“Like every nation on Freegaia Joytopia has
monetary sovereignty and the sole right to create money. Our money is no longer
created from debts but from life itself. Our currency is the gradido,
which means »thanks«. The creation of money follows simple rules. 3,000
gradidos are created for every citizen each month.
A third of the money created is used for a
basic income. Another third is used for the national budget and the rest for
the Equalisation and Environmental Fund. We call this the threefold creation
of money.
First of all Joytopia and the other nations
decided on a general cancellation of debt. So as not to harm anybody the
governments paid the amounts due to the creditors into their accounts. That may
sound unusual but money is, after all, only a number in a database which is
created with binding agreements. And the nations, which have monetary
sovereignty on our planet, had agreed on this in a referendum.
After that the payment of interest was
abolished and a decaying currency introduced. From then on it no longer
made sense to hoard money for a long time, as it got less all the time.”
“A decaying
currency? That’s what we call inflation!”
“The word inflation comes from the language of
the old economic system and does not give the proper meaning. We speak of the cycle
of life, the natural cycle of growth and decay.”
“How high is decay on Freegaia?“
“At the beginning we experimented a bit but now
all the nations have agreed on 50% a year. That means that after one year half
the money is still left.”
“Does that mean that when a pretzel costs one
gradido this year, in three years it will cost eight gradidos?”
“ The gradido is electronic money and the
decline in value is debited from your account. The value of the gradido stays
constant and your pretzel will still cost one gradido in three years. We had
also developed a model for decaying paper money but we didn’t use it in the
end.”
“Well, how does it work in everyday life?”
A thousand
thanks for being with us!
“The state creates 1,000 gradidos for each
citizen every month. You remember that gradido means thanks. Every citizen has
the right to an active basic income of 1,000 gradidos. The state, that
means the community of all citizens, says thank you to every single citizen: »A
thousand thanks for being with us!«
The basic income of 1,000 gradidos covers the
costs of living and enables every person to live a worthy life. The second syllable
of gradido – »di« – stands for dignity. All people have the right to a basic
income – children, adults and old people. Single parents with two children, for
example, receive 3,000 gradidos monthly. In this way they are equal to other
single people.
“Is it an unconditional basic income?”
“The active basic income guarantees unconditional
participation in the community. 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. In the local plenary meetings we announce what work
needs to be done and who can and wants to do it. The payment for this is 20
gradidos an hour. Everybody is allowed to do 50 hours of paid community work a
month to earn their 1,000 gradidos as thanks.”
“What about children and old or sick people?“
“Everyone can contribute something in
accordance with their nature. Work is supposed to be a pleasure and give
strength. Nobody has to do anything that they do not really like doing. This
results in people being very fit up into their old age. If someone happens to
fall ill, they will still want to make a useful contribution as they know that
it gives them strength and pleasure. And if that isn’t possible, the basic
income naturally continues to be paid.
Children want to help in a playful way
consistent with their age. Children who are allowed to do something at an early
age enjoy this very much. It increases their self-confidence and feeling of
responsibility and, besides that, they stay more healthy.”
“You say that everybody has the right to
unconditional participation but not the duty. Who is supposed not to want to
participate?”
“Some people prefer to spend all their time on
their jobs. Because they can earn more money like that, because they are needed
more there, because it’s more fun for them or for whatever reason. Everybody is
free to decide for themselves.”
“So there can’t be any unemployed at all!“
“No unemployment, no pension problems, better
health, more leisure time. The active basic income has so many benefits.”
“Opponents of the unconditional basic income
say that it might happen that not enough is produced because too many people
don’t want to lift a finger.”
“That is exactly why we introduced the active
basic income. Giving and taking belong together. What we contribute is largely
up to us but we have to contribute something if we want to earn money. 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. The economy – especially small industry, services and art –
flourishes on our planet as never before. On the other hand, everybody only
works as long as it’s fun for them. That’s why there is no over-production that
pollutes the environment unnecessarily.”
“Who does the dirty work with you?“
“Because of the enormous speed of technological
development the dirty work has greatly decreased. Our houses are equipped with
compost toilets, which are completely odourless.
All packing material and most commodities can
be composted. Our houses are built from natural materials in a unit assembly
system. Hard and unpopular work is done by machines. The remaining unpleasant
jobs are correspondingly well paid. There are examples of people who have
financed wonderful holidays with a bit of dirty work.”
“Are there any other advantages?“
“There are no more compulsory levies such as
taxes, contributions to medical insurance or pension insurance…”
“Why’s that?“
“Remember that the second third of the money
created is intended for the state budget. As the government creates its money
itself, it doesn’t need to raise taxes. That means there are no inland revenue
offices, no accounting, no illegal work and much less administration. The
government finances social benefits, such as the health service, nursing care,
pensions, emergency aid, etc. from the second amount of money created.”
“Isn’t there inflation if the government simply
just prints its money?”
“The government doesn’t just simply print
money! The money is created in accordance with international agreements with
3,000 gradidos per person per month. It’s the same in all countries. But you’re
right! If we hadn’t planned for the money in our system to be perishable, there
would be inflation. Decay is a natural law and so inflation would be unplanned
decay. The cycle of growth and decay makes the gradido into a self-regulating
system. The money supply is stable and can’t be manipulated. It automatically
evens out at the value where money creation and perishability are in balance.”
“What do you do about protection of the
environment?”
“The last third of the money created goes to the
Equalisation and Environment Fund (EEF). An additional amount equal to the
government budget is available for nature and the environment. There is no such
thing in any other monetary model! Products and services are subsidised
depending on how environmentally friendly they are. That’s why nature and
protection of the environment have become the most lucrative sectors of the
economy. Products that harm the environment have no more chances on the market.
Besides that we have amended patent law.”
“What does patent law have to do with
protection of the environment?”
“Well, all new ideas and inventions belong to
the community. Just imagine, earlier we wasted over a hundred years building
vehicles with combustion engines. A terrible stench spread over our planet. In
some cities machines were installed so that people could pay to inhale oxygen!
At that time all the car manufacturers employed their own research and
development teams that kept their results secret or had them patented. In the
end almost every single screw was patented. No wonder development didn’t
progress. After the amendment of the patent law everyone freely donated their
ideas and inventions – in return for a reward from the Equalisation and
Environment Fund – and we developed the free-energy propulsion system within
just a few months! Like in a big jigsaw puzzle, each inventor and developer
placed their piece in the right place.”
“You often use the expression freely donate. What do you mean by
that?”
“Free donation is a crucial part of our
economic system. While it used to be important to make big profits, the
intention of free donations is to benefit yourself and others as much as
possible with as little expense and work as possible. With this it isn’t so
important to get something in return because the benefit and joy come back
severalfold to the person who freely donated.
A good example is the Natural Economy of Life.
The state gives everyone the right of participation. Everybody is allowed to
take part and in return receives a thousand gradidos as basic income – »a
thousand thanks for being with us«. Because of this there is no more poverty,
no unemployment and the more communal services are rendered, the richer all
will be together. And that’s only the beginning. With the basic income
everybody is taken care of but still has plenty of time left for other things.
Many people take on additional jobs. Their earnings are tax-free, for the
government has already covered its budget with the second amount of money
created. That’s why people can concentrate on their essential activities. Can you
imagine how much potential is released in this way? The added value created
benefits all the citizens and, in turn, the state.
Another example is what you call neighbourly
help: a friend helps another person in the field they know best and supplies what
the other person needs. Or you have a certain item to spare that someone else
needs. If you give it away you have more room again and the other person has
the desired item. As money is available in abundance, it has lost its
importance. We’ve all become more generous and have great fun giving things
away!”
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