E-mail to the members of the German Bundestag

To the motto "Should not be said, we had not known"  we had sent an email to all members of the German Bundestag and the Federal President  already at 09 June 2005.  Answered then had members of the CDU, the Greens and the SPD, and the President.

Almost eight years later, in the global financial crisis we sent on 11 March 2013 again an e-mail to all members of the German Bundestag.


Answers (if any) can be read on our German blog.

The solution to the financial crisis: Gradido - Natural Economy of Life.

Dear Mr .............

In the Gradido Academy for Economic Bionics we have for years been studying the question of what we can learn from nature in order to achieve worldwide prosperity in peace and in harmony with nature. 3,300 people from all social classes worldwide are currently participating in the research project »Natural Economy of Life«. I would like to present the results up to now to you:

Our debt-money system is racing into the crash with mathematical precision. Bailouts help to gain time until the solution is there.

The solution is available now:

Gradido – Natural Economy of Life.
A way to worldwide prosperity and peace in harmony with nature.

- Patterned on nature
- Active Basic Income
- 100% full employment
- Ample national budget including health and social services
- Equalisation and Environment Fund for decontaminating the environment

The common good currency Gradido is created not by debt but by contributing to the common good. Environmental protection and restoration are the most lucrative industries of the future.

You can find more details about this in my book »Gradido – Natural Economy of Life«: http://gradido.net/user/10008/files/Gradido_ebook_en_Edition2_free.pdf

With Gradido you generate climate-friendly sustainable prosperity of historic proportions – now.

Please check out the Natural Economy of Life!
The countries which are the first to introduce it and the politicians which support it will go down in history.

Don’t hesitate to contact us – we will be glad to advise you.

Yours sincerely

Bernd Hückstädt

Gradido Akademie für Wirtschaftsbionik
Inh. Margret Baier
Pfarrweg 2
D 74653 Künzelsau
Tel. +49 (0)7940 546 0810
Fax: +49 (0)7940 547 500
akademie@gradido.net
http://gradido.net/Academy

Economic simulation: Gradido versus the old monetary system

In my blogpost »The destruction of the village«, I describe in a little story, how our current money system destroyes with compelling mathematical precision the formerly healthy structures and produces exactly the disastrous conditions which we witness today in small and large scale.

In the Gradido Academy we have developed an economic simulation game, which let the participants experience this on their own body. The simulation consists of four passes, two in the old debt money system and two in the Gradido model,  the Natural Economy of Life. We run this simulation game within our seminars and consultings. It can also be booked for conferences and similar events.

Simulated are ten businesses of daily living (including the Bank) and the State. In the first year houses are built and the economy is booming. In the second year the finished houses are finished, no need to build anything. We have recession.

Current money system 

Because in our monetary system by the law of balance the sum of assets must meet exactly the sum of debts, some of the participants have at the end of considerable assets and go to the winning side. The remaining participants (usually the majority) have to share the debt and go to the losing side. 

Since the loser can not pay back their loans, the banks get into trouble, partly go into bankruptcy and thus also on the losing side.

Now the state has to take care of the losers. Firstly through social programs and secondly through bank Bailouts. The State have no other choice than to go into debt. And so he goes on the losing side too.

The above chart shows the typical distribution after the second round, at the end of the debt-money version of our simulating game. From eleven players are eight on the losing side, the two large bars at the right stand for the banks and the state. The three players on the winning side can not become really happy too, because they attract all envy and hate from the losers and have to defend themselves if necessary by force of arms. Seen such, they also lose. A zero sum game produces only losers in the long run. 

Gradido – Natural economy of Life

How much different looks the image in the Gradido model! All are in the plus. And all have more than have enough to live. Nevertheless, there are still differences, stimulating competition. 

Gradido is a plus-sum game. Here there are only winners. The large bar at the right stands also for the state, who has considerable surpluses (without need to impose taxes). 

Experience it for yourself!

With this simulation game, you get in an entertaining way a deep insight into the problems of our current monetary system, which does not allow other conditions for mathematical reasons, and into the brilliant solution, that enables prosperity for all – in peace and in harmony with nature. 

There is probably no faster, more effective and more sustainable way to experience with all your senses the fatal mechanisms of our current monetary system and simultaneously the beneficial solution. Therefore, this simulation game is part of our seminars and consultings.

Even if you perform conferences, meetings or other events on Money & Economics, you can offer your guests this unique experience. 

