The Humanity Standard

Many of the world’s minds have been contemplating the future of the USD in its role as the global economic unit of account.

Many are positing that Bitcoin will inevitably replace the USD. Others are anticipating a return of the Gold Standard. China, of course, is jockeying for the Yuan to take this role.

In my humble opinion all of these would be a misstep. They would all would fall short of the measure we need to define the next chapter for humanity.

In contemplating a new unit of account for the next century, we should seek one which reflects the global human condition on the broadest scale possible. It is a standard which should identify the quality-of-life status of the masses, eliminating the distortions created by the super wealthy. It should also be a standard which actively encourages us all to seek to lift all boats, to eliminate poverty, disease, repression and tyranny.

In this context I propose The Humanity Standard.

The Humanity Standard will inform us how we’re performing as humans, on a global scale. It will link us and our condition to each other.

Normally an index would apply a balanced perspective by discounting the top and bottom margins. This is a method we apply when presenting various indices, such as index interest rates - we choose not to count, say, the top or bottom 10%, and to average the 80% in between. This formula serves in eliminating the distortions often created by outliers.

My proposal for The Humanity Standard varies somewhat from this methodology, in that we do not wish to dispossess any of the poorest, the unhealthiest, the most repressed. We do, however, wish to ignore, for the purpose of this super-index, only the extremes at the top end of wealth, health, and freedom, as they ridiculously distort the true picture of humanity on a global scale.

Thus we would include in our calculations the bottom 10%, but not the top 10%, of the global population.

All the world’s financial markets and exchange rates should compare against The Humanity Standard, which is a composite of indices reflecting the critical factors which determine our collective position as a global village. 

The key indices I propose to be included are:

1. net wealth, 
2. net income, 
3. health, 
4. safety, and 
5. freedom. 

As described above, these indices are calculated on the bottom 90% of the world’s population.

The Humanity Standard does not assess regions, continents, countries, states, governments, companies or other entities. It only assesses living individuals.

One critical element to be resolved is the weighting of the five indices. In the interests of simplicity, transparency, and honesty, I propose each index be afforded equal weight.

Another critical element is the base currency for measure of relative wealth and income. This needs to be a unit of measure with the least potential for manipulation by governments, market-makers, and corporations. This requires further assessment, however BTC is perhaps the simplest option at present.

Another is of course the formulae to be employed in measuring the qualitative indices of health, safety, and freedom. These indices already exist in many forms, including some with significant autonomy and integrity. I do not anticipate this aspect to offer any significant impediment.

Once all these elements are established, it would be appropriate to embed them into a smart contract on the blockchain, to limit unwanted interference in the formulae, calculations and reports.

Many will argue that The Humanity Standard is some form of communist plot to isolate the wealthiest from the rest of the world. On the contrary, there is a natural disinclination to eliminate such an enormous amount of wealth and income from calculations. This composite index, however, is not meant to measure the value of the world’s population. It is meant to measure our humanity. Hopefully this will cause us all to approach the future with a view to unifying humanity, by ensuring that our own measure of real value is directly connected to the status of all humanity. 

Our goal is to have The Humanity Standard constantly rising, and never, ever falling.

Michael Reid

29th January 2024 (as amended)

©️ Michael G. Reid 2024

About the Author:

I am not a scholar, I am not an industry leader, I am not a politician. I am a common man, with no particular axe to grind other than a desire for humanity everywhere to be financially comfortable, healthy, safe, and free. I am personally in reasonable health, financially comfortable without being extremely wealthy, and I live in one of the most stable and successful democracies in the world.

By way of full disclosure, I have been designing a digital currency which might provide the solution to the issue of measuring relative wealth and income, however I’m likely to run out of energy, commitment, breath or other resources before that project takes flight….. 😃 

This piece was written on a deck outside our camper van, whilst visiting the magnificent Mersey Bluff Caravan Park in northern Tasmania. The image accompanying this Post is my view….