Dear friends, all,
** 'Creating A Fair, Safe and Peaceful World' : a step by step
commentary: Part 1 (of 7) **
A little while ago, Bill Bradford (I think it was?) suggested that I offer
a step by step walk through the 'Seven Point Action Plan of 'The Fair World
Project' (which is fully reproduced at the end.)
I hope that I don't burden anyone by doing so: here goes.
*********
Part 1 of:
'The Co-operative Way - A Seven Point Action Plan'
1) Convert competitive, market-based activities into workplace co-operative
partnerships and remodel monopoly activities as stakeholder co-operatives.
*********
Commentary 1
All (?) of the economic relationships that history has seen, up to now, seem
to have been coercive - force-full - in nature.
Such coercive economic systems imply the presence of 'weaker' members and of
'stronger' members,
- where, in each of these micro-economic relationships, the net effect
is the creation of an abundance of hurts,
and where,
- each of which filters 'down' to those least able to pass the hurt onto
another.
Thus, in these coercive economic systems, the 'weakest'
- children, the ill, the poor, animals and the planet -
have all taken the 'beatings' that coercive economics (tribalism,
feudalism, capitalism, state-centred 'communism' and the other
totalitarianisms - even the 'new' information-age economics) *all* have
brought.
It would seem, then, that we need to nurture and nourish 'co-operative' (as
compared to 'coercive') economic units, and hence Point 1 of the Seven Point
Action Plan.
Accordingly, if we can transform individual economic 'workplaces' into
appropriate co-operatives (where each *demonstrably* adhere to the evolving
International Co-operative Alliance's 'Co-operative Principles') then we
might have some chance of creating the 'peaceful' part of:
- 'A Fair, Safe and Peaceful World'.
*********
I hope that this has helped,
Your Friend in peace, equality and co-operation,
john
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The full 'Fair World Project' text follows: please share.
Thanx !
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*** Creating A Fair, Safe and Peaceful World ***
Can we consider that our shared goal is to create a fair, safe and peaceful
world?
If so, it seems that we need to transform the economic system in which we
live, so that:
o people, together, are in control of their lives,
o where all work for the long-lived benefit of all: caring for the
long-lived benefit of the whole global ecology, and all its inhabitants.
To find the way forward, we need to have strategies for the three core
features of present-day economics:
o ownership of workplaces and knowledge used for profit,
o ownership of land and natural resources, and their use for profit,
and
o the practice of money-lending for profit.
To be able to deal with these three, core aspects, we must, first, return
money to its proper use - as a lubricant of human activity, created by, and
flowing through, nationally-owned, democratic, public service banking and
financial systems.
With them in place, we can, then convert workplaces into appropriate
co-operative enterprises, such that each has respectful stewardship of land
and knowledge resources:
o ensuring that everyone receives a fair, guaranteed income,
o ensuring that proper stewardship of the planet is our central task,
This suggests the following Seven Point Action Planš:
The Co-operative Way - A Seven Point Action Plan
1) Convert competitive, market-based activities into workplace co-operative
partnerships and remodel monopoly activities as stakeholder co-operatives
(see points two and five for the funding mechanism to achieve this);
2) Redistribute the added-value wealth from the workplace co-ops through
nationally-collected corporate taxation, distributed into local,
democratically-controlled, Community Banks: and, so, make money and credit
available for responsible wealth creation and community development (and the
conversions referred to above);
3) Maximise necessary service provision (health, education, libraries,
transport and so on) on a free-at-the-point-of-use basis, retaining money as
a mechanism for access to discretionary purchases.
4) Introduce guaranteed income for all, within upper and lower brackets
and, so, do away with personal taxation;
5) Abolish money-lending for profit and, so, operate banking as a public
service (see point two above);
6) Reintroduce international exchange controls as necessary;
7) Make capital grants (not loans) to developing countries.
We hope this action plan gives us all a good basis for a practical, moral,
sustainable and co-operative economics.
Your Friends in peace, co-operation and equality:
The Fair World Project 13 North Road Hertford SG14 1LN (UK)
[EMAIL PROTECTED] (+44) 01992 501854
