Dear Friends, all.
Our Friend, John, makes revealing comments about the problem's of today's
(sic) economics (recall that the greek word oikonimos = care of the
household ! )
In the spirit of helping form a set of solutions, I add, at the end:
- an action plan from The Fair World Project.
I hope that it helps.
co-operative hugs from,
john courtneidge
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The full 'Fair World Project' text follows at the end: please share.
Thanx !
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>From: "Johnny Holiday/John A. Taube" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
<snip>
>In Hanson’s fourth paragraph, he contends that only by marshal law could
>the U.S. reduce its consumption by 95 percent. Hanson’s statement is
>over simplified. Whether we have marshal law or conventional law, by
>reducing consumption in our socioeconomic structure, our “Price
>System,” employment is correspondently reduced. Because 95 percent
>reduction in consumption will so drastically affect employment it will
>create a state of panic whether we have marshal or conventional law.
>
>It appears that Technocracy is alone in realizing that because we
>function with a Price System in our advanced technological age, the
>“change in the time rate of doing work” has forced us to be gluttons.
>Just why is this so?
>
>In primitive colonial times our nation’s production was strictly
>hand-tool. Think of this: For centuries metal – ferrous and others – was
>fashioned by the blacksmith with a sledge hammer and anvil, strictly
>hand-tool. Nobody uses that method today. It was replaced by a
>drop-forge and it turns out that drop-forges with a mere “look-see”
>skeleton crew has replaced the old hand-tool huge workforce that existed
>for centuries. In modern times, the work force need in metal
>fabrication per unit of production is trivial in comparison what it used
>to take.
>
>I’m 87, born in 1912. While I don’t remember the exact year, it probably
>was 1921 that our class went on a field trip to the telephone company
>and I have a vivid recollection of it. Banks of women at switch boards
>doing hand-tool, grueling, monotones, tedious work. Now what? Computers,
>with a skeleton “look see” force have replaced that multitude of
>hand-tool people who composed the old workforce.
>
>Our technology with a skeleton “look see” work force produces a plethora
>of goods. Our Price System requires that these goods are moved from
>inventory to consumer; failing this, the system collapses. In order to
>avoid a panic condition we have to be consumer gluttons.
>
>Where can one study this reduction of the work force and its effect on
>our society? Log onto Technocracy’s official web site,
><www.technocracy.org> and, beside reading other articles, especially
>read M. King Hubbert’s “Man-Hours and Distribution.” Additionally log
>onto <www.technocracysf.org> and click on MENU and especially read “A
>Commentary to Jim Lehrer.”
>
>Before closing this piece, it will be beneficial to consider one other
>matter. There are a variety of groups that focus on the fact that not to
>distant in the future oil reserves will have reached such a low point
>that the existence of our scientific-technological age will be
>threatened. Everyone of these groups fails to realize that whatever is
>done to adjust to the shortage of oil but still leave intact our
>socioeconomic structure, our Price System, nothing has really been done
>to solve our problem. Hopefully, each one of these groups will study
>just how our Price System must be dumped if we are to have any future at
>all.
>
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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
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