Day 211: Labour Flexibility and Equal Money Capitalism

In Zimbabwe, the Reserve Bank has been laying off people as part of desperate cost-cutting measure. The employees that had been retrenched have not received their full retrenchment packages that they are supposed to get.

In the meantime, people are unemployed and are finding it hard to find a new job, with many resorting to work in the informal section. In Third World countries like Zimbabwe, entire families are often dependent on a single person’s income. This leaves many families suddenly without the necessary funds to pay for their medical aid, while kids are not going to school anymore since they can no longer afford to pay the school fees.

Some have gone as far as killing themselves as they succumbed to the stress of unemployment and no retrenchment package in sight.

In the light of all of this, one economist had the following perspective:

“The idea that people are deserving of compensation if their employers can no longer retain them has never been properly justified. The employees’ compensation for their labour was given to them as their wage every month while they were working. Why should compensation continue when their work is no longer needed?” Robertson told IPS.”

This is your typical ‘Free Martketeer’ opinion – where people are no longer considered as being living beings, but are reduced to mere commodities, which one should be able to hire and fire as one pleases. They also have a fancy word for it: “Labour Flexibility”.

Obviously a statement like this will only come from someone whose job is secure and will not find themselves being thrown around by the merciless tides of the labour market any time soon. The Corporation as an entity on its own has gained a superior status than living, breathing, human beings. The corporation is a dead thing – it’s merely an assembled structure. Yet, it’s the corporations who are in the position of ensuring life security to people, and when this is threatened there are consequences:

““The suffering of the retrenched workers is transferred to their families, children and spouses. Tension and stress grows, leading to unwarranted domestic disputes and eventual violence and abuse of children,” Bohwasi told IPS.”

Within Equal Money Capitalism, we get this.

That is why Labour Flexibility within Equal Money Capitalism will take on a whole new dimension. Instead of Labour Flexibility entailing the freedom of the corporation to hire and fire with no restrictions in place – Labour Flexibility will be a principle of understanding that one require to be Flexible with Labour, as it is clear that one will not always be able to occupy the same job position. This may be due to fluctuations in the needs and requirements of the population, the environment or technological innovation. Thus, within this flexibility, the corporation ensures that one can continue employment elsewhere (such as the compassion department), as the corporation understands and realizes that the only capital which matters is the Capital as Life as the employees who bring life into the corpus of the Corporation– and will thus tend to its Capital with the utmost care and respect.

To Read the full article on the Zimbabwe retrenchment disaster, go to: http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/03/zimbabwe-struggling-to-pay-laid-off-workers/

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Day 167: Harmony and Equilibrium within Equal Money Capitalism

Note: The EMC is an entirely new project that was started a week 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-posts. 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.

Income Gap?

Q: There is a gap in production before a product reaches sales, how is that gap covered, meaning before this whole system is in place who is going to pay the living wages to people?

Everyone from birth will have an income allocated through the parent - so until your income from profit share is equal to everyone else's income - this point will remain in place and one will still receive an income within such transition periods.

Company Oversight

Q: Will there be a large bureaucracy to ensure compliance with EMC principles?

A: Within EMC the principle will be that everything is to work in harmony with each other.

Therefore - dependent on at 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.

Taxation and Banks

Q: Will VAT as being the only tax generate enough income for government to pay for all the infrastructure, sanitation, basic human rights and so on?

A: 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.

Q: Will there be also company tax - where any profits higher than what is necessary to pay employees - go as tax to government?

A: No, surplus profit that successful companies make, will be transferred to a bank.

Banks in an EMC will exist as financial intermediaries, gathering surpluses to cover deficits in other places. So - the banks will be in charge of providing extra funds to companies who are running a deficit. This point will always be temporary and the required funding will lessen as there is an intervention that takes place and action is taken to make the company more effective and able to compete.

When companies with deficits are identified - someone will be sent to intervene, because it might indicate that the company is not effective. Then the problem must be identified and they have to learn from those companies that are successful - so that all may become equally successful and effective within managing resources and distributing goods and services.

Global School Curriculum

Q: Will we have a global school?

A: The principles of the educational curriculum will be the same on a global level, where the goal is to educate humans to become the most happy, the most effective and the most empowered individuals. How this is practically implemented and translated into a curriculum will be specific to each region.

Q: Why specific to each region?

A: Education doesn't require to be the same for every person all over the world - environments differ and so the curriculum must be tailored to ensure effective living within each one’s particular environment and culture

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Day 166: Corporate Social Responsibility in Equal Money Capitalism

Note: The EMC is an entirely new project that was started a few 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-posts. 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.

Allocation of Profit Shares and Price Determination

Q: Will profit share allocation be calculated on a yearly basis as is done now or how it would take place?

A: 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.