Your request may be directed to akademie@gradido.net

The destruction of the village – Creation of deposit money

Our monetary system has some absolutely glaring dysfunctions, which already from a purely mathematical viewpoint do not permit any different conditions from those we have in the world at present. I would like to explain what I mean by this in a story:

The nice little village

In a little village live three families:

• The Farmer family
• The Tailor family
• The Mason family

Whatever there is to do, one of the three families does it perfectly or they do it together. The Farmers are in charge of producing food and also run a small country inn. The Tailors are responsible for everything to do with clothing and are famous for their traditional costumes. The Masons are talented craftsmen who are always on the spot when there is something to build or repair. Nothing is lacking in our little village; the villagers are happy and contented.

The bank comes to the village

One day a young family, the Bank family, moves to the village from the nearby town. Mr and Mrs Bank are thrilled by the idyllic villages and would like to make their contribution to its prosperity. They invite the whole village to the country inn. There they suggest that each of the local families open a current account. At first this is free of charge. If they have a debit balance it costs a small amount of interest but for this they can afford much more immediately. Besides that, the Bank family would make purchases in the village, thus bringing the interest they have taken in back into circulation. Each of the three respected families would receive an overdraft of  € 10,000 without special security, i.e. everyone is allowed to overdraw their account by € 10,000. No sooner said than done.

The economy flourishes

The first thing the Farmers do is to have their inn redecorated. The Tailors decide to hold their daughter’s wedding reception in the Farmers’ inn. For this big celebration all the villagers have new suits and dresses made by the Tailors. In this way visible prosperity comes to the little village. After a short time all the houses are freshly painted, the villagers also dress in their Sunday clothes on workdays and go out wining and dining. As everything is going so excellently, Mr Bank is only too pleased to increase the credit limit for all the families, which makes the economy flourish even more. He spent most of the income from the interest in the little village. He liked the Farmers, the Tailors and the Masons, and the Banks had found a place in their hearts.

A rude awakening

One day the bank was visited by inspectors. They found that the Farmers and Tailors had for a long time exceeded their credit limits. It seemed that they were running up greater and greater debts. On the other hand, the Masons had a credit balance of more than a million euros on their account. The two families with debts had exactly the same amount of debts as the Masons’ credit balance. The former were secretly ashamed of their debts and the latter of their wealth. And as they never talked about money, they all thought that the other families were in the same situation as themselves. After all, they all had nice houses, lovely clothes and held lavish parties.

But how did these high debts come about?

Well, nothing else is possible mathematically. When someone transfers money to another person, the former has a debit and the latter a credit. The total amount of all the accounts is zero. We call this the law of balance and it is a zero-sum game.

The collapse

The bank then requires the Tailors and Farmers to repay their loans immediately, which they naturally cannot do. Therefore their houses are forcibly converted for other uses: a supermarket moves into the former country inn and a clothing discounter into the Tailors’ house. But they are not successful for very long either and soon have to give up. The country houses which used to be so attractive have become empty ruins.

Although the Masons did earn a great deal of money initially, they could not really be happy about it as after all they had lost their best friends. The latter were now living in council houses which had been built by external companies. Discounters had also commissioned external construction companies since they were cheaper than the Masons. The nice village had been destroyed.

And the Bank family? Apart from the fact that they had also really liked the families, they had to write off their losses. The enforced conversion of the buildings had brought in far too little to cover the bad loans. So as not to go completely bankrupt. they are applying for one of the government bailouts but these are more for large banks…

All in all, all those involved have lost.

Small scale and large scale

This story is not a unique case. It is happening systematically on a large scale throughout the world. You don’t believe it? Then just change the names and make Greece, Spain and Germany out of Farmer, Tailor and Mason!

If this is happening everywhere on both a small and large scale, the system must be at fault, which it in fact is.

Our monetary system is a zero-sum game: according to the law of balance the sum of all accounts has to be zero, i.e. total amount of credit absolutely has to equal the total amount of debt. This makes the vast majority of people into losers of the system.

Survey to improve the usability

We want to improve the usability of the Gradido website.

http://gradido.net/en/

If you have ideas, comments and suggestions for improvement, then this is the right time to let us know.

We collect the suggestions, summarize and try to integrate the best of them.

Together we can achieve something. We look forward to the help of all.



For your suggestions please use the following form.

Gradido and social networks

Hi,

I am +Christian Brand and from now on I sometimes write some articels on this blog.

Today I will briefly introduce the integration of Gradido in the 3 major social networks.

Bernd already has kindly installed the appropriate links on the bottom right of the Gradido Homepage. Anyone who is helping to spread this idea - especially on social networks - is welcome.

