Chapter 3.5 – Unconditional participation

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

»Whether and how hard animals work for their food is very different from one form of life to another. Every animal living in the wild behaves in accordance with its nature. If you want an animal in captivity to work, you have to goad it all the time. No animal would fight for a right to work«.

– Joytopia

Human beings are not very different from animals in this respect. A human who is able to behave in accordance with their nature blossoms. Think of a person who is a true musician through and through. Music is his world and he loves it more than anything else. He takes up his instrument and plays it at every opportunity that presents itself. The subjects of his conversations are mainly about music and music is his element.

If you lock him up, for example as a professional musician in an orchestra, where a strict hierarchy rules and he has to work according to a schedule, it can happen that his enthusiasm for music very soon vanishes. He begins to »work to rule«, that means only to play when he is goaded by an external force.

What has killed his original love of music? In this simple but realistic example we can make out four parameters as »love killers«:

1. captivity
2. hierarchy
3. too much work
4. external force

Captivity

Love is free by nature. It likes to surrender itself. But if you hold it captive, it changes into prostitution. Captivity must not be confused with a commitment freely entered into. Free-will commitments lead to dependability and a feeling of security and protection. Captivity, however, is based on coercion. The captive longs for freedom.

Hierarchy

Love knows no hierarchies, no classes, no castes. Your counterpart is an equal partner, whose differentness provides enrichment and triggers admiration. Hierarchy, on the other hand, is often connected with sanctions when the ranking is not respected. When other sanctions are forbidden by law, bullying is often used.

However, a hierarchy is necessary in certain cases, particularly in types of organisation based on command structures, primarily in the military. And a certain hierarchy is also indispensable in other ventures requiring a precise interplay of all the participants. Responsibility and decision-making powers are delegated to people who possess the required competence. As long as a hierarchy is based on genuine competence it is not normally perceived as disagreeable. But equality should then prevail outside of work.

Too much work

Even the most enjoyable occupation becomes a disagreeable duty when there is too much of it. Of course, sometimes there is simply a lot to do. And if you recognise a sense in the activity, love is not harmed. But when you permanently have too much work to do – possibly under pressure of time –, your health is undermined.

External coercion

When love is lacking as internal motivation, external coercion has to be used to maintain mechanical performance. It is true that a certain amount of coercion can help people get over inner blockades but it should not become the main driving force.

»All things are poison and nothing is without poison –

the dose alone makes something non-poisonous«.

– Paracelsus

None of the four parameters is only good or only bad: it depends on the right amount. »Only the dose makes the poison«, medical science says. What would be the right amount for our true musician through and through? That is, of course, different from person to person but we can already draw some conclusions from the previous situation.

If he has the possibility to join an orchestra voluntarily and does not take on the job exclusively because of the compulsion of having to earn his living, his captivity becomes a voluntary commitment. If the positions are assigned in accordance with musical and human skills and a climate of mutual esteem prevails among the musicians, the hierarchy is gladly recognised as sensible and necessary. This is particularly the case when the musicians come together with a respectful attitude towards each other and on an equal footing. His individual work-life balance must be in order, that means with an appropriate amount of work and leisure.

Three crucial working conditions must be in place for our musician so that he does not lose his love of music and his inner motivation:

1. voluntary commitment,
2. competent hierarchy and mutual esteem
3. work-life balance. 

The work schedule is then only gentle external coercion to help him over the all too human blockades now and then. Such exemplary working conditions naturally already exist in some firms. And they know why, for well-motivated employees are the more important capital for a business enterprise.

Our concern is to create ideal living and working conditions for all people worldwide. In this way we serve the threefold good – the good of the individual, who enjoys ideal living and working conditions; the good of the community, for contented people enhance the common attitude to life for everybody; and the good of the big scheme of things, for motivated co-workers are also the most important capital for the »Freegaia venture«.

In order to assure ideal living and working conditions for everybody, we must ensure that every person first of all has the possibility to work. This must be optimised to the extent that it approximates to the individual’s ideal as closely as possible. For this we have developed the concept of unconditional participation.

»Everyone has the right – not the duty – to unconditional participation. Participation consists of giving and taking. So every person has the right to contribute to the common good in accordance with their nature«.

