Power of the Free-Market Economy Johnson vs. Stiglitz’s

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How Johnson’s Power of Systems to “Self-Organize” Contradicts Stiglitz’s Power of the Free-Market Economy
“The Myth of the Ant Queen” by Steven Johnson breaks down the complexity of systems to a decentered way that is more consistent with how things work naturally. Johnson’s primary interest was to learn the collective intelligence of an ant colony, which leads to the concept of self-organization. Collective intelligence refers to how ants collaborate in serving both their colonies and their queen, who gives rise to new generations. For example, worker ants provide food and protection to the queen. When it comes to self-organization, ant colonies are the best examples. Even without being ruled by anyone, these organisms know their duties, and they partake them appropriately without being coerced or reminded by anyone. On the contrary, Joseph Stiglitz’s “Rent Seeking and the Making of an Unequal Society” portrays some factors that contribute to the rising American inequality. The author makes it clear that the growing inequality in America is not only caused by the failure of the market forces or the law of supply and demand. Other things, such as politics, government policies, and social aspects, play a significant role as well. In reality, the American economy is controlled by rent-seekers or wealthy people who dictate ordinary citizens and significantly influence government policies in their favor. Johnson portrays how self-organization works in ant colonies, which contradicts Stiglitz’s idea of a free-market economy that has continually increased inequality in the United States of America (USA).
Johnson depicts that natural forces significantly shape some complex systems to be orderly, particularly the self-organization, as seen in ant colonies. In particular, instead of orders coming from the queen, worker ants are devoted to playing their duties well. The bottom-up system ensures that every ant knows its responsibilities. Johnson says, “There you will find the queen. She will have been secreted there by a handful of ladies-in-waiting at the first sign of disturbance” (Johnson 31). Here, it is clear that there is a group of ants whose primary duty is protecting the queen and reporting the message to others when an enemy intrudes. The bottom-up structure is seen where a small group of ants safeguard the queen at all the time. As Gordon explains, ant colonies are the perfect examples of self-organizing systems. She also says that many people perceive the queen as the authority figure, which is not the case. The queen’s primary objective is to lay eggs and be served by workers. However, Gordon makes it clear that “She does not decide which worker does what” (Johnson 31). At this juncture, the bottom-up organization comes into light. The most significant point is that ants respect and serve their queen willingly to protect their lineage since she is the one who gives rise to upcoming generations. The bottom-up organization entails how worker ants perform their duties in serving the colony and the queen without being forced by anyone. Gordon explains that “Their genes instruct them to protect their mother, the same way their genes instruct them to forage for food” (Johnson 31). At this juncture, the harvester ants take the queen to the escaping hatch without being ordered by anyone. Based on this concept, individuals at the top of the social hierarchy or higher job ranks should not dictate or command others to execute various responsibilities. Stiglitz asserts that “Government has the power to move money from the top to the bottom and the middle, or vice versa” (Stiglitz 43). Naturally, the most powerful system of administration, which is the government, does not implement the right policies to eliminate inequality. Instead, it is in the frontline enacting measures that favor the superrich, leaving poor individuals scrambling for what is left.
As Johnson elaborates on the bottom-up and self-organizing system, Stiglitz portrays their inapplicability in the real world. For instance, people at the bottom of the social hierarchy are affected by the decisions made by those at the top and the implementation of ineffective government policies. Instead of wealthy individuals helping others to rise, they are busy searching for ways to suppress the middle and low-income earners so that they can accumulate more affluence. Although a free market operates based on the law of supply and demand, wealthy people or owners of the means of production significantly influence government policies in their favor. That way, they protect their status and continue to accumulate more wealth at the expense of middle and low-income earners. Stiglitz claims that “The effect of each decision may be small, but the cumulative effect of large numbers of decisions, made to benefit those at the top, can be very significant” (Stiglitz 45). The small moves that the state makes favor wealthy individuals only. For Johnson to show how the bottom-up system works in the real world, he uses a...