01 — SCALE

How short is our planning horizon?

Before examining any specific decision, it helps to see the time scales clearly. The industrial era, the AI era, and our typical planning window — all on the same bar.

2026
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Haudenosaunee Confederacy (~1,000 yrs)
Industrial era (~250 yrs)
AI era (~15 yrs)
7-generation horizon (175 yrs)
The civilization that gave us this principle has been applying it for a thousand years. Our current political cycle is four years. The consequences of decisions made in the AI era will play out across a window 44 times longer than the planning horizon we are using. Explore the full Seven Generations framework →

Sources: Haudenosaunee Confederacy est. ~1,000 CE (Fenton 1998); Industrial Revolution ~1760-present; ChatGPT public launch Nov 2022; 7th generation principle per Haudenosaunee oral tradition.

CEO-to-Worker Pay

Drag the slider to see how the ratio changed since 1965

21:1
1965
1965197819891995 2000201020202023
In 1965, a CEO earned about 21 times what their average worker made.

Source: Economic Policy Institute, CEO Compensation Survey 2024

Healthcare: Spending More, Getting Less

Tap or hover any country to compare · Bubble size = population

Source: OECD Health Statistics 2024, World Bank

Who Falls Through the Cracks

Each icon represents real people in the current system

Americans without health insurance
27.6 million

Each icon = 276,000 people · Source: Census Bureau 2024. Note: The 2023 CPS survey (most recent) counts ~25.6M uninsured at time of survey; our figure of 27.6M reflects estimates that count those uninsured at any point during the year. Methodology affects the count.

Children in food-insecure households
13.2 million

Each icon = 132,000 children · Source: USDA Food Security Report 2024 (final report before series termination)

What We Choose to Fund

Annual cost per person

INCARCERATION
$41,000
per prisoner / year
PUBLIC EDUCATION
$16,080
per student / year
UBI AT $1,000/mo
$12,000
per person / year
Incarceration
$41,000
Education
$16,080
UBI ($1k/mo)
$12,000

Sources: Vera Institute of Justice 2024; NCES 2024; UBI calculation at $1,000/month

Note: These are per-person annual costs, not total program costs. The populations differ dramatically in scale — 2M incarcerated, 50M students, and a universal program covering all ~330M Americans. The comparison illustrates spending priorities, not equivalent budget lines.