We don’t have to go down that path, it’s the path we’re already on.
It’s not the way I think it -should be- but it is the way that it is. The incentive alignment keeps it at that local minima, and every attempt to move it to a new one so far has introduced so many perverse incentives that it ultimately causes the regression or even complete failure of the economies it is implemented in.
I don’t know what the answer is that maximises human happiness and minimises human misery, but I suspect it lies well outside of the paradigm of conventional market economics.
Within the dominant paradigm, It’s all a matter of risk management. With employment, you are paying your employer with your surplus value to handle the risks that you feel powerless to manage. Market risks, capital risks.
In exchange, you accept risks that your opinions and comfort won’t be prioritised, and in some cases even your physical well being.
In effect, you are betting against yourself being able to balance those risks against the risks posed by pursuing profitability.
The ability to manage risks is intersectional with your ability to manage discomfort and privation. When you run out of money, the house wins by default.
That’s why the foundational step for anyone should be to do whatever they must to obtain a safe fallback position. A place to be. A safety net. This is what enables risk accommodation. Without taking risk, there will be no advancement. If you don’t have a fallback plan, a safe spawn point, do everything in your power to create one, at least for your children.