Human Capital: Democracy’s First Power.

EDITORIAL Primer Poder AC – Board of Directors

We shall use the same references. Two concepts: Nation and Culture.

Nation means people that belong to a country or region by owning a culture.

In cyber terms, Culture can be interpreted as Spiritual Software, accepting that

the Spirit decides the action (What-To-Do), and the Reason organizes How,
When, Where, and How-Much. Such software defines behavior, objectives, or
goals, from personal relations to politics, science, economics, religion, and all
artistic expressions. Culture is the creation of our Free Will, with an importance
that trespasses the Arts, as it defines each person's living quality patterns for its
decisions' making on present and future actions.

Human Capital quality: how good we are, decides how good we live.

We insist on reminding the proverb that says: “ Things are not as much as they
are, but as we are.” This sentence encloses Human Capital quality’s importance
as no other asset can match its value as our quality builder.

History is plenty of cases where materially wealthy regions or countries did not
deliver massive welfare to their nations, as these did not have the Human
Capital for such purpose. Also, there are cases where countries with high-quality
Human Capital, even owning materially poor regions, have become socio-
political-economic international powers, providing their nations with the best
living standards. Japan might be the first example that comes to most of our
minds. However, history highlights a previous case -nowadays not so
notoriously powerful- that still influences all First World nations' cultures,
including the Japanese, that copied its socio-political model.

One nation’s Human Capital changed a millennia tradition.

Millennials might ignore the importance of the British culture as the cradle of
our modern Free World’s civilization. Being an island country, its isolation taught
this nation to depend on themselves as a team, even when external cultural
influences set throughout millennia hierarchic socio-political structures that
concentrated privileges on few.
Such geographical isolation made surviving needs stronger enough to force
cultural changes. Then during the 17th century, a vast majority of British people
(accepting Christian beliefs) realized that –beyond any socio-political hierarchy-
all had equal basic needs to be covered, so driving the abolishment of divine
superiorities that justified the Absolutist Monarchy. This cultural change -after
Jesus Christ- is the first breakthrough to favor Human Values.

Throughout the last four centuries, the British nation gradually improved
Democracy’s ancient concept by being the first in History to replace the
Absolutist Monarchy with a legal system that gives equal rights and duties to
each national. Remember that the Ancient Greece Democracy concept was
barely inclusive. Just think that according to this fact, the human equality's
concept began to be of political value only 400 years ago, a period that
represents 4% of human being's time existence.

The Brits started the Human Capital concept by ending the millennia
tradition that considered us like cattle.

The British Law is the first in History to give any national the right to act
according to its Free Will, only limited by damages to other's rights, as well as to
participate in politics, elect state representatives and to own, use or sell a
property, as to associate with others, aiming for the defense and improvement
of personal and plural welfare. Thereby, this culture is the founder of modern
economy patterns that lead to the Industrial Era’s birth and our current life style.

In the book Conquest and Culture, Thomas Sowell expounds: “The history of the
British people, like the history of other peoples around the world, illustrates the
enormous importance of Human Capital, whether in the form of specific skills,
general education, or traditions and laws that facilitate, both economic
development and the development of free institutions.” (…) “The many centuries
that it took to the British to rise from cultural and economic backwardness to
the forefront of world civilization in technology and political dominance,
suggests something of the difficulty of acquiring the necessary Human Capital.”
(…) “British Law and its tradition of impartiality made London a magnet for the
capital of the world, enabling Britain to industrialize with other’s people capital,
as well as its own.” (…) “(Such) Law was more than an economic asset, its
separation of powers and rights of citizens against the (State), were the
foundation of the British themselves.”

Why do First World nations had reached top positions on all quality
standards lists?
2
Beyond negative episodes and contrasting moments of wealth, British culture’s
history proudly owns a very positive balance. During the last four centuries,
some of their socio-political-economic leaders led abuses that were usual under
the ancient autocratic universal culture. However, during the same period, their
people, through their legal instruments, struggled to balance such abuses
gradually, achieving socio-political-economic improvements that had built their
massive welfare to the extent of exporting such achievements to other nations,
which implanted them in their cultures.

The British Human Capital is the creator or founder of significant contributions

to humankind's evolution and plural welfare, becoming the primary model that
inspired the socio-political organization of 22 nations (all democratic) that
belong to the top 25 of the list by best-living quality levels among all (170)
countries on this planet.

The most remarkable historical lesson Brits have set for Humankind is their
balanced socio-political philosophy. Besides the fact that this was the first nation
in History that decided to act against state power abuses, they invented the
permanent elements to defend and improve their massive welfare, not only
designing these to eliminate the factors that allow such power abuses but also
by setting systems and structures that protect the freedom that motivates
evolution opportunities through their Human Capital improvement.

Developing systems that care about human rights defense along with Human
Capital and welfare’s free growth and improvements, make the core difference
of most advanced nations in contrast with underdeveloped countries that favor
of a minority.

End of Part 1.