Day 246: Green Economics – the Newest Fad?

Reading through a magazine, I came across an article on how traditional neoclassical economics is just not up to the task of providing an effective system of distribution for the world – with which I agree. 

At the bottom of the article, was a whole list to numerous websites promoting different forms of ‘alternative economics’. Being interested in exploring what’s out there on the internet in relation to new developments in economics, I copied the list eagerly to go through the various websites.

As I browsed my way through the 10 or so different websites, a communal theme started to make its appearance throughout the websites – they all looked ‘fresh’ and ‘green’ and we’re all about : reduce carbon emissions, shrink your ecological footprint – essentially: ‘save the planet’.

Something was just not right with this picture.

And then it hit me: this is just another fad.

Just as we have Spirituality within the realms of Religion, the Organic / Raw Food movement in terms of Food – we now have ‘Green Economics’ in the realm of Economy.

What all these movements have in common, is that they jump ahead of the issues that are relevant. Without first providing and ensuring dignified living conditions so all can have a life of delight on Earth, Spirituality immediately jumps to saving your ‘Beingness’ and ensuring that your Beingness can transcend to higher planes. But what is the value of such an objective if we can’t even manifest a sense of brotherhood and solidarity on Earth, within our societies and relations to one another? What is the point of ‘attaining our higher selves’ when we obsessively and compulsively wage War and destroy life?

What is the point of pushing and insisting on Organic Food when we have not even established basic Food Security for everyone on the globe?

What is the point of trying to save the planet through changing the way we do economics if we can’t even set our economic system up in a way that saves everyone from economic hardship? How can we expect to fulfill such a great responsibility as ‘saving the planet’ and ‘taking care of the Earth’, when we haven’t even proven our responsibility towards each other, towards one another as human beings? How can we expect people to support ‘Green Economics’ to ‘save the planet’ when every moment of the day is spent towards survival? How can we expect people to start treating the planet with dignity, respect and care when we haven’t shown that we can live these principles towards another?

If we can’t even actively secure Human Rights and treat one another as we would like to be treated – then we can’t engage ourselves towards saving the Planet. Our efforts towards ensuring that every human being on Earth in fact has a living standard that we would all deem acceptable – has been negligible to say the least. To at this stage demand everyone to treat the planet, nature, the Animal Kingdom with respect – would simply be a spit in the face of those who have never received any such kindness. When people are treated with disrespect and disregard, one is tacitly giving permission to those who receive such treatment, to transfer this treatment in kind to others. 

I’m not saying that nutritious food and ecologically balanced methods of producing and distributing goods is not important – as certainly these points would benefit ourselves, the planet and future generations; but the point is to acknowledge our track records, which is looking kind of dismal at the moment, and to not overreach in our objectives. Our race to ‘save the planet’ is currently one ran knee-deep in the mud, we may be spending a lot of energy on it but it’s not getting us far. So let us rather spend our energy towards getting the fundamentals right, towards getting in place the foundation that will ensure an effective campaign towards a harmonious management of our home, the Earth, by first establishing such a relationship towards one another – and then from there it will simply be a walk in the park, to extend this treatment to the Planet.   

The first step towards fostering an attitude and character conducive to the restoration of the Earth to a state of balance, is to first restore faith in humanity and our capacity to care, through implementing a system such as the Living Income Guaranteed by the Equal Life Foundation. This is a practical way to acknowledge our common humanity, our common Right to Life and to truly develop a sense of respect for Life on Earth, and Earth as Life. We cannot allow ourselves to ignore the impact human activity has on the Earth and the Environment. Only through equipping every human being with the necessary resources to sustain a dignified life, and equipping everyone with the tools of education, can we move as One towards caring for our Planet.

About the Living Income Guaranteed – from the LIG website livingincome.me

Why a L.I.G.?

The Living Income Guaranteed (“L.I.G.”) by the Equal Life Foundation is a Proposal geared towards addressing the most immediate Human Rights problems modern societies are faced with today. Current systems and approaches that have been implemented towards prosperity and well-being of the citizens within nations have been able to facilitate economic growth, but though the bounties of this growth have not yet been able to reach everyone.