The social networks in detail (german):

Facebook: 
http://www.facebook.com/Gradido

Goolge +: 
+Gradido - Natürliche Ökonomie des Lebens 

Twitter: 
https://twitter.com/gradido

Praise from all over the world

Excerpt from the book »Gradido – Natural Economy of Life«

Germany

»I see the present book and the idea of a gradido developed in it as a great gift. Fundamental reorientation is necessary, particularly in times of climactic crises of the current monetary system. The concept of the gradido combines aspects of alternative monetary systems, unconditional basic income and economic activity in harmony with humans and nature in an impressive way. It also contains concrete suggestions for a gradual transition to a sustainable system that permits sufficient time for the necessary change in awareness.

 I wish for this book a wide circulation, for the idea increasing support and realisation – and for the participants openness for sensible further developments. The idea seems to me to be based on deep compassion for all living things and restoration of the already largely destroyed fundaments of life appears to me to be only possible on this basis in the long term.«  

 – Prof. Dr. em. Bernd Senf, Berlin

Hungary

»People are at the complete mercy of the economy instead of the economy being for the benefit and in the service of the people. Is it really true that we are living in times of unprecedented economic welfare, or should we rather say that we are living under the world dominion of money?  Whichever way, there is no denying that the interests of the people are definitely not the priority. It is ironic that when pondering on the source of the modern economy, more often than not the following thought comes to mind: people are not there to sustain the economy, are they?

How on earth could it be possible for us human beings to create a production system, our economy, in which the human being doesn’t matter anymore? Are we indeed saying that inhumaneness is a prerequisite for humanness? A humane economy is an economy of the whole human being in harmony with nature. Spiritual economy, grounded in the whole, driven by abundance rather than scarcity, inspired by wisdom, inclusiveness and sharing, and transcending all self-limiting particularism, serves the accomplishment of the whole human being.

This way, it becomes a Natural Economy of Life serving the greater good of everybody and the planet. Bernd Hückstädt’s seminal and epoch-making book highlights in a crystal clear manner that with a completely new economic model driven by global awareness, global wellbeing and prosperity is no longer a dream, but will soon be a reality.«

– András László

Founding President & CEO of GlobalVisioning.net

Netherlands

»In a world beset with countless challenges, the Natural Economy of Life represents a vision for a truly sustainable future for humanity, living in harmony with the evolutionary forces of nature. The principles of this new economy and the new currency, the gradido, are profoundly transformational, yet simple to grasp for everyone. The Natural Economy of Life shows the way to surpass the many roadblocks currently facing the world’s economic system and guide humanity to a new natural, more equitable, just and peaceful society. This book speaks to our imagination. It is one of nature’s laws that what we can imagine we can create and what we can create becomes our new reality. The evolutionary way of thinking presented in this wonderful book acts as a catalyst for imagining and creating new water sourcing, soil regeneration, food production and new energy technologies, based on deeper insights as to the way nature works.«

– Kees Hoogendijk

Entrepreneur and developer of technologies in harmony with nature

New Zealand

»Gradido is a tool for a phase-shift in human values and culture, which is vital to prevent an imminent phase-shift in ecosystems’ capacity to support life.  Gradido can be regarded as a catalyst to establish mutual networks of trust, for connecting people, maintaining cooperative communities and reinvigorating the ecosystem processes that sustain us, as a foundation for viable and resilient ecosystem-based cultures.

Bernd Hückstädt developed Gradido with the empathy of a composer and the precision of a mathematician.  An Active Basic Income drives cultural renewal.  Free-flowing gradidos come into existence, as people apply their diverse range of skills to agreed priorities at local, bioregional or global levels.  Priorities are based on common VALUES of care, generosity, responsibility, cooperation and the restoration of life-supporting capacity.

Apply Gradido in your region, network and shift phase to a holistic culture of people, living in harmony with one another and with nature!«

– Helle Janssen

Ecosystem Scientist, New Zealand

Russia

»To start thinking and acting differently one needs a moral reasoning that the reader is offered in a literally coherent way. Bernd Hückstädt has set the scene for the common good on an uncompromising, monumental scale. It should work worldwide for all of us humans of our own free will. Dare to give very good intentions a real try? Not yet? Okay! But, please, don’t blame others for your own incapacity. Better see where you can overwrite the zero-sum game mentality in some practical way. That may be the best this book is intended for.«

– Victor Nemchinov Ph.D. (econ.)

