Payscale Whitepaper

Intro

The Open Source Philosophy video discusses the concept of 1 day of work per week, required for a modern standard of living. Happiness research indicates that Money Can Buy Happiness, up to the point of about $100k in 2024. With this background, it seems that $250/hr is the nominal figure of interest as the Financial Independence Escape Velocity. If anyone can attain such productivity, that means one is paid about $96k per year. This means universal financial independence (UFI), and seems to be a desirable option for anyone who wants to commit the vast majority to their true pursuits, outside of this one day per week of work. Further, this is not to say that the escape velocity should be obtained in a damaging way. Currently, the $100T economy means about $14k per capita. Kardashev Scale implies at least 100x productivity increase based on available energy - still remaining within a 1% of the available solar budget of Earth. Such a small percentage means that all critical processes of nature such as rainfall, plant growth, biodiversity, wind, etc remain undisturbed. This level of energy use means that each person could comfortably earn $1.4M per year. For UFI to obtain, we require less than 10% of this conservative number - meaning that from first principles, universal abundance is feasible and easy from available energy resource considerations.

The Self-Determination Theory, which builds upon the Maslow Pyramid, is the current theory of human motivation. Self-determination and financial independence are nearly synonymous. Therefore, it is useful to consider how to attain universal financial independence as a means of completing the liberation of humans to their full agency.