So - understand - that within EMC - you only ever pay for added value - added value is the value you add to a resource through labour - that - and then of course your tax. So - you're not paying for your resources. When value is given by a person - the person receives in return through profit. When resources are used by companies - they must give back as much as they can. So if a company uses wood within their production process, there will be a department within the company that plants trees. The same with using water - if clean water is taken - the dirty water after the production process is complete, must be purified and go back to the Earth. So - resources won't be owned - it will be a matter of take what you need and give back as you received.

Population Growth in EMC

Q: How will population increase be dealt with?

A: In terms of money supply - as more people are born, more money requires to be printed - because more people require an equal income. The money supply is increased through the government printing money and spending money. If population shrinks, money requires to be removed from circulation. In terms of slowing down population growth - income for those who are currently poor will play a big role within it. Many poor families have many children so that there are more workers in the family to bring in more income. When that necessity falls away, families will become smaller. It has been shown by scientific research that when a family's income increases - less money is spent on 'quantity' of children - and more is spent on the 'quality' of the child’s life - if you have a large amount of children it becomes harder to support them in such a way that they become the best and happiest person they can be.

Resources in EMC

Q: Who will own the resources in an Equal Money Capitalistic System?

A: No one will own the resources - they belong to the Earth and we may use them while we are here.

Q: How do we make sure that not too many resources are used in EMC?

A: On the level of companies - sustainable use of resources will be managed in two ways. A company must support the Earth in such a way that it can most effectively renew the resource that was used. This is managed by the Environmental Departments of Companies (See the section on ‘Immediate Allocation of Profit Share). For non-renewable resources or when the eco-system requires more extensive support - quotas will be implemented - placing a cap on how much of a particular resource can be used within a particular time-frame.

On the level of households – sustainable use of resources will be encouraged through a number of ways:
The first point is to introduce recycling – whenever you go buy something new - you bring in the old so it may be recycled by the company. This will already remove a lot of the strain on digging up new resources instead of re-using what has already been processed.
Second – products will require to adhere to certain standards - where warranty will have to be as long as possible so that people don't require to go and buy new things to replace old things too often.
Other waste that is produced by households will require to be managed by certain government departments or government funded companies. For instance – drinking water that is used in the home for instance, that people pollute - will be addressed by the sewage system, which is a government point - where the government is in charge of purifying the water again.

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Day 163: Equal Money Capitalism - Redefining Profit

Note: The EMC is an entirely new project that was started 2 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.

OVERTIME / FREE TIME

The point will be to optimize FREE TIME

Overtime - working past your regular hours. There will be no need for overtime, it will be unnecessary, because it is not your labour that holds the value - it is your life and all life is valued equally. Overtime would only come into play when for instance a natural disaster occurs and those assisting are required to lend a helping hand for longer than usual because the situation demands so in that case, one doesn't get paid for overtime - because it is a point of compassion and understanding - and to show that one is more than a self-interested human. Overtime now only exists so people can make more money - so they can buy more stuff - in EMC - you will have enough money to buy what you actually need. All economic slavery jobs where people are forced to do it to survive will end if people do not have to do it

Will we have more free time in an EMC - definitely - as we employ all the labour of each person - it will take less time to get the same job done. Every person will still work the same amount of time - this must be agreed on by all. For those whose jobs simply doesn't take up that much time or if a person's job is replaced by that of a machine - the Compassion Department of the Company will take care of you. This Department of the company creates jobs that will benefit society as a whole.

HOLIDAYS

There will be holidays, probably more than now - because with all the unemployed people that currently exist that are integrated into the labour force, each one will require to put in less time in the production process, it would be cool for everyone to have like 2 months off a year so that you can go and travel and stuff.

While you're on holiday, you will still receive your profit share of the products that you helped produce, because your added value helped to create the product.

 HOLIDAYS AND CHILDREN

 For those who have children - holiday time will be when your children are off school, for those who don't have children - it will be during the school time.

WHAT IS PROFIT-SHARE?

Currently profit is the money a company makes after they have covered their costs, including paying out wages. In an EMC - profit comprises of all the added value that is placed on resources - which is your labour. Therefore - within the price, the percentage share must be included of each one that was part of the creation of the product in such a way that each one ends up with an equal share of the company's profits, so - there will be no need for wages - as the profit becomes your wage.

EQUALIZING WAGES – COOPERATION AMONG CORPORATIONS

If a company at any time makes more money than they need to provide each one with their equal share of the profit as well as covering their costs - those monies will go into a fund that is responsible for assisting companies that are not making sufficient to cover their costs and provide each one with their fair share. That way a balancing effect takes place so that all companies are not only cooperatives in how they cooperate internally - but all cooperate with each other as well.

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Day 146: The True Price of your Cheap Clothes in NeoApartheid

In Bangladesh, 100 workers were killed in a factory fire. Yes - this was one of the factories we all know about where clothes shops in the West have their clothes made by people working extremely long hours for basically no wages - I mean, can you call $43 a monthly wage?

