Dear friends, all,
** 'Creating A Fair, Safe and Peaceful World' : a step by step
commentary: Part 2 (of 7) **
Firstly, my thanks to all who commented upon the Part1 commentary: I greatly
value those contributions, even though I know that I haven't been without
blemish in the speed of my replies - sorry!
So, here goes with a commentary on Part 2 of the Seven Point Action Plan.
I hope that I don't burden anyone by doing so.
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Part 2 of:
'The Co-operative Way - A Seven Point Action Plan'
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);
*********
Commentary 2
At the heart of the human condition, it seems, is the continuous struggle
between satisfying our selfish needs and our social needs.
Since our selfish needs are (literally) so visceral, there seems a pervasive
tendency for individual selfishness(es) to evolve into social inequality.
Growing social inequality leads to social tensions which are, both,
unhealthy for the individuals in those societies, and for the societies in
general.
Thus, there needs be a mechanism (or mechanisms) that continuously serve to
reduce inequality: to recirculate, in other words, growing aggregations of
money, wealth, power from those aggregations into those places of deficit.
Hence the proposal to recirculate surplus, added value *directly* from the
co-operatives suggested in Part 1 (rather than the post-distributive
taxation from individuals, presently attempted under capitalism.)
The places which inter-mediate this transfer have to be transparent to all
members of the society, or else fairness or peacefulness (two aims of this
Project - to create 'A Fair, Safe and Peaceful World'.) will be at
jeopardy - hence the:
'democratically-controlled, Community Banks'
element in this section.
These seem central to creating '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 Plan:
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