The Living Income Guaranteed is aimed at assisting and supporting those individuals within society that find themselves in a disadvantaged position as a result from structural ineffectiveness and inadequacies, through providing Equality of Opportunity for all. The Living Income Guaranteed will function as the medium through which a state is able to remediate the most direct negative effects of a capitalistic system, while still being able to maintain some of the perks that such a system represents and embodies. The Living Income Guaranteed will thus aid in balancing Growth with Sustainability whilst effectively securing Human Rights.

What is L.I.G.?

Living Income Guaranteed stands for the provision of a Living Income for each citizen that is unable to sustain themselves financially to live a dignified life. Unlike the Basic Income Grant proposals, the Living Income Guaranteed is not invariably provided but distributed by a means-test. The Living Income Guaranteed is a social security net which everyone can apply to, when it is necessitated. This principle locks in with the Duties of the Government as laid out within most Bill of Rights, where the State is responsible to ensure the livelihood and well-being of its citizens when the citizen is unable to do so for him or herself.

For more information, visit:

http://livingincome.me

http://livingincomeguaranteed.wordpress.com

Related articles

• Day 227: The Myth of Conscious Buying
• Day 246: Green Economics - the Newest Fad?
• Day 363: The Delusion of Ownership on Planet Earth
• Disregarding The Declaration of Human Rights - An Artists Journey To Life: Day 492
• Day 251: Living Income Guaranteed and Market Mechanics

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Day 212: Everyone Needs a House - Why is a House not Guaranteed?

"There are 19,69 million active credit consumers, of which 53,1% are considered to be in good standing. The number of consumers with impaired credit records has slowly been deteriorating from only 37.7% in late 2007 to the current level of 46.9%."


-- Michelle Dickens, A Disguised Threat, The Witness, p. 13. 06 April 2013.

So, only about 10,45 million South Africans have credit that is in good standing. With a population of 50,5 million - of which about 18.5 million are under 18 - we have an adult population of 32 million. Of these 32 million only 10,45 million have access to credit - that is about one third. Two thirds is entirely excluded from credit.

Now - what do you need credit for? Anything from buying a car to buying a house/apartment. Although, currently, in South Africa, people have more and more started paying for daily expenditures such as food and clothing through credit as well.

Now - from those whose credit is in good standing - we have to remember that only a fraction of that segment will be able to actually afford something like a car or a house, because to have good credit doesn't mean that one has a income high enough to be able to get a loan or a bond large enough to be able to buy such things as cars and houses. So - we halve that amount - then we end up with 5,28 million adult South African citizens who can afford to buy a house or a car.

To have a house or an apartment is not a luxury - it's a basic necessity - everyone household should own one. Currently less than 10% of the South African population is capable of buying a house - one that isn't made of mud and sticks.

So - how is it that we think it is okay to have a market force decide on the distribution of something as necessary as housing? Where we end up with only a 5th of the population having access to the funds to buy a house?

If this is what we as a people think to be an effective way of distributing the goods and services that exist among the population - then yes, by all means - let's continue with what we have. But if you as I see the ludicrousness in this situation - then I suggest you investigate Equal Money Capitalism as an alternative way of distributing resources. A way where every household is guaranteed to have a house - lol, at least, then it would make sense to call it a 'household'.

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• Day 198: Why are Parents feeding their babies Mashed CheeseBurgers?
• Day 208: Is Equal Money a Fascist Regime?
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Day 176: Will the Elite Manipulate the Public to Push for Privatization in EMC?

For context, please read:

Strike to hit SAA on eve of Afcon
http://www.iol.co.za/business/business-news/strike-to-hit-saa-on-eve-of-afcon-1.1454062#.UPmk0PJBmSo

(SAA = South African Airways)
(Afcon = African Cup of Nations - Soccer)

The Problem

"The company dismissed claims that it was planning retrenchments, saying these statements were merely meant to cause harm.

SAA tried to avert the strike last week by reaching an interim agreement with the union, even though it recognised only Satawu as a majority union. When SAA acting chief executive Vuyisile Kona met NTM on January 11, he promised to resolve the dispute.

However, SAA backtracked on this commitment and the acting chairwoman, Lindi Nkosi-Thomas, said Kona had acted outside his mandate.