Russian Academy of Sciences

Rwanda

»It is beyond doubt that this book brings a new inspiration to the 21st century peaceworkers. The idea of the Natural Economy of Life (NEL) here introduced by Bernd Hückstädt  is persuasively understood as the effective and non-violent alternative to capitalism.  The NEL, if effectually embraced and applied, will significantly contribute to de-corrupting the contemporary money-driven mindsets, curbing  structural violence generated by the modern socio-political and economic systems, preventing many wars and man-made disasters and moving us towards a just, inclusive, caring and peaceful world.«

– Jean de Dieu Basabose

Co-founder and Executive Director of Shalom Educating for Peace,

Kigali, Rwanda, East Africa

Singapore

»The Natural Economy of Life is a crucial catalyst in the advancement of civilization. It speaks in the language of nature’s intelligence and ignites in our heart an image of a true paradise on earth. It is a gift of nature, designed to awaken and bring forth humans’ greatest potential to co-create a world of abundance and everlasting prosperity in harmony with nature.«

– Océane Yong 

Social Entrepreneurs with Integrity Association

(Asia Pacific Singapore Head Quarters)

South Africa

»Bernd not only courageously sets a new vision for our world but gives the combination key to the vehicle that will take us there. This is not a book but a manual for our planet. It's not a question of if this will be our future, just when.

Bernd uses imagination to transport us into a possibility, a world where nature and the human soul sing in a dynamic living orchestra of purpose – every instrument singing the tune that it was destined to hold. Let the words enter your heart and let it feed your courage to act. My prayer is that it informs all you do.

If you consider yourself a social innovator and a mapmaker of the future, Gradido can provide a north star big enough to hold both your personal and collective optimal realities.«

– Oran Cohen

International Spiritual Youth Ambassador

Switzerland

»If humanity is to go in the “right” direction at the next crossroads, we need solutions in a new paradigm. A proper analysis of nature gives way to a new paradigm which is easy to understand and apply; and, best of all, it’s “right” there and ready to use in the form of a Natural Economy of Life and “Gradido”. Natural Economy of Life shows respect for our planet Earth, nature and all of creation – the ”right” way to our future, so let’s take it!«

– Sesto Giovanni Castagnoli

Evolutant, entrepreneur and founding president of WSF-World Spirit Forum

 

»Bernd Hückstädt is the Van Gogh of the monetary reform world.  Hopefully he and we will all live to see and taste the delicacy of his opus in our lifetime.“

– Peter Koenig Enterprises

Seminal thinking, money seminars, organizational architecture

United Kingdom

»The present financial system, the debt-based money system, and its negative effects are seldom understood even by so-called experts. A fundamental ingredient in a sustainable future must be played by new, community-based money systems such as the gradido. In this new book, Bernd Hückstädt brilliantly explains how the gradido is already transforming lives – and how it can transform yours.«

– John Bunzl

Founder, International Simultaneous Policy Organisation

»One word sums up my response to this remarkable book - gratitude. This book is truly groundbreaking in its approach to expanding our vision of what is possible when we shift our own engagement with life. Look to nature’s own laws, and when we do that we can co-create a natural economy of life. This is a book that will change your life; what's more it is online and free. It is a small and perfectly formed gift to us all. I urge you to enjoy this gift, then gift it to ten of your friends - you will be passing on a seed that will grow very fast and that is the fastest way we can create abundance for all.«

– Polly Higgins

Lawyer for the Earth, http://eradicatingecocide.com

»Natural Economy of Life: Your heart and mind will be opened by this treasure of a book, a beacon of hope for all in search of truth, longing and craving for a better world, a world of  Meaning & Meaningfulness, Stability & Sustainability, Contentment & the Common Good. The message of this book is so timely and so needed: You contribute to the common good. The community thanks you with gradidos. You can give thanks to others with your gradidos.«

– Prof. Kamran Mofid

Founder, Globalisation for the Common Good Initiative www.gcgi.info

 

»Change is the one constant of our abundant self-replenishing natural order, but humans waste much emotion and energy attempting to resist this.  By superimposing their own economic structures in a futile effort to subdue nature and to subject the earth’s infinite bounty to finite economic ends, mankind has succeeded in bringing all systems simultaneously to a point of collapse.  The current economic meltdown is merely a symbol of the total systems failure resulting from human intervention in all aspects of life.

Gradido is an imaginative and generous work offering simple tools and methods to resolve many of the human, spiritual and resource conflicts of our time.  When all systems break down or break up, the only possible breakthrough is to start rebuilding the whole edifice from a different more holistic and less fragmented perspective.   This demands a complete “metanoia“ or reorientation of the spiritual and ethical values of each individual and each community.  The gradido is the solution which learns from nature – and which economists have unknowingly been waiting for!

