About Societal Balance and Wealth

What is societal balance? Herein, it is the balance between the capitalistic wants of those in positions of power and of influence and the social needs of the people. In balance, a society operates smoothly. Out of balance, it wobbles. The greater the extremes, the more noticeable is the wobble and the longer it takes for the wobble to be corrected. Balance is about financial wealth between those who acquire it and those who make acquiring it possible. For some, wealth is more about personal experiences and adventures.

Capitalism is driven by the supply vs demand economic model. Namely, if the supply of a product or service exceeds the demand for it, it forces its cost to acquire to decrease. If the demand for a product or service exceeds its supply, the cost to acquire the product or service increases. The increase in cost has no bearing upon the actual cost to produce the product or to provide the service. It is bounded only by what someone will pay to acquire it. Capitalism strives for an ever increasing population. The greater the population, the less it costs for labor and the greater is the demand for products and services. Capitalism is innately greedy. The more financial wealth one has, the more one wants. The objective of advertising is to sway people to feel that they need the whatever and that whatever the price, it is worth it.

Socialism, herein, addresses the needs of the population with respect to the needs of the country. It begins with public education and with medical intervention in the event of accidents or disease. It encompasses legislation to protect the populace from the innate greediness of capitalism. Socialism seeks a minimum, acceptable quality of life for all peoples. Peoples seek a reasonable quality of life when compared to that lived by the rich and ultra-rich whose financial wealth is built upon them living their lives.

Socialism is a counter force to capitalism. Capitalism wants unbounded population growth but does not accept responsibility for the consequences. The human reproductive process is a random in context process aptly described as “let’s try this and see what happens”. We are each unique with different wherewithal, that is, inherent physical and intellectual capabilities and circumstantially acquired knowledge skills and sense of self. Some has more than others, some don’t have enough. When an adult, some can live self-sustainably, some cannot. Natural events occur which may impact one’s ability to live self-sustainably.

In 1950, world population was 2–1/2 billion. In 2050, it is estimated to be 10 billion. If the birth rate continues at the same rate, it will be 20 billion in 2100. In any event, it will be more than 10 billion.

There are some who perceive opportunities that others don’t. In pursuit of them, when successful, they acquire considerable wealth. They use that wealth to pursue other opportunities. To enable commerce, the stock market emerged to give corporations access to monies by selling shares of the corporation to the public. In time, owner’s of shares began selling them to others. Banking emerged to provide loans. Credit cards emerged. A financial market place came to exist. Some play financial markets to protect their financial wealth from inflation and to increase it.

One is labeled ultra-rich if they have net assets of at least $30 million US dollars. With that much financial wealth, one could live 82 years spending $1,000 per day. “There are now 510,810 people with a net worth of at least $30 million, according to a report from the data firm Altrata. This group holds $59.8 trillion in assets — roughly twice the size of the U.S. economy — with a median net worth of $52 million. About 40% are based in the U.S. Another 50% are split evenly between Europe and Asia, with the Middle East, Latin America and Australia filling in the rest.” [Mansion Global ](https://www.mansionglobal.com/articles/population-of-ultra-wealthy-worth-30-million-or-more-just-passed-a-major-benchmark-f909c193)Sept 30, 2025[]

The average annual inflation rate from 1995 to 2025 was 2.6%. To protect their financial wealth from inflation, one would have to realize an annual return on investments of their wealth by at least 2.6%. As of June 17, 2026, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield was 4.48%. “The S&P 500 measures the performance of 500 large U.S. companies that cover about 80% of domestic equities by market value. The S&P 500 advanced 216% over the last decade, compounding at 12.1% annually. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tracks the performance of 30 large U.S. companies. Unlike the S&P 500, which is weighted by market cap, the Dow Jones is weighted by share price. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 159% over the last decade, compounding at 10% annually. Those figures do not include dividends.” [The Motley Fool ](https://www.fool.com/investing/2025/11/24/heres-the-average-stock-market-return-over-the-las/)Nov 24, 2025[]. As of June, 2026, the average current bank credit card interest rate was 19.22%.

Governments exist to create and maintain an infrastructure to support commerce, to protect the country from external forces and to establish programs for the good of the people and the country. They are influenced by the wants of those in positions of power and of influence and by the social needs of the people. It begins with public education and a social security insurance program. (An aside: If the social security insurance program operates on actuarial principles, why is it running out of money in an ever increasing population? The Roosevelt Institute traces it to income inequalities in which higher incomes are not fully taxable. It will become necessary to reduce benefits in the future. Many earning higher incomes contribute to personal 401K and IRA accounts funding their own retirement.)

Every person has two carbon footprints, their own in living life and a portion of that produced by others supporting them to do so. Clean air and water needed to support life are provided by natural processes and systems.