The union said this conflicting communication from SAA showed that the board chairwoman was “undermining her chief executive”.

Two weeks ago the government rescued SAA with a R550 million emergency loan to cover fuel costs, averting the grounding of its planes. Last year the National Treasury and the Department of Public Enterprises signed off a R5 billion guarantee to help the company with its financial troubles.

SAA has undergone drastic leadership changes in the past few months. Siza Mzimela bailed out as chief executive in October last year and several executives followed her. The board was also overhauled. This occurred while SAA was in the middle of exploring new aircraft deals to replace its ageing fleet and modifying its routes to focus more on Africa."

What is busy happening here is an example of how the elite is manipulating the public to ask for privatization. The Public Image is being destroyed through ineffective management. You can watch the documentary 'Catastroika' and 'La lluvia tambien' to see how the same techniques have been used in other countries. The idea is to prove that the public sector will always be inefficient and therefore as many companies as possible require to be privatized. Once the privatization happens, prices sky-rocket and the services and goods that were once agreed to belong to the public, will now be reserved to a much smaller group of people who can afford to pay the higher prices.

The Solution

Goods and Services that are a Basic Human Right cannot be put up for auction where only the highest bidders can access them. Within EMC - basic human rights will be provided to each one and will be provided by government, funded by taxes. The inefficiency of public companies is firstly often orchestrated to get the public to demand privatization, having the population play right into the hands of the elite - and, secondly, corruption plays a major role. Within EMC - privatization of basic human rights will not be permissible by law as it violates the Constitutional Principle of Equality. In terms of corruption, politics within EMC will be far more transparent than what it is now and politicians will have a much smaller role to play. You can read up on these points at www.equalmoney.org/wiki/Politics.

The Rewards

Obviously - everyone benefits from having their basic human rights met. When we have money, we don't realize or consider what it means to live in lack of the simple commodities and services such as having a decent house, having good healthcare, receiving proper education, clean water and so on. The simple truth is that without these things life is not worth living; it becomes a struggle - and I'm sure everyone would agree that life as a struggle is not what one would wish for oneself. Consider the changes this simple guarantee would bring about:
No more stress about having an unstable income and not being able to make ends meet
No more feeling guilty for not being able to afford proper education for your child
No more prostitution as a means of survival
No more vultures trying to take away what belongs to you

Related articles

• Strike to hit SAA on eve of Afcon
• Day 167: Harmony and Equilibrium within Equal Money Capitalism
• Day 170: Companies and Industries in EMC
• Day 163: Equal Money Capitalism - Redefining Profit
• The Future of Integrity with Equal Money Capitalism
• Day 137: Greece: The Birth and Death of Democracy
• Day 166: Corporate Social Responsibility in Equal Money Capitalism
• Day 171: Life-Force and Expression in Equal Money Capitalism
• Day 169: Equal Living within Equal Money Capitalism
• Day 165: Equal Profit Share and Equal Money Capitalism

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Day 164: Equal Money Capitalism - Preparing the Road for Change

Note: The EMC is an entirely new project that was started 3 days ago. We’re at the moment in the phase where we are brainstorming by answering questions. It’s a messy process – but an effective one to get all the relevant points addressed. So – also note that points will evolve and change as we go as we are not setting things in stone, but on a journey towards designing the EMC. The principles upon which EMC is based are laid out in the previous blog-post. From those principles, we work our way towards what life in EMC would practically be like and how the system will function from an economic perspective.

CHILDREN

When a child is born, the parents' company/companies will allocate an equal profit share for the child - which will be added to the parent's profit share. Every parent will have a company - because everyone will be employed.

UNEMPLOYMENT / FULL EMPLOYMENT

If unemployment exists - the government must step in to create jobs where possible - because employment is a basic human right.

ROLE OF GOVERNMENT

The government will still play a role to provide everyone with their basic human rights such as healthcare, education, housing, sanitation, roads, employment etc. So - the government will fund these points through taxes. The only tax that will exist are the value-added tax on products - this will be part of the labelling of products - where it'll show the percentage of the price that goes to tax and for what the tax will be used. There will be no need for an income tax to redistribute income in a fair way - because income will be distributed fairly from the get-go.