Labour conditions and security measures in these factories are barely every up to standard. Due to short-term contracts with the clothing retailers, the factories are not certain whether they can afford making investments to upgrade their facilities and improve workers' safety.

Why these factories exist is because people all over the world have become slaves to money. Money decides whether you have food, a roof over your head, an education, a life. The same goes for people in Bangladesh - except, there is not much money to go around - therefore, anything they can get their hands on, they'll take - therefore, implicitly accepting a life of slavery, because in some twisted way: slavery is seen as better than death.

But what is more - these types of factories exist because clothing retailers that sell clothes at cheap prices, simply need slaves to make them in order to turn a profit. The true cost of the clothes you buy is not reflected in their cheap prices. The true cost of your clothes includes everything labourers such as the factory workers in Bangladesh have to give up to make these clothes for you in the worst conditions as this event shows.

The retail shops are able to escape accountability due to the claim that they often don't know which factories make their clothes. The simplest lie in the book: "But I didn't know!"

NeoAparheid not only refers to the fact that the money decides what you have access to and that the elite will do anything to manipulate the flow of money to their own advantage - but also to the fact that those who have will distance themselves from those who have not - all trying to wash the blood off their hands through ignorance. We're all familiar with the experience of turning our gaze from a beggar on the street just to not face the disgrace of inequality that is accepted in the world and how we have absolutely no valid justification as to why we have enough money to get by and even afford a level of luxury, while others have nothing at all. The same happens when we buy cheap clothes in a shop. We revel in an experience of excitement and victory - because 'my friends will LOVE THESE and that was such a GOOD DEAL!' But we conveniently ignore the obvious truth in looking at the physical labour that is involved in the production of the clothes as well as getting them all the way to you - and then comparing these physical facts to the cheap price - there is an obvious discrepancy where you're not paying the full price to properly cover all the costs - and thus - someone else is paying for your clothes - not because they want to, but because they have no other choice.

Turning a blind eye doesn't make the problem go away. Donating to charity doesn't make the problem go away. The only way to solve the problem is through radically redesigning our economic and political system that adheres to a Constitution that ensures all interactions and decisions are always conducted according to the Principle of Equality and What's Best for All.

Assist us in designing a Real Solution at www.equalmoney.org!

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Day 131: The Justice System – also a Scam?

Foreign Farmers Undermine Food Security in Zambia

Unlike in many countries, where large-scale farming companies dominate the agricultural landscape – it is smallholder farmers who constitute most of the farming activity in Zambia.

Many foreign and local companies are now involved in land-grabs, where large stretches of land are taken to develop their plants and factories.

On this land, live many people – who all depend on the land they have to survive, to grow food, to send their children to school. The problem is that most of these people do not hold official title deeds of the land – so legally speaking, they do not own the land: they are squatters.

So when these companies move in and take the land, things like this happen:

“They (the South African agribusiness) came with guns and threatened to shoot anyone who resisted moving out. They burnt all our household properties without any notice. We were almost 200 households. They burnt my food barns, clothes, blankets, bedding, television set – they even burnt my fields”

Before colonization, the common way of land tenure was through customs. You get a piece of land, you work it, you “own” it. Only after colonization, was statutory tenure introduced , where the whole legal technicalities and you having a particular piece of paper saying you own the land became a requirement.

So, imagine you are one of these Zambian farmers. You live on a piece of land, you grow and eat your own food for most of your life, and then someone comes chasing you off with guns and burns your shit down because you don’t have a paper that proofs that this land belongs to you. You live in a rural area, you are poor – the process of acquiring such a legal document can cost up to $2000 and take anything from 2 months to 10 years. There’s not much choice now is there? You’d have to basically sell your land to come up with the money to get a paper that says you own the land – but by then of course it’s already too late.

Zambia’s situation is not a very pleasant one, 59% of the people live below the poverty line, and 65% of the people live in rural areas. The dislocation of these farmers does not just destroy their personal lives, but will also generate consequence for the whole of the population, as food security turns into insecurity.

If we look at the definition of ‘justice’ we get:

1. Just behavior or treatment.
2. The quality of being fair and reasonable.

The situation described above is not fair nor reasonable – these people’s lives are completely disregarded in the favour of those who can afford to acquire legal documents. This in itself shows that the Justice/Legal System is corrupt – as one has to bribe their way in to be able to be part of the legal system.

This is completely unacceptable and goes contrary to everything justice as a principle is supposed to stand for.

It is time, once more, to critically investigate the nature of our reality and what we participate in.

In an Equal Money System, no such phenomenon will have space to take place – as all will be IN FACT equal, and not have to buy their way in. You are here on Earth, you should not have to ‘earn’ your living or prove that you are worthy of existing based on your economic and legal status. Investigate Equal Money – the only valid alternative to transform our world of abuse and corruption to a world that is Best for All Life.

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