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Progress. The economic, technological, organizational, and scientific advancements that gave rise to modern civilization, is woefully understudied and misunderstood.

Our ignorance of the foundations upon which society is precariously perched presages the possible collapse of civilization itself in the near future.

TLP is advancing Progress Studies to fill this knowledge void, using this knowledge to evaluate and promote radical new ideas and concepts, defining a path forward for humanity.

In short, we seek to generate a “best practices” policy framework that will ensure the continued march of human progress.

Here is an ever-evolving and improving outline of that framework.

Healthcare/Longevity

On a high level, each person on this planet brings with them unique knowledge, wisdom, and capability that they share the broader society. Chronic illness/death detract from humanity’s valuable resources. The goal, therefore, should be to keep each human consciousness alive as long as possible.

But healthcare is a mess. Prices are too high, there is unequal access, and although the quality of care in the US tends to be overall quite good, America’s health span and life spans trend lower than most developed countries.

The solution, at its core, is to design public policy that neither blindly accepts the “free market” as the savior (ignoring obvious market failures) nor places government in total control in a way that risks stifling innovation. In short, let markets work where they work and correct them where they don’t.The basic principles to doing this are as follows:

• Price transparency/Tort Reform

• Individual mandate

• Catastrophic insurance

• Health Savings Accounts

Education/Science and Technology

Education is our primary means of transferring knowledge from one generation to the next. The more efficiently and completely we can do this, the better off civilization will be as we will be able to innovate faster.

The advancement of science and technology underpins not only current economic growth and human progress, but the long term sustainability of civilization itself. It is foolish for us to assume that technology, like time, is asymmetric and always moves in one directly. Technology can (and has) moved in the reverse direction.

Our concern is that recent human progress, particularly since the industrial revolution, is akin to a dying star that shines most brightly just before its own mass forces it to collapse in on itself.

Therefore, we should do everything in our power to sustain and accelerate technological advancement. This can be done via:

• Government investment

• Patent buyouts

Economy

Economic growth is necessary as a means of expanding the opportunities and capabilities of citizens such they can live their lives to their full potential. When people live their lives to their full potential, they can contribute meaningfully can to society as a whole. There exists a reciprocal relationship between the society and the individual, each contributing to the other.

Economic growth, as history shows, must be inclusive for it to be sustainable. It should also strive to minimize environmental damage, at least as far as it can without violating the laws of conservation of energy and matter. This can be achieved through the following basic principles:

• Free trade

• Free Markets

• Rational tax policy

Society

Government

People have a tendency to treat Western style democratic representative government as an “end” of the development of government which began with monarchs, evolved into limited \monarchies, and then into modern representative democracy.

The inclusiveness of the economy (and therefore its sustainability) as well as technological advancement potential is inextricably linked to government and policy.

Therefore, the more effective government is at generating sounds policy, the more growth and development that will result. Western-style democracy is certainly not the only, nor the best means of achieving this.

• Direct Democracy through sortition