Day 258: Will Implementation of LIG put more Stress on the Ecosystem by Creating more Consumers?

Q: "When LIG is implemented and people, who were mostly outcasts, become able to fully participate in the system we can probably expect a huge increase in consumption putting more stress on the already suffering ecosystem of the planet. How can we deal with this effectively"




A: "This is why other structural changes form part of the LIG proposal.

1. That before a product is produced, market research must be done that establishes a genuine demand for such a product as the mentality is followed that when a product is produced, we can create the demand for it through advertising.

2. Advertisement should stand in relation to informing potential consumers about what the product is, how long it will last, what the materials used are, how the price is determined - appealing to a person's rational choice making capabilities, without using manipulation and persuasion tactics that appeal and attempt to influence a person's emotional state of mind.

3. Durable products (eg: something that you use several times, like a vacuum cleaner or a bed, a car, etc) require to be approved by the bureau of standards where they have to be able to show that they have made the product to last for as long as reasonably possible.


The purpose of all these measures is to counter the trend of living beyond our means - where we have been depleting the Earth's resources faster than we can replenish it through producing and selling goods that no one truly needs or wants, but are sold through manipulative means of convincing the consumer that they DO want and need this good, and through producing inferior goods that were made to break. So, LIG intends to align our ECOnomic system to our ECOlogical reality - which is an absolute must if we intend our children to inherit an Earth that is not damaged beyond repair. We are the custodians of Earth - whether this position is rightful or unrightfully claimed is beyond our time - we have placed ourselves as humanity in the position where we are the only ones who can make a change to the health of the planet we inhabit - and thus we have a responsibility to do so."

For more perspective, visit www.livingincome.me !

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Day 184: The Relationship between Ecology and Economics in Equal Money Capitalism

 The Problem

One of the major fundamental problems of the current economic system is its relationship to Ecology. What has been forgotten or not considered, is that both the words 'ecology' and 'economy' have their origins in the same word: the Greek word 'οἴκος' - which means 'house'. The ecology is the study of the house, or the environment - where ecology studies what conditions and principles require to be in place in an environment for species to flourish in it. Economy, then is the management of the house or the environment. Knowing this, we would expect that both work very closely together and that, economics is in service of ecology - because what's the use of managing the environment if it's not in service of making sure that the conditions and principles in place are those that provide optimal support?

Though - in today's world, the opposite happens - the economy is seen to be more important than ecology. It's okay to try to establish an optimal environment, but only in so far as it does not harm the economy. Whaaaaat?! That's, like, the world in reverse. And then the environment is attempted to be valued in economic terms by placing a price on it - instead of looking at the basic value of a forest in terms of what its role is within the ecosystem that we all benefit from.

The Solution

In EMC - we place everything back in its rightful place - where first the conditions and principles are studied in terms of what is required to be in place for the environment and in an environment for species to flourish together as part of the same ecosystem - the same house. In this, we look at all the different kinds of environments - like nature, like a family, like your human physical body, like a school, like a company like a community. Once those conditions and principles have been identified, we can look at how to manage the resources the Earth provides in a way to satisfy these conditions and principles. The same approach will be applied for all Life - not only the human species - because animals for instance form part of an ecosystem and a balanced ecosystem is the one that is most supportive.

So studies like ecology, physics, sociology, education, psychology will form the basis of economics and not the other way around - where today, economics determines science in terms of what is currently being researched as that which is the most profitable.

Rewards

The idea that humans are more than the environment will be disengaged, as we will realize that both require to support each other if we're going to attempt to effectively share the same planet. The human, then, will transform from a parasite to an expression of Life.

Living within supportive environments will allow us to flourish as individuals, as communities, as a species, able to explore and expand ourselves to reach our full potential as a part of Life on Earth.

We will no longer have to break our heads about how to mitigate all the damaging effects of our economy and feel guilty about passing on our mess to the next generation - because we will bring children into a world that is already effective, that is already balanced, that is already equipped to adequately support itself and them.

Most problems that are created as a consequence of inadequacies within environments will be eliminated. This means - an extensive reduction in health problems, an extensive reduction of stress and midlife crises as a result of counter-supportive work-environments, an extensive reduction of psychological problems, an extensive reduction of extinctions of animal species, an extensive reduction of abuse in families - because within correcting the foundational problems within all kinds of environments, we eliminate the root causes of much of the dysfunctional behaviors on a physical, social and psychological level that we are faced with today.