Current history suggests there is a finite limit to the population the natural world can support. Climate change is changing the natural world. A warmer world facilitates the growth of deadly viruses and oppressive heat. The oceans are warming and rising. Aquifers are emptying. In some localities, available fresh water is a concern. Forest files are more prevalent. Earthquakes and volcanic activity seems greater.

The world population is 8+ billion now, 2026. Current history suggests that is too many. Possibly, world population should be about 6 billion peoples.

The only acceptable way to manage population growth is to do so naturally. Can it be done sufficiently before the consequences of climate change remove all human life from the planet? The history of planet Earth includes previous events in which the life at the time was challenged. Some are contemplating colonizing planet Mars.

One’s life is important to them self and to those who depend upon them for their sustainability. It may be important to another to be used by them for their benefit and remains so as long as it does so. The importance of a life lies in what one does with their life in the eyes of others.

The life of another should be respected. How does one explain war initiated by those in positions of power and of influence that put the lives of others at risk to further their financial wealth and way of life? For many in positions of power and of influence, the lives of others are expendable, thus, the recognition and rise of socialism. Consider slavery and the Civil War.

In the natural world, a life is not important. The human reproduction process is about “let’s try this and see what happens”. Some have more wherewithal than others, some don’t have enough. Some are born with limitations that will prevent them from ever living self-sustainably.

History suggest that we exist to evolve. Evolution is predicated upon one striving to be the best that they can be and that only those whose best is good enough are intended to survive to procreate the next generation. After a child experiences self-recognition at about 2–3 years of age, they begin acquiring a sense of self. Some seek to be the best that they can be. Some do not.

We have natural rights. One can believe, choose and do to them self what they will and do to another what that other has given their consent. One can terminate their life, ingest what they will, have consensual sex and, if a woman pregnant, can terminate her pregnancy. Civilizations have created a system of laws to address when one does to another without the other’s consent.

The more we learn, the more we learn that there is more to learn. We create technologies and ways to do things that enable us to do things that we were not doing before or to do better, more effectively and efficiently, things that we are currently doing. Until the 1700s, societies were driven by human labor. Industrialization began in the mid-1700s. Machines, operated by humans, outproduced what human labor did before. Machines enabled peoples and products to move distances quickly and easily. In the 1960s, personal digital computers enabled an individual to access, manage and process information readily. In 2025, realization of the human neural network using the data processing capabilities of digital computers led to artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence, robotics and automation can do what humans can do when it doesn’t involve creativity or intuition.

As the population increases and technology replaces human labor, it becomes more difficult for many to live self-sustainably. Some have sufficient wherewithal to apply new technologies to do things that they were not doing before. Some have sufficient wherewithal to use them to do what they are currently doing but better, more effectively or efficiently. For some, the technology is beyond them. Governments nor society are not responsible for those who cannot live self-sustainably. An individual or organization, though, can choose to be responsible.

We must let peoples exercise their natural rights. If a woman will be unable to prepare her child to live self-sufficiently as an adult, she should be able to decide not to procreate. If she is pregnant, she should be able to terminate her pregnancy. If a child is born with limitations that will prevent it from living self-sufficiently as an adult, its parents should be able to let nature take its course and not intervene. If one can no longer live self-sustainably, they should be able to terminate their life. Facilities should exists to enable one to terminate their life or a pregnant woman, her pregnancy conveniently, safely and with dignity.

There are those who strive to impede another from exercising their natural rights and work to influence governments to be responsible for those unable to live self-sustainably. They are empowered by those who seek to maintain population growth. Those who seek population growth do not accept any consequential responsibility for those who cannot live self-sustainably.

Until the world population is adequately addressed naturally, there will be societal imbalance. Social entropic disorder will be rampant, the consequence of which is social and political chaos. The average person has no influence upon those in positions of power or of influence. The latter, employing gerrymandering, manage the political representation of peoples. (Why aren’t voting boundaries aligned with elementary school boundaries?) All of the above begs the question: In such an environment, how do parents prepare their children to be able to live self-sustainably?

In every civilization, there are explorers, pioneers and settlers. There are leaders and those to whom others defer, persons in positions of power and of influence, change agents, practitioners, providers of goods and services, workers, laborers, soldiers, artisans, clergy and thieves.

We are each unique with different wherewithal, that is, inherent physical and intellectual capabilities and circumstantially acquired knowledge skills and sense of self. A child experiences self-recognition around 2–3 years of age after which they begin developing a sense of self. The first several years of a child’s life are their formative years that lay the foundation of who and what they will be. (It includes choice of gender.)

Stu Sanfield (hyperlink) July 4, 2026