Here is Number 18: Time Dollars
Time Dollars is mobilizing the vast reservoir of human talent untapped by
the market economy to rebuild the infrastructure of caring and trust that
holds us together. Through a new tax-exempt currency called Time Dollars,
decency can now be rewarded as automatically as self-interest already is.
Source:<http://www.cfg.com/timedollar/whatis.html>
Bob McDaniel wrote:
> Bob McDaniel wrote:
>
> > > Thomas:
> > >
> > > <snip>
> > >
> > > The only human jobs for the semi- to unskilled will be as a
> > > Courier driver delivering parcels or pizza delivry guy/girl
> > > and even both of those "jobs" could be automated. It's time
> > > to own up that we need a new way to distribute income other
> > > than working - the production of goods and services are
> > > still there and need consumers to exist so I suggest a
> > > significant tax be added to each machine or group of
> > > machines that eliminate work. Prices will stay the same
> > > because automation is cheaper than labour but the government
> > > will have signicantly more resources to distribute to those
> > > who have been marginalized.
> > >
> > >
> > Not a bad idea. I expect that the tax is to be enforced by the UN!
> >
> > Let's make a list of steps to take to effect a smooth transition to the
> > cybernated economy:
> > (not to worry about feasibility at this brainstorming stage!)
> >
1. Reduce the length of the work-week (4 day)
2. Extend ESOPs (Employee Stock Ownership Plans)
3. Extra tax on corporations not participating in ESOPs (to be used by
govt. to buy stocks on behalf of employees)
4. Educational system cultivating a mind-set geared to self-employment
and the "meaningful" use of leisure time
5. Corporate "profit centres" become employee owned
6. Individual persona incorporated into expert systems and royalties
paid for each use, e.g. actors' attributes may be incorporated into
computerized images
7. Infomediary professionals trained to facilitate the interface
between people and their automated systems
8. Give greater official encouragement to the establishment of
role-playing societies (pioneer villages, period societies (e.g. 18th
century society), etc.), "living museums"
9. Establish system of micropayments (perhaps modeled after LETS
(Local Employment (Exchange) Trading System) in which people accumulate
an income through numerous microtransactions
10. Right to privacy modified to include a right to payment for providing
the personal data (including opinions) required to support the automated
economy
11. While business may still compete, nevertheless inculcate a more
cooperative mode conducive to the sharing of information (perhaps
primarily but not solely via the Internet) by forming cross-institutional
teams
characterized by information literacy
12. Founding of voluntary neighbourhood productive associations
("consentives" - to use Robert Theobald's term) may be particularly
applicable to low income areas
13. Encourage the expansion of DIY (do-it-yourself) activities taking
advantage of sophisticated hi-tech instructional systems (which may also
provide access to LETS so people can easily find those who can help, given
that they
have neither the time nor inclination to complete a task)
14. And then there's the Tobin Tax, a proposed tax on global
corporations' electronic financial transactions
15. The role of volunteers is critically important to many organizations
dedicated to helping the disadvantaged. Some firms grant paid leave to
employees who can provide skilled help to such organizations. The
volunteer system may be a vehicle for transferring wealth indirectly
16. "1984" with a new face: Pervasive global electronic surveillance
systems ensure that _each one_ of the earth's billions of people can be
acknowledged and their needs entered into a database - something like GPS
(Geographical Positioning Systems) ensuring that no one need ever be lost
again
17. The practice of "twinning" cities, "adopting" highways may be
extended globally to possibly establish a more grassroots approach to
Third World development as an alternative to the International Monetary Fund.
Information may replace money as the means to development. Outfits like
CESO (Canadian Executive Service Organization), CUSO (Canadian
University Service Overseas) and the US Peace Corps may be precursors
... etc.
A note to those who almost inevitably will assume that I am a proponent
of these thoughts - I'm _not_. These are probes only (to use Marshall
McLuhan's words).
--
http://publish.uwo.ca/~mcdaniel/
