visionary Capitalism Can Drive Circularity

A year ago, I met a fascinating group of people working on the “Circular Economy” - aligned with the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development goals. I wasn’t that well versed on these goals or the underlying ideological infrastructure behind them, and immediately thought “wow, this is cool - these cats are using success in capitalism to drive positive outcomes with resource efficiency!” The whole idea of designing the future and thinking outside the box over at 22nd Century By Design really appealed to me and I also liked the creativity that came from the public / private partnerships, on a global scale, that are being created by Bio Largo, who were in town to explore tech recycling infrastructure in Nashville.

I ended up writing a short article for The Disruptive Quarterly, a newsletter / website put together by some of the 22nd Century by Design folks. After seeing that the site is no longer, I went into my archives and found the article, and decided I like it enough to surface it here with a few minor updates / edits.

The goal of this was to start with a individual freedom / pro capitalism / pro free markets set of principles and see if I could arrive at the same place as some of my more collectivist and socialist minded friends,- with sustainability and circular economy as an aligned outcome of both sets of principles. Is there a way to bridge the divide and get to the same outcomes? I believe we did. But you can be the judge.

Question: What are the economics of visionary capitalism and how is it different from ONLY self interest as the foundation?

On September 5, 1793, the "Reign of Terror" began in France - organized by the "Committee on Public Safety". Led by Robespierre, who ironically met his own end at the same guillotine he had helped drive over 17,000 others to, the goal was actually quite noble.

Robespierre had started out as an idealistic lawyer who opposed the death penalty. Somehow, in his pursuit of a "Republic of Virtue", something had gone terribly wrong. He began to believe, and others began to believe with him, that it was possible to force people to be virtuous - that it was possible to use the machinery of state power to bring about a perfect society.

Meanwhile on the other side of the world, a very different experiment was unfolding. America in its infancy was developing a set of documents based on the first principles of the Enlightenment - key among them the concept of Natural Rights, and all the freedoms we now take for granted.

What does this have to do with circularity?

Let's talk about fear.

When people feel fear, they seek control. And our world is faced with a lot of terrifying challenges.

What scares you the most about the future?

Are you willing to go to extremes to prevent that from happening?

And herein lies the rub.

A lot of idealists - myself included at a younger age - believe that there's all these evil "capitalists" ruining everything. As Bernie Sanders would say, all the "millionaires and billionaires" are ruining it for the rest of us.

SEIZE THEIR TREASURE!

Deploy the assets to save the world!

Except... it doesn't work that way.

The entire economy is based on a very simple concept: the creation of "value" - it's an abstract term so let's explore how to apply this in a way that actually means something.

When someone figures out a better, cheaper, or faster way to solve a problem - fix something that's broken - or to create a product or service that someone else actually wants - bad enough to freely pay hard earned money for it - with no coercion whatsoever - that is valuable.

This naturally leads to a situation where some people are more innovative and creative than others, and inequality appears immediately. The moment inequality appears, there's an instinct to force preferred outcomes through muscle instead of intellect.

But there's a better way.

It's called “visionary capitalism”.

The world is a closed system, and as the economist Manfred Max-Neef would say, there are no cost externalities. Everything falls back onto our heads.

This isn't just philosophy - it's physics.

And yet, something magical happens when we align incentives with innovation.

Take Norway's approach to tech recycling. Their companies aren't profitable in the traditional sense - but they're creating compounding efficiencies that benefit everyone over time. They've found a way to work with governments without sacrificing market principles.

Or look at Starlink versus NASA. While the government-run space program struggled with inefficiency and canceled the Space Shuttle, private enterprise is delivering life-saving internet access despite direct interference from bureaucrats.

This is what visionary capitalism looks like in action.

So where does this leave us?

What's the actual solution?

I believe that the journey IS the destination - and the best system for creating tech and environmental innovation has always been and will continue to be free market capitalism - the wellspring of the cash flow that drives real progress.

When we align incentives with outcomes, we create destiny.

When we force outcomes, we create disaster.

Like squaring the circle, the solution feels both irrational and magical - but it works. It requires stepping out of the usual "left vs right" or "socialism vs capitalism" paradigm to truly see the opportunity here.

This is a nonlinear future we are quantum leaping into.

If we are to be successful in our journey towards circularity, we cannot approach this like Robespierre - we cannot sacrifice our principles at the incredibly tempting altar of collectivism or utilitarianism in order to achieve power.

Let me be clear - this isn't even ideology. It's just math. The solutions created by visionary capitalism are mathematically biased to be more efficient than government programs for solving massive problems at scale because government programs only exist at the expense of taxes collected from the private markets - so they will always be lower on the value chain. In the words of Margaret Thatcher, “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”

Other people’s money has to come from somewhere - but in the economics of visionary capitalism this contribution is based on freedom, individual agency, and personal prosperity - with people coming together to create voluntary associations that can make a difference in the service of a big vision - bigger than self interest alone, but paradoxically powered by it.