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• Day 167: Harmony and Equilibrium within Equal Money Capitalism
• The Future of Integrity with Equal Money Capitalism
• Day 259: Give Happiness, Get Happiness
• Day 180: The Word 'Capitalism' in 'Equal Money Capitalism'
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Day 160 - Stewardship in an Equal Money System

Stewardship

Nature and Symbiosis

When left to operate naturally, the plant and animal world exist in a symbiotic relationship with each other. Symbiosis is, in essence, a giving and receiving – a form of value exchange. When all parts of nature are allowed to exist in a symbiotic way – they together exist as a massive and complex life-support system, which human beings are meant to be a part of.

A profit-driven system has altered how we view and participate in nature, where we have started to take more than we require and virtually stopped giving back, hereby disrupting the balancing effect nature requires in order to be able to perform its function as a symbiotic life-support system.

Monitoring the Well-Being of Animals and Plants

In an Equal Money System the human being will reintegrate himself as a full participant of nature – where nature is not just something ‘out there’ anymore – something we ‘visit’ once in a while when we want to ‘get away from it all’. Instead, nature is part of our world and we are a part of nature. This means a rediscovering of what it means to be a human as a physical being and a redefining of our relationship with our environment. In order to best support ourselves, we require to best support that which supports us: which is nature. The challenge before us is therefore to restore the Earth to a state of being where it can operate in optimal conditions, as a smooth-running life-support system.

Where the human is involved with animals and plants, the human will monitor the well-being of those plants and animals and become a care-taker of the area that they are occupying – because there is a human impact. Any form of problematic development, such as soil erosion or human waste, as a result of human impact – requires to be managed by the human.

Where humans are not a part of the environment, nature will take care of itself. For instance, if a certain animal or insect increases in numbers to such an extent that they become a negative or destructive impact on their environment – the forces of nature will bring about equilibrium through, for instance, some form of natural disaster that reduces the numbers. Those kinds of natural disasters, which bring about a new form of equilibrium, are part of the distribution cycle of nature. Or if, for instance, a rabbit population expands too rapidly in a certain area – it will cause predator birds to have more access to food, allowing more of them to survive and reproduce. Eventually these birds will be so big in numbers that they will reduce the rabbit population back to where it was. Having less food available, the birds will also reduce in numbers again. So, nature has a variety of ways to correct situations of disharmony and imbalance.

Unlike human beings, animals and plants are very proficient in using the least possible resources. They don’t have the tendency to simply hoard for the sake of having. That is why the form of competition that occurs within nature brings about actual equilibrium, whereas this is not happening in our economic system – because animals and plants will only compete for what is necessary and understand that if their environment as a whole exists in the most optimal way – they themselves will benefit most. Therefore, we will not be tracking every animal and plant to monitor the well-being of each life-form, we will, in essence, be tracking the human impact on nature. This will enable us to assist nature in re-establishing equilibrium where it has been lost. Our role as a human will thus be to rehabilitate nature as a steward so that it can correct itself and re-establish its expression into what it is meant to be.

It must be understood that nature, as a life-support system, has inherent value and that its importance does not only extend in so far as it gives us nice experiences – when we go to the beach or go for a safari-trip. Those experiences are of secondary importance and may not interfere with nature’s expression and optimal functioning. As said above, our interaction with nature will change, where we are not just ‘enjoyers’ of nature, where we no longer merely sit back and ‘enjoy the view’ – but where we are active participants – identifying where nature is struggling to maintain itself and step in with rehabilitative programs and projects – and thus, become a part of the flows of give and receive.

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Day 157: Growing your Own Food and Equal Money

"You can't tell people they can't do something because that will motivate them further. So my hypothetical situation is this. You plans are in full swing and the majority of the planet is behind you but thousands of people don't like the system of ordering food at the touch of a button or swipe of a card and they gather in their city square and protest outside your building then more and more people join until there are endless seas of angry people outside your building that no longer want to be dependent on your system and instead would like to grow food themselves but in your fields that your system has acquired do you let them grow their own food or do you call the riot police to sweep these complainers off your front door. In addition to this I would say I don't want to be dependent on nothing but the earth for it has enough to provide for all without your idea of regulating it we need abundance in all reaches of the globe so we need only ourselves and our generosity. "

Any points of discontent with the organization of society, can be reported by each individual through their online Life Profile (see Politics Wiki page). Riots, marches, demonstrations and massive protests are only applicable in a system where the people are not being heard and where the system stands in opposition to the well-being of the population. Within an Equal Money System, each point of discontent will be addressed on an individual level - where you don't require thousands of people to stand together to make themselves heard. When addressing a point of discontent, which indicates a point of disharmony, it will be assessed whether the disharmony is a result of the organizational structure of society or whether there is a point of disharmony within the person, such as for instance a lack of understanding regarding particular policies and the research these policies are based upon.