– Joytopia

Irrespective of age, state of health, gender, skin colour, nationality, religion and view of the world…, every person has the possibility to work for the community for up to 50 hours a month in a way consistent with their nature and thus earn an active basic income of 20 gradidos an hour. The active basic income therefore amounts to a maximum of 1,000 gradidos. Gradido means »thanks«. So the community thanks each of its active members: »A thousand thanks for being with us!«. Unconditional participation is a right and not a duty. Anyone who would rather use their time elsewhere, for example working in the free economy, is welcome to do so.

»Whether we contribute to the common good or work in the free economy, it is the same as in nature. Everybody does something that is consistent with their nature. A person who likes baking bread bakes bread, someone who like playing a musical instrument plays music. Some citizens practise several professions because they enjoy being versatile. We do what we love, deliver the best quality and are successful«.

– Joytopia

The unusual thing about the concept of unconditional participation is the fact that everyone has the right to it, even children, sick people and old people. It is also unusual especially as child labour is forbidden in this country. In Third World countries children are forced to work in sweatshops under inhumane conditions. They make products that are allowed to be sold in our country. Talk about double standards!

However, there is also child labour which has a very positive impact on young people’s development: children who grow up in family businesses mostly work from an early age. They are normally more responsible, more self-assured and better equipped to cope with the demands of life than their peers. They mostly retain these qualities in their adult lives.

As a boy I would have liked to go out to work early and be able to earn money like my father. As soon as I was allowed to, I started to deliver advertising material for a supermarket. A bit later I coached other schoolchildren in mathematics. In the school holidays I looked for holiday jobs. The chance to earn money of my own greatly boosted my self-confidence.

The unemployed and social security claimants, who do not have opportunities to earn money, often suffer from feelings of inferiority. In this case the money is less important  than the feeling of being a fully-fledged member of the community, who is allowed to make their contribution. It can be understood in the same way when pensioners, who have paid contributions to their pensions all their lives, fall ill and die shortly after their retirement because they no longer have the feeling of being needed.

Unconditional participation therefore means being allowed to contribute to the good of the community in accordance with our natures. The first question is: what do you like doing, what are you able to do, what would you like to contribute? Only after answering these questions do we consider how your skills can be optimally used for the community.

This can already start at pre-school age with tasks suited to children and then develop further. The development of a person’s highest potential, discovering their personal inclinations and abilities and finding their life task appear important enough for us to recommend making these matters a main school subject.

During the transition period adults will need support as well. Many people have forgotten what they really want and what they like doing. They do not listen to their inner voices anymore and they have stopped feeling their inner yearnings, allowing themselves wishes and setting their own goals. Here the community can help with appropriate measures. Today there are already very good methods for developing your full potential. This can also be carried out in groups.

Also sick people mostly have the desire to be needed and contribute something to the community. And it is also important for them to give support if appropriate. In the ideal case this will positively influence their quality of life and even their state of health. 

People with disabilities often have really exceptional capabilities. Do you know the Brenzband? They are a music band consisting of about fifteen people, most of whom are disabled. In their concerts they radiate such sympathy and human warmth that it is pure joy. In their numerous performances they now also play on political occasions and manage to move people to tears. Their foreign tours go as far as China and a few years ago they even received a UNESCO prize. It is certainly not only their music that touches the audience: the love and intensity manifested by these musicians »with disabilities« simply touch hearts.

Or do you know the film Rainman, in which Dustin Hofmann plays an autistic man who teaches his younger brother, a heartless businessman, to experience human feelings again?

Those are two very different examples of exceptional qualities that people with disabilities can bring into our lives. Instead, they are unfortunately often locked up in our society. How rich our common life will be when they are allowed to enjoy unconditional participation as well and contribute to the community in their very personal way!

As we see, many more people can and want to contribute their share to the common good than is generally supposed. Giving all of them the vested right to unconditional participation (or better said, giving it back, since it has been taken from them in our society) will enhance the quality of life of all of us many times over.

It is a matter of course that people who cannot do anything or need time out for health reasons will receive their basic income and the necessary care without anything being expected from them in return. They are fortunately already provided for in some countries through welfare benefits, pensions or suchlike. They are full co-creators and also contribute to money creation like everyone else.