Economic Freedom

Economic freedom is one of the ideals of free society. It is regarded as a high value in democratic societies.

According to Wikipedia, Economic freedom, or economic liberty, is the ability of people of a society to take economic actions. This is a term used in economic and policy debates as well as in the philosophy of economics.[1][2] One approach to economic freedom comes from the liberal tradition emphasizing free markets, free trade, and private property under free enterprise. Another approach to economic freedom extends the welfare economics study of individual choice, with greater economic freedom coming from a larger set of possible choices.[3] Other conceptions of economic freedom include freedom from want[1][4] and the freedom to engage in collective bargaining.[5] [1].

OSE takes the definition of Economic Freedom further. First, economic freedom refers to the 4th of the 4 Freedoms of open source development. This is important to OSE as discussed in the Collaborative Singularity.

However, the critical sociological point of economic freedom that OSE emphasizes is this:

Economic freedom is marked by a historical transition of human enterprise where the vast majority of humans (as in about 99% or more) are pursuing livelihoods based on Self-Determination, not desperatiion. To explain - Self-Determination is the latest theory of human motivation. The current economic system is at clear odds with self-determination. How many people work in the area of their passion - as opposed to being driven by necessity - the need to put food on their table? Necessity should not be the central pursuit of the vast majority of humanity. Meeting of one's needs should be a natural byproduct of daily activities. However, teh economic system is currently operating on principles of Artificial Scarcity, and the distribution of prosperity is very much skewed. There is no excuse for this in a society where technological prowess far outstrips the need to produce. That is - since about a century, human economic systems have become sufficiently sophisticated to produce ample surplus for everyone's well-being, obviating the need for slavery of centuries and millenia past.