WILL VAT GENERATE ENOUGH INCOME TO PAY FOR ALL THE INFRASTRUCTURE: SANITATION, CLEAN WATER ETC?

VAT will be added to each product in a way to make sure there is enough within the common pool of money - which is the tax - to ensure all the basic rights can be provided. Also consider that with all military expenditure falling away - there will actually be quite a substantial amount of money available to governments with which to fund these projects.

DEBT

In terms of debt - whether it will be erased at the moment of implementation of EMC: all debt will be forgiven - it was not real to start with in any case.

MENIAL TASKS

All the jobs that no-one will want to do will disappear - the same point to the EMS applies- technology will have to be developed to replace those points - like self-cleaning toilets and stuff like that - it already exists.  All jobs of slavery that one wouldn't do if it weren't for the need to survive will go *poof*.

Initially, some jobs which are not nice will still have to be done, as the specific production processes to create particular technology/machinery has not yet been adjusted during this transition period. So for a moment, those jobs will still have to be done until the transition is complete - this will become part of the compassion department because you are doing it for the betterment of everyone. These type of jobs can be rotational in nature.

ROLE   OF EQUAL MONEY CAPITALISM WITHIN EQUAL MONEY SYSTEM

EMC is a transition to EMS - though it can still be seen - once an EMC is in place, whether it is desired/necessary to transition to EMS. In the end - the result is what matters, and this is always Equality and a Life Worth Living.

ABUSE

Abuse is psychological disorders as it harms innocents and we will prevent harm in every way possible, corruption will be very difficult in EMC. Remember the profit share motive is not one that allows boundless profits--it allows equal profits based on a life value.

OVERSIGHT IN EMC

Within EMC the principle will be that everything is to work in harmony with each other. Therefore - dependent on which level a point of disharmony occurs, it will be addressed accordingly. If there is a worker within a company that is not acting in a way that is best for the company as a whole - this point will be addressed by a tribunal within the company. If it is an entire company that is behaving in a disharmonious way - it will be addressed by government departments.

PRICING

Pricing on products will no longer be based on expensive or cheap-- or making profit --but rather sustainable pricing that ensures enough money in circulation to make the system function effectively.

Profit is not to be understood in the same way as it is now. At the moment - profit is what is left after wages have been paid and production costs are covered. Within EMC - there will be no wages - your profit will be your wage. So - every time a product is scanned when it is bought - the computer sees what percentage of the price is allocated to whom - and immediately the money-allocation happens accordingly. So - there's no need to wait a year to calculate profits - it will be immediate.

Related articles

• Day 163: Equal Money Capitalism - Redefining Profit
• Day 259: Give Happiness, Get Happiness
• Day 162: EQUAL MONEY CAPITALISM - The Way Forward

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Day 80: Monetary Policy - Part 3

I commit myself to educate people in what money currently exists as and showing that money itself is a scam and that those who benefit from the scam are obviously not the 'common man', but the few elitist groups such as bankers who are able to suck all the money towards themselves while ripping the common man from his money, his car, his home, his children's tuition fees and all that's required to live a dignified and fulfilling life.

I commit myself to see through the charade and assist others to see through the charade of the apparent generosity of banks in trying to 'help you out' by giving you a loan - where something that doesn't belong to them is lended to you and where you, on top of that, have to pay a fee for their apparent generosity because they're taking 'such a big risk' in giving a helping hand - instead I commit myself to show how, if each puts in the effort, with many willing and committed hands, we are able to provide each one with all necessities and commodities that are required for each one to attain their fullest and most absolute expression as life.

I commit myself to design an economic system based upon life, for life - where, if a mistake is made - it is realised that it is just that: a miss-take - and that the necessary support and assistance requires to be provided for a person to learn to make more educated and informed decisions that will adequately support them and their families - where it is common sense that a person cannot be judged on missing a take, but requires to be forgiven and requires to receive another chance - so that with each miss-take, a person sees and realises the opportunity to grow and expand themselves - instead of seeing mistakes as something that must be avoided and something that causes each one to live in continuous fear - because one cannot 'afford' to make mistakes due to the mercilessness of of greed.