Within your example of growing one's own food, there are several points to be considered. Firstly, any point that is made available to one person, must be made available to all people equally. Therefore, to allow one person to cultivate land for food production, implies allowing everyone to do the same. Within this, it must be considered whether it is Best for All to convert such massive amounts of land for agricultural process when this is not part of the Earth's natural expression and can have ramifications in terms of the harmonious balance that is required for the Earth's Life Support System to function effectively. Secondly, the desire for growing one's own food must be investigated. Meaning: does it stem from a lack of quality from the food that you are receiving? In this case, for each one to grow their own food is not necessarily the required solution - but instead one would require to upgrade and better the already existent food production processes. If the desire to grow one's own food stems from simply wanting to participate in such activities as growing food, then each one can on a voluntary basis participate in the already existent food production processes.

Currently, many resort to growing their own food as a coping mechanism because the profit motive compromises the quality of the available food. Without the ability to influence those processes directly, such a reaction is understandable, because there is no alternative. In a system of Equality wherein the well-being of each individual is safeguarded by the Constitution, one would not need to resort to coping mechanisms for the purpose of bettering the lives of only a few. Instead - each one will engage to find solutions that better the life of All. 

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Day 97: An Economic Life Support System

I commit myself to expose how we, through accepting and allowing ourselves to merely see ourselves as limited beings who are incapable of any form of change, believing that we cannot stop our selfish, and thus, self-destructive nature, even if it is actually leading us to destruction.

I commit myself to educate people in seeing and realising that an individual in itself cannot exist and cannot sustain himself - as the physical reality is an interconnected system of life-support - and as such, without a group, without an inhabitable planet, we as individuals cannot exist.

I commit myself to stop the raping of planet Earth in all its forms - where the Earth is seen as what it is, a humongous life support system - and if we do not support the Earth in return, we will end life on Earth, if not Earth itself.

I commit myself to educate people in seeing and realising that it is not necessary for each human being to work for their entire lives, because we have the technology to minimize labour for each human to only require to work a limited amount of years, such as 4 years.

I commit myself to change the current economic system from a system of complete and utter disregard towards Earth, to a system that operates according to the principle of Life Support in every way.

I commit myself to let go of any preconceived ideas of what is possible and what is not possible and realise that if we take a big project and we approach it one step at a time, breath by breath, then it becomes do-able.

I commit myself to the uprooting of any beliefs that limit humanity through accepting statements such as 'that's life' where we completely surrender to the belief that the way things are, are the way things should be and the only way they can be - instead of just standing up and saying 'no more!' - to together as one, step by step, breath by breath - manifest a new world, one of which we're proud and one of which we can truly say: this is life!

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Day 96: Individual Above Group?

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to realise how we are depleting the Earth's resources at a rate that is way too fast for Earth to keep up with, without there being any real reason to it, as we can,as humanity, decide to restructure our societies and economies, so that only what is required is produced and so that all resources are used in the most effective way.

I forgive myself for accepting and allowing myself to believe that capitalism is the only economic system that ensures efficient use of resources, when it is obvious that it is capitalism and the incentive for more, more, more profit that is causing us to use up way more resources than necessary, where everything is made to break, and things are used for only a few years and then tossed back to the Earth in a manner that will take ages to be reprocessed and re-assimilated into/by the natural environment.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to realise how the Earth keeps on supporting us unconditionally, and all we're doing is work against her.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to realise that an economic system that is apparently superior to anything else, where one of the consequences of this system is that the Earth is on a steady road to destruction, is obviously nothing but a failure and requires immediate correction.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to realise that if I continue to act in a way that only considers what I think is best for me and disregard what is best for the whole and each human being on Earth keeps doing the same - then we will destroy the whole, and take ourselves down with it, because we are part of the whole, and - like it or not - we cannot exist without it.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to realise the extent of the delusion of the mind if it thinks that the individual is more important than the group - because if you look at the physical reality - you as an individual is absolutely useless, and you simply cannot survive without an environment of animals and plants that support your physical existence - because if the individual were more important than the group, then you wold not require plants and animals to feed off, you would not require trees to purify the air for you, you would not require the soil to purify the water for you, you would not require physical support to heal your body, and so on and so forth - but you obviously do - which means that the group really is really as important as the individual, because without a group, there is no individual.

