Day 252: The Rich Be Cursed, The Rich Be Blessed

This image of Harris Rosen has been circulating Facebook. I find it amusing to read the comments made under it. On the one hand society is angered by the rich for appropriating such huge amounts of money for themselves while others are struggling to make ends meet. Yet, when one of these rich people takes responsibility for one neighborhood, he is revered and blessed for doing 'God's work'. This creates quite a conundrum, because on the one side the rich are seen as the problem, as the cause of hardship of the poorer groups in society, but on the other side charity by the rich is seen as a miracle-solution, a divine intervention, that may save the world. The rich are cursed and the rich are blessed.

Truth is that it is indeed unacceptable that some may bathe in glory and riches, the world at their feet, if this disproportionate wealth is enabled by an economic system, which is the same system that can deny others a life of basic dignity. Even the most liberal philosophers tend to agree that liberty cannot be increased at the expense of others' opportunity to improve their well-being - yet due to the interconnectedness of our lives as a result of a shared economic system, it is undeniably what is happening.

At the same time one can see in the example of Harris Rosen that problems such as crime and structural poverty can be remedied through generosity, through giving, through sharing. But can we allow such charity to be dependent on the benevolence of the few rich who give a damn? Perhaps we have no choice, because one needs to have a lot of money to give away a residual amount one doesn't need for personal support. Of course, such a situation is unsustainable and implicitly allows the suffering of many as we submit to the whims of those who have the money to affect change. But is this the whole story?

In fact, each one of us has the power to affect change, because each one has the ability to vote for change. This vote of course does not mean much when the only available proposals are the ones who maintain the status quo. This is where the Living Income Guaranteed proposal intends to offer a solution. With Living Income Guaranteed, the rich can live by the principle of liberty, putting their talents to use to improve their own lifestyle and fulfill their dreams - while at the same time each one is guaranteed of a life of dignity with the opportunity to improve themselves and build themselves up to a similar position. With Living Income Guaranteed, charity would be institutionalized through the provision of a Living Wage to anyone who doesn't have the means to otherwise support themselves. Such a Living Wage can be funded through the profits of companies that form part of the national heritage. This means each citizen is owner of these companies, and in effect, each citizen takes part in charity. As such - we ensure that charity reaches every neighborhood and every family in need of it - and not the lucky few that happen to live in a neighborhood that some rich fellow 'fell in love with'.

The word 'charity' comes from the Latin word 'caritas', which can be translated as 'generous love' - or in other words, charity stands for: Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself - and as the word 'generous' shows: requires giving. As a principle - charity should then not be exclusive or temporary, but institutional; as an agreement by the people to do unto each other what we would like to be done unto.

With Living Income Guaranteed we would no longer curse the rich, because their enrichment is not done at the expense of the rest of society and we would no longer bless the rich, because we have empowered ourselves be the source of the greatest charity through enabling a Living Income.

For more information on the Living Income Guaranteed Proposal - please read this Document and visit http://livingincome.me.

Related articles

• What If Every Millionaire Were to Follow Harris Rosen's Lead?
• Day 252: The Rich Be Cursed, The Rich Be Blessed
• Day 227: The Myth of Conscious Buying
• Day 350: A Living Income Guaranteed will End Charity - for Real
• Day 228: Sorry I'm not Qualified to Understand That

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Day 193: Is Equal Money Capitalism Doomed to Fail?

This blog is in response to a comment made on one of our Previous blogs:
Day 162: EQUAL MONEY CAPITALISM - The Way Forward

The idea of equal contribution, equal share, equal this and equal that is probably doomed to failure form the beginning because it will require consent as to what an equal contribution really is. This is impossible to determine and thus causes conflict. Victor Schauberger develops a different viewpoint based on his observations of nature. Nature always produces abundantly so there is always enough for all. This idea is always adopted in the Venus Project. Taking these considerations into account, I believe it is possible to set up an "economic" system where all is indeed free and freely shared by all. - Axel

With regards to your comment I would like to draw your attention to the following Response which has been made to a similar comment on the Equal Money Goals on the Equal Money website Homepage :


The comment:
I do not like this Goal and Suggest Rather the Following…
"Who determines the "Best Possible Life for all on Earth"?" December 03, 2012 16:25


Our Response:
We live in a physical reality which works through particular laws of nature. 'What is Best' is thus never determined from someone's personal view or opinion - but derived from how things practically function and operate within this world.



Therefore, meaning of 'Best Possible Life for All on Earth' will be determined by each one through democratic means, where input must be backed up by scientific evidence and must take place within the framework of Constitutional Equality.

The same principle applies when looking at ‘what is equal’. When we say ‘providing for all equally’, we do not mean ‘providing for everyone the same’. On an individual level everyone still has different requirements in terms of tending to one’s needs – and thus the support one require will vary from person to person to reach an equal level of living standard. Within this, some will get more, other’s will receive less – depending on one’s individual situation – but the outcome remains the same in terms of having one’s basic needs taken care of and having everything in place to live a dignified Life. Determining what is required for each one to live at this level will require investigation and individual assessment which will take time and effort – but is not impossible.

