Sunday 30 January 2011

leaving behind the old values

Party politics and big business have not worked.  It's time to leave behind those twin pillars of the status quo. Even so called radial political parties like the Greens are perpetuating this stalemate, pretending they are an alternative, when all they are doing is propping up outdated values. 

This is an extract from an essay from The Resource Based Economy, a site dedicated to a world, which is free from the vicious grip that money has on us all. Where greed and competition are replaced by a realisation that only by mutual interdependence can we realise fulfilled and purposeful lives. To read the full article or to learn more about their work, click here  

A resource-based economy is a society without money with the earth’s resources distributed equally without any form of exchange, barter or payment. It is not a new communistic approach. Neither is it socialism or capitalism. It’s beyond communism, socialism, feudalism, fascism, capitalism or any other ‘ism’. It’s beyond any social system that has ever existed on this planet, at least in our awareness. In communism the state owns everything. In socialism the state owns something while the rest is privately owned. In capitalism everything is privately owned.

In a resource-based economy the world’s population doesn’t ‘own’ anything, but has access to everything. Anything ever needed, like food, clothing, housing, travel, etc. etc. is provided in abundance through the use of our updated knowledge, values and technology. There’s no ‘state’ that is the owner of the resources, and nothing is privately owned. In RBE the world’s resources are considered the heritage of all the inhabitants of this planet, not just a select few. RBE is not a society where we will live in scarcity with few resources. It is not a society where a few control and distribute the resources. No, it is a totally new society where we let today’s and tomorrow’s technology be developed to it’s fullest to work for us, and where we utilize knowledge about nature and technology to provide a life in abundance for everyone. It is a society where we truly have the option to take care of each other instead of struggling to survive.

It is a totally new way of life, unimaginable within today’s value system, but still something most people truly long for in their hearts. It is a world where we can call ourselves Free and live with dignity and respect for each other, nature, the planet and the universe. It is a concept where value no longer is measured by money, but rather by the joy we feel, the contributions we make, and the development we take part in. It is a society where we utilize our minds and hearts in providing a healthy life for everyone, developing our knowledge about nature and technology, and using this in the most sustainable way.

Imagine a world without money, barter or exchange, where everything is provided for everyone, and everyone can pursue their own interests and dreams and live in the way they want. Be it moving closer to nature and grow your own garden of delicious vegetables, travel the globe and experience the wonders of the planet, make and perform your own music or collaborate with others to develop a new invention for the betterment of society. In a society where we don’t have to think about money and profit, we can truly develop ourselves and the human race into something completely wonderful.
 
The monetary system
The monetary system doesn’t work anymore and is obsolete. This is obvious when you look at today’s world with increasing unemployment, financial crisis, endless consumption producing endless waste and pollution, not to speak of crime and wars. You could say money has outplayed its role on this planet. It produces greed and corruption through the profit motive we are all a slave to. The economy is falling apart, and everyone seems to be struggling to get richer and richer or just to make ends meet. The financial crisis has so far made over 200 million more people end up in poverty. Now, about 2 billion people in the world are considered poor. Poor countries that have received massive loans from the World Bank have become much poorer after receiving the loans, because of the interest. And they can only hope to pay it back. The collective external debt of all the governments in the world is now about 52 trillion dollars and this number doesn’t include the massive amount of household debt in each country. How can we owe each other so much money??? Because we think we need it.

We don’t need money
It turns out that it’s not money we need. We cannot eat money, or build houses with them. What we need is resources. Food, clothing, housing, etc. Money is just a hindrance in making the resources available for everyone. Imagine if there was no money. Right now. No money. Everything would still be there, wouldn’t it? The trees, the mountains, the houses, cars, boats, air, grass, snow, rain, sun, animals, birds and bees and the people. Nothing has changed, really. Why? Because money doesn’t really exist. There’s no money in nature. It’s only an agreement between the world’s people, used for thousands of years as a medium for the sale of goods.

It was a means of which people could trade stuff that they all needed. Labour, food, housing, etc. If it wasn’t scarce, there was no need to charge for it. Like water and air. The rulers claimed ownership to land, and thus became the “owners” of this land. They could then charge others for using it and for stuff that was produced there, like it is today. And the property could be sold and inherited in the bloodline. “Banks” became invented, and eventually; loans. And now society has become addicted to it, like a drug. But, like a drug, money is something that we don’t really need, we only think we do.


2 comments:

  1. Hmm ... interesting ... I am broadly in sympathy - I'm just wondering - what do we do about health care? OK, you can have a few 'wise women' and herbalists - but how would you transition from a society used to having a gp a hospital, preventative health care ... C sections, heart bypass - let alone IVF, gender reassignment?

    This is a genuine question - I'm not in any way putting down your argument, I'm just hunkering down by the fire and chewing the fat!

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  2. Hello Jackie

    Well it’s a good point. If the idea of a RBE is ever to become reality (and that is a big if), then our ways of doing things will have to alter radically.

    As to how healthcare would be shaped, well for a start as you know, many illnesses are due to out lifestyles, obesity, alcohol and cigarettes and so on. In a RBE hopefully, many of the things that cause people to become ill, such as junk food would not be around. Even the way our homes are designed contribute to our ill health.

    But, and this is the crucial point, the exponents of the RBE are not back to nature idealists, where everything modern is seen as evil. Hospitals will of course be needed, although the wasteful duplication of medicines will end. Doctors and nurses won’t need wages, as we know the concept now, for there will be nothing to spend wages on; everything we will need is out there already, the idea that we need money to survive is just plain delusion. Will people want to work for free? Well yes, for as I said all of their needs will be provided for anyway.

    Many of the things we think we need today, banks and prisons for example will not be needed although the awful waste of duplicated medicines will be left behind.

    Here’s a link to the Venus Project, an organisation founded by Jacque Fresco. It is he who originated the concept of RBE.
    http://www.thevenusproject.com/

    Best wishes

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