The worst thing that can happen after you have a nightmare is to wake up and see that nightmare all around you. I bet that this is something that has been happening to a lot of people lately. Considering how insane the "Covid Times" are proving to be, worst-case scenarios seem just one step away from materialising. Admittedly, this is a very pessimistic view, but ignoring cold-hard realities is the surest way to get crushed by them. This was my guiding principle when I created the Human Value Index in Market Dystopia.
At its core, the Human Value Index (HVI) is really nothing more than a reflection of what has been happening in global cities over the past thirty years. With the emergence of modern-day "Gotham Cities", urban dwellers essentially became individuals belonging to categories with differing economic and social values. To put it bluntly, the category that you belong to in a global city determines your worth in the system that was spawned from it. This is true in London, Paris, New York, Hong Kong, Tokyo...and any other zone that falls into Wikipedia's definition of a global city: "a primary node in the global economic network."
The value that is assigned to you by the global city that you live and work in overrides all your individual qualities. For the sake of simplicity and to bring an immediate connection to Market Dystopia, let's suppose that your value is 300 points. You can be a kind and generous person or an untrustworthy and cowardly one, your value will still be 300 points provided that you fit the criteria of your category. The system does not care about you, it cares about how much fuel you bring to power its engines. That fuel takes many forms: your job, your money, your career, your education, your creativity, your looks, your connections, your social pedigree...in short, anything that makes you competitive in a global city. Strength in all the areas mentioned will move you up the ladder and weakness will push you down. This reality is crudely expressed by the Human Value Index of Market Dystopia. This application replaces all the social media platforms that were created in the first quarter of the 21st century (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn...) and establishes a points-based system that defines the value of each individual through specific numbers. The latter fluctuate like share prices on a gigantic stock exchange. This is the nightmare of Market Dystopia: you wake up realising that if your value drops below a certain level (50 points), the global city will kill you.
Happy reading, Ashley Boolell
Market Dystopia is available in the Amazon Bookstore on the following links: Amazon UK
Amazon US