Taking this into consideration, equality is not doomed to fail. In terms of ‘consent’ – all that is required to be agreed upon is that all are of equal value as Life within this world, and that one agrees that all ought to receive the support necessary to live a dignified life. In terms of determining the ‘necessary means’ for each, this will be mostly a scientific undertaking and not based on personal opinions. Conflict can then only arise when there is a point where someone does not understand why another or self receives or gives in a particular way and perceives a point of injustice/inequality to be existent. Herein, the scientific procedures/evidence would be put forward to indicate the extent to which someone receives/gives. Unless one can provide scientific evidence/proof that shows otherwise – one would have to re-align oneself according to the information put forward or go through a correctional process as insistence that something is ‘not fair’ while the evidence shows that it is equal, would indicate a form of mental disharmony within the person which requires addressing. 

Related articles

• Day 183: The Myth of No Alternative and Equal Money Capitalism
• Day 259: Give Happiness, Get Happiness
• Day 171: Life-Force and Expression in Equal Money Capitalism
• Day 162: EQUAL MONEY CAPITALISM - The Way Forward
• Day 181: Applied Equality in Equal Money Capitalism
• Day 192: Demand and Flexibility in Equal Money Capitalism

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Day 24: Who put the G8 in Charge of the World?

"The G8, is made up of the seven most powerful economies of the world, (United States, Japan, Germany, France, UK, Canada, Italy) and Russia.

Together they form a very powerful and influential (though informal) group of nations. For example, they accounting for almost 50% of the votes at the IMF and World Bank."

Shah, A. 2008. G8 Summits: Empty promises each year, June 2010. http://www.globalissues.org/article/720/g8-summits-empty-promises-each-year

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to question why the G8 is in charge of running the world.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to realise that any form of democracy on a national level is meaningless if the global economy is mostly influenced by a group of nations that no-one elected to be in power and who can thus simply manipulate the global economy to suit their own interests.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to question why the 8 most powerful nations hold annual summits where they discuss their plans for the world and how they wish to attain their goals, wherein the public is never involved or asked to vote on these goals and implementation methods.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to question the concentration of power over the world's resources in 8 countries who are already the most wealthy of the world - therefore ensuring that power and wealth will always be on the side of the rich while effectively suppressing the poor.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to realise that the simple fact that the G8 prescribe structural adjustments that the poor must undergo in order to transform their economies and political structures without even consulting or discussing anyhting with these poor nations - show how the G8 do not hold their interests at heart in any way whatsoever, but merely interfere and dominate because they can.

I forgive myself for accepting and allowing myself to live in a world where the most powerful decisions are being made in a way where I have absolutely no day - where I can not directly vote and where there isn't even a form of representation applied.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to realise that actual democracy - where the people decide and rule - can never exist unless it is applied on all levels - local, national and global.

I forgive myself for accepting and allowing myself to simply submit to the G8 because it has the most power by virtue of its combined economic, military, and diplomatic capabilities - showing that each one lives in fear and is dominated by the few.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to realise that democracy can never exist without real equality, because in an unequal world, the most powerful and wealthy individuals and agents will simply take control and side-step the entire democratic system - because they can.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to realise that equality is a prerequisite for real democracy.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to realise that currently - no matter how many so-called democratic nations there are - the world is ruled by money votes and not by the principle of one man, one vote - where the rich and powerful will always be able to push through policies that are to their own advantage, without consideration for who pays the price.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to realise that a political democracy is impossible if the economy is inherently non-democratic, because the economy always yields to the most wealthy and those who run the economy, automatically run the political scene - and thus, every aspect of human life.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to realise that the only way to democratise our economy is through implementing an Equal Money System where each one unconditionally receives the means necessary to live an equally dignified life - and thus each one has equal economic, and consequently, equal political power.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to realise that an economic system that is non-democratic in its very nature will never be able to ensure a worls where all of humanity, let alone all living beings, equally benefits from participation in this economy.

I forgive myself for not accepting and allowing myself to realise that any attempt to improve the current state of the world through political processes is a ridiculous waste of time if the issue of equal economic power is not addressed first.

I commit myself to expose the true nature of our world and who runs the show and how, despite beautiful talks of freedom and democracy by political leaders - those principles are not applied in any way that really matters.

I commit myself to educate people in the importance of equal economic power in order to really be able to live together peacefully and in consideration of each one so as to ensure a world where everyone is better off all of the time.

I commit myself to investigate the powers that run and control the world and question their legitimacy instead of merely accepting that what is, is and that there's probably a good reason for it or that there is probably no other way.

I commit myself to the effective and acual equalising of all human beings on Earth through ensuring equal economic power for each within an Equal Money System so that decision-making can be done on an actual democratic basis.

I commit myself to scrutinsing every aspect of our world and how it currently operates to assess in common sense whether what is currently existing is really in the best interest of all or merely in the interest of the few that dominate the masses.

I commit myself to educate people on what it is that we are accepting and allowing to exist in and as this world so that each one is able to take responsibility and actively engage and participate in redesigning it in a way that supports all living creatures to live a life worth living.

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