Earth has no scarcity of resources. Our current resources may be finite and limited, but more than enough to give all 7 billion of us a decent life. 8 Billion people can be fed with more efficient use of current food production
It is possible to have global abundance of resources right now. Every human being the world over could be fed, housed, have access to health care and education. Flowing from this would be a dramatic decrease in crimeand mental illness.
Money is the reason we have scarcity. Since money is merely debt, it is impossible for humanity to be free as long as money exists.
We are distrustful of each other and we must be distrustful. Money breeds deceit, greed, and selfish behavior. Our governmental institutions cannot be trusted. We know this. We've witnessed a corrupt political process play out daily throughout the two year (possibly longer) election cycle we've just escaped.
In 1992, the total outside election spending was $19,635,123. In 2012, the total outside election spending was $1,064,272,846.
We fight a bitter, inch by inch war against the Republicans on this site. We fight for Social Security, Medicare, Education....We fight to Protect Labor, Equal Pay for Women and Minorities...it is an all out war and something akin to sport.
All of that energy and all the good members of this site achieve is doomed to fall short of the desired goal. The truth is there is no magic candidate that can come along to save the day. There are no laws, regulations, or constitutional amendments that will bring about an egalitarian society.
I propose a solution. Below the fold.
Had the 99% movement succeeded many wondered what we would if we had won.
I spoke with a man that proposed we cap the amount of money a citizen could spend an idea I heard from Every Man a King speech by Huey Long in the 1930's.
I've had brutal debates with republican's opposed to raising the federal income tax by 3% on the wealthiest American's, and this current debate is obfuscating the real solution.
We are stuck in a forest observing the leaves and branches. Redistribution by taxation is not the solution; eliminating money altogether is the means to truly achieve our objectives.
A brief summary of our monetary policy:
The U.S. Government issues bonds and requests money from the Federal Reserve. They then deposit this money (Federal Reserve Notes) into banks. The banks (in a practice called "fractional reserve banking") then loan out up to a 10:1 ration of the money deposited. As long as they keep 10% in reserve, they just create money out of thin air.
This is what the 99% movement was fighting against: A Ponzi Scheme, the greatest scam ever perpetrated on humankind. A Ponzi Scheme which not only relegates the mass of humanity into wage slaves, but ultimately destroy our environment and render the planet uninhabitable for complex life-forms.
In the movie, "Zeitgeist Addendum" a man named Jacque Fresco proposed a resource-based economy. We have the technology to organize global resources in a way that could minimize waste and maximize efficiency.
Money is a hindrance to technological advance not an aid. We all experience it with our electronic devices. Planned obsolescence. The scrapping of electric cars. The myths regarding wind, solar, wave, geothermal energy.
We were promised with increased efficiency and goods a 15 hour workweek. Impossible in our current monetary system. In fact, 80% of all jobs currently held by Americans can be replaced through automation tomorrow.
We bemoan the fact that automation leads to the loss of jobs instead of celebrating the fact. Because, with automation comes unemployment and a struggle to live. Instead, it should lead to decreased labor for everyone.
It is time for a change. Let's think Big. Let's, as Barack Obama said, be the one's We are waiting for.
I call for the end of banking. The end of money. A new beginning for the world.
This may seem fanciful today. So many things which seemed impossible yesterday are possible today. There is a better way to form a more perfect union.
Let's not wait until the collapse of our financial system, riots, military oppression, etc. to call out for change. Not trillion dollar coin will save us from an inherent flaw in our economic system.
No more debt. No more poverty. The almost cruel thing about it we've had the ability all along but have been prisoners of our own culture, and our own limited perspective.
This is a new age. Our age. Let's change the world.