I commend Bernd Hückstädt’s thought-provoking book for the visionary journey he takes us on, for its easy accessibility and for the Gandhian simplicity of his suggestions.  It is a concept which provides adaptable tools for some of the most complex situations of our time, and which avoids the separation of environmental, social economic and spiritual issues.«

– Diana Schumacher OBE

co-founder of the Schumacher Society, the Gandhi Foundation UK,

the New Economics Foundation (nef) and the Environmental Law Foundation (ELF) 

 
United States

in its clarity, simplicity, and scope, Gradido: Natural Economy of Life, is a groundbreaking exploration of a new way of living.  It offers a viable mechanism for participating cooperatively with each other – beyond our self-imposed limitations of competition, separation, and fear.  Its time is now!

– Leo Burke

Professor and Director, Global Commons Initiative

Mendoza College of Business

University of Notre Dame

»This is a daring and imaginative approach to the very problems that are undermining our everyday lives, our ability to hope, and the civility that we need to repair. Bernd is to be congratulated for trying and we must respond to the challenges that he presents.«

– Prof. Hillel Levine, Boston University

»Time is now of the essence. Our individualism has brought us to the brink of destruction. We know there are no jobs, yet money is considered a criteria for a successful life. Our environment is screaming at us to please respect and alter our ways. Our next generation is anxious to change this course of events.

"Gradido – Natural Economy of Life: A way to worldwide wealth and peace in harmony with nature" explains the HOW and the beauty of this potential for a life of integrated harmony. Read this book and give life a chance!«

– Dr. Nina Meyerhof

President and founder of Children of the Earth, www.coeworld.org

 

»Bernd Hückstädt's Gradido contains a cornucopia of insight and hope served up in a way that invites new and refreshing ways of seeing possibility. His embrace of Nature as his teacher of choice goes beyond its metaphoric potential. His focus on the fatal flaws inherent in our current approaches to economics and money feel 'spot on.'

We have all we need to co-create a future that works for all life. Inventing currencies that promote and support our evolving of our civilization in ways that approach the elegance of evolution throughout the rest of nature is a worthy task. Enjoy Bernd Hückstädt's vision!«

– Bill Veltrop

Evolutionary Architect, Monterey Institute for Social Architecture

Foreword

Excerpt from the book »Gradido – Natural Economy of Life«

Dear Reader,

By coming so far as to read this foreword you have embarked on a journey that will take you into the secrets of nature, which will finally be so easy for us to understand that we can only say, yes, yes, yes. When you begin to read this book »The Natural Economy of Life«, you will emerge into a new world of prosperity and peace in harmony with nature. You will find that the book is not about the complexity of economics or financial instruments, but is construed in such a way that its contents can easily be taught in classrooms from the primary all the way up to the university level. It demonstrates how a seemingly complicated subject can be transformed using a terminology and schematic that anyone can comprehend, especially geared to the public at large that has no understanding whatsoever of the complex mechanisms prevailing in today’s world of economics and finance.

Bernd has written a book for you and me.  A book that shows us the beauty of the instrument being introduced to you, which is the result of years studying nature. Bernd is not the only person entertaining thoughts in this direction, but his approach may be the most holistic one.

It is obvious that Bernd’s book has been written and published just in time to meet the urgent need, leading the way toward the hope that we can resolve the existing situation as regards the financial crisis, which, in spite of prevailing opinions to the contrary, has consumed so much precious time and energy for well over five years. Though we have gone through many crises in the past, this time around it is long overdue to find a sustainable solution for generations to come. »The Natural Economy of Life« may present this possibility. Take time to reflect and convince yourself that this is the most viable method. In comparison to other books on the topic you may find that by reading »The Natural Economy of Life« you seem to be entering a wonderful, joyful playground. If this book succeeds in giving the inhabitants of our wonderful blue planet hope for their daily lives, then it has done a great job. If politicians, scientists, economists, religious leaders, artists and society at large begin to understand  and realize the prospects this natural economy of life has to offer, and begin implementing them ...then we may soon enjoy a more harmonious world by eradicating hunger, poverty, ecocide, inequality and wars.

I wish you all a wonderful experience reading this book and hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Hopefully, you will also be able to say yes, yes, yes, let’s get started and join together in finding the best way of introducing Gradido to the market as a lasting solution. An open-minded approach and good will are the essentials for success for the common good.

Sesto Giovanni Castagnoli

Evolutant, Entrepreneur and Founding President of WSF-World Spirit Forum