I forgive myself for accepting and allowing myself to believe that when a simplistic solution is presented to a big problem, that it must mean that the solution cannot work - instead of realising, that we simply have been completely ignorant to the stupidity of our ways, in that, all along, we could've changed our world by making simple adjustments - but we didn't.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to realise that all job-related problems are really unnecessary, as with each person working for a time of 4 years, the labour supply would be sufficient at all times.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to realise that the statement "that's life" that is spoken in relation to all the heartaches and pressures that come with finding a job, keeping a job and making sure to have enough savings or retirement funds - is completely invalid - and simply indicates the extent of our acceptance of the current situation, where we equate conditions of absolute and continued abuse, to life.

I forgive myself for accepting and allowing myself to give up before having started in thinking that there is no way we can restructure and reorganise our societies and economies in a way that allows us to work together with the Earth and each other, where in the end, everyone is better off - because it seems like such a 'daunting' and unimaginable task - when really, if we take it step by step, breath by breath - it can practically be done.

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Day 54: Government Intervention - Part 3

I commit myself to expose that any type of intervention within the current economic system completely useless – since we are changing some of the variables in the equation but the equation is still rooted within the same principle – as the principle of self-interest and gain – and whatever changes we implement within the system, will be rendered useless throughout time as self-interest will always prevail – as this is how we set up our system

I commit myself to show that the problem with economics is the very root, as the starting point of economics and the specific character role which has been assigned to humanity – where the starting point is to distribute limited resources in such a way as to attempt and satisfy unlimited wants of humans – where money is the deciding factor as to who gets to satisfy their wants/needs and who doesn’t – and where the human has taken on the role of the self-interested character who is allowed to do whatever it takes in the name of profit

I commit myself to expose that an economic system with the above equation and variables as its starting point can only result in disaster as it is based on unsustainable goals and the reckless/unreliable/irresponsible nature of the human being – having left out all and any consideration regarding any other beings but itself

I commit myself to expose that any action concerning change within the system for the betterment of Life on Earth is not in fact altruistic – as any change within the system is rendered useless by the overpowering authority which has been given to self-interest and the pursuit of happiness and so the only altruistic act, the only act of unconditional love would be the abolishment of the current world system and replace it with a system which is Best for All Life as the Equal Money System which Values Life, that which is real as the physical reality over Mind Delusions as Money

I commit myself to show that standing / support a cause which does not cause the replacement of the current world system is useless and will most likely only bring more suffering as the workings of the current world system as the reflection of the mind is not understood

I commit myself to the education of the human being so all may see/realise/understand how this reality actually operates as it is merely reflecting / mimicking the workings of the Mind


I commit myself to expose that we cannot sustain our current world system as it was not designed with sustainability in Mind and thus the best thing we can do is release ourselves from the current world system as it is a parasite sucking the Life out of Planet Earth and all the living beings as plants, animals and humans – and so I commit myself to remove the parasite and replace it with a system of Support as the Equal Money System where NONE are left behind

I commit myself to the redefinition of economics – where the starting point of economics is no longer that of the limited anthropocentric view of life, but a starting point of Biocentrism* where Life is put as the centre cause and where the Human no longer plays the role of Self-Interested Agent looking out to satisfy his own desires, but is placed in a position of Stewardship*/Custodianship – here to support other Life forms as itself within an Equal and One consideration and respect

*Biocentrism: Biocentrism states that nature does not exist simply to be used or consumed by humans, but that humans are simply one species amongst many,^[4] and that because we are part of an ecosystem, any actions which negatively affect the living systems of which we are a part, adversely affect us as well,^[4][5] whether or not we maintain a biocentric worldview.^[4] Biocentrists believe that all species have inherent value, and that humans are not "superior" in a moral or ethical sense

*Stewardship is an ethic that embodies responsible planning and management of resources.

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