I commit myself to stop considering myself as an individual being that only has to think about his/her own needs - but to realise that I am part of the human race, part of this world, part of life - and as such, I am not only responsible for taking care of myself, but of taking care of my fellow human beings and all fellow life-forms that we share this Earth with - and thus I commit myself to push for a new world of equality and not stop until all beings are taken care of and provided for in a way that allows them to discover and realise their full potential as an inhabitant of this physical planet.

I commit myself to living in this physical reality and stop entertaining fiction such as thoughts, beliefs and opinions - so that I can realise what truly MATTERs and so that as I, within this realisation, take responsibility for all of the physical reality - make sure that it does not suffer under the dominion of mind-creations of personalities, opinions, self-definitions, desires and wants - but to instead focus myself and my entire beingness within the physical as the true God - who, despite continuous abuse and despite our slaughtering of its children, has never stopped supporting us, has never abandoned us and has kept on taking the hits and blows of our delusions.

I commit myself to educate people in understanding real care and real love by pointing at the Earth that is here, still waiting for us to realise that we are a part of it - and not stopping until it is entirely destroyed by human kind - and thus, I commit myself to face my fears and stop my selfish desires so taht I can assist in avoiding the disaster of the end of Earth and the destruction of our chance to manifest Heaven on Earth.

I commit myself to show people that we are not in fact waiting for God, that we are not in fact waiting for saviours to ascend us to heaven - but that we are only waiting for ourselves to leave our selfishness behind us and work together towards the creation of a real Heaven - not somewhere up in the clouds or in a different dimension - but right here on Earth - with that which is already here, already available, but waiting for us to be seen, to be realised.

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Day 79: Monetary Policy - Part 2

I forgive myself for accepting and allowing myself to think that it is normal that banks are able to lend out money they don't have and, on top of that, charge an interest fee - which means that, when the bank wants to collect money owed to it - it will receive funds from various different individuals plus interest - and as such sucking all the funds towards itself, out of people's wallets.

I forgive myself for accepting and allowing myself to think that the story of the money supply is really as simple as it is as how it is presented in economic textbooks - while, in actual fact - money doesn't just 'get created'. Because when a loan is given and some positive number is written in a person's account - at the same time a negative number is created: as debt - and thus, even though it seems that money was created, it did not, because the debt must be paid - and the debt must be paid to those who created the money out of thin air: the banks.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to see and realise that the apparent 'generosity' of banks in 'wanting to help you out' with buying a new house or a new car, is attached to a day of reckoning, where outstanding funds are collected and if the moneys can't be paid - the bank will take everything you own and you are left with nothing - and herein there is no mercy or generosity - only the actual reality of the situation: Greed.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to question a world where each one apparently has the right to a decent life, but where, if one is unfortunate or has made a bad decision in life - one can end up in a situation where one's house, car and all valuable assets are taken away, becaues the bank is trying to mitigate its losses and what that means to you is really irrelevant as you are just one little player in their big money-making scheme.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to realise the absolute abhorrence of the nature of the human race if we think it is okay and acceptable and normal that wealth and money come before each one's basic human rights - and where we don't even stop to think what it means if banks have the ability to take away people's houses just because a person doesn't have enough money - instead of realising: who the fuck cares how much money a person has - each person needs a house to live in - as a human being, it is a simple common sensical point to take care of one another and make sure each one has a fucking roof over there head - who the fuck are we if we can't even fulfil such a simple, basic point?

I forgive myself for accepting and allowing myself to define a person's worth according to the number in their bank accounts, instead of realising that a number is just that: a number - it doesn't even refer to anything real, it is just a digital picture - instead of realising the value of the person as a physical human being and treating each person as such - an equal - because we all breathe, we all shit, we all eat, we all piss - and therefore no-one can say that they are better than another from a physical stand-point - we are all the same - and therefore, any value system must consider our actual physical reality and recognise the equality of reality - instead of entertaining the inequalities of all the fictional parts that we perceive to form part of reality, such as money, opinions, thoughts, beliefs, etc. - because if our value system only considers fiction, then we disregard the physical reality - and this can be measured in fact, as we see the status of the physical world deteriorating each day, with more species going extict, with more air and water being polluted, with more land becoming unarable, with weatherconditions increasingly becoming more erratic, with natural habitats being destroyed each day.

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