Chapter 2.3 – The Joytopia model

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

“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!”

Chapter 3.6 – Threefold money creation

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

Threefold creation of money by life 

»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«.

– Joytopia

Do you remember where money comes from in the old system? Correct – from nothing! Assets and debts are created from »nothing«. Figures are generated in a computer according to internationally recognised rules. The old rules follow zero-sum principles and are designed in such a way that their impact harms everybody and benefits nobody.

The gradido – the »living money« – is created from life itself. Through the existence of every person 3,000 gradidos are created every month without debts being created. The new rules, according to which the numbers are generated in a computer, follow the plus-sum principle and serve the threefold good – the good of the individual, the good of the community and the good of the big scheme of things. They have a beneficial impact on all those involved and harm nobody.

It is important to understand that money creation is nothing more than generating numbers in a computer. And it is quite normal for rules to be altered or superseded by new ones when they do not serve their purpose (any longer). There is scarcely anything more hostile to life in this world than the present monetary system. All wars and all man-made disasters are direct or indirect consequences of it. What the hell got into humankind to introduce the system of debt money? And what the hell is still in us that we treat it like a sacred cow and maintain its perfidious creation rules? It is quite easy to alter the rules and create living money that serves the good of everyone and makes the survival of humanity possible – in peace and in harmony with nature.

From the threefold good the threefold creation of money is derived. Three amounts of 1,000 gradidos are created for every person each month. With 1,000 gradidos per person per month the Natural Economy of Life provides the financial means to serve the threefold good. The threefold creation of money includes:

1. an active basic income for every person,
2. a national income for every country proportional to the number of its citizens,
3. an Equalisation and Environmental Fund for decontaminating the environment.

The active basic income

The first amount of money created (1,000 gradidos) is intended as the basic income. Every citizen has the right to a basic income of 1,000 gradidos. Two variations of this are conceivable: an unconditional basic income that everyone gets »just like that« and an active basic income that is earned with unconditional participation.

On account of the many positive consequences that ensue from unconditional participation we unequivocally advocate the active basic income. In addition to the advantages already described, from the viewpoint of monetary theory there is also the argument that the money created is covered by services already rendered. Even if – and especially because – the value of money only exists in people’s heads, money covered by services should have a more stable value than money which is created »out of thin air«.

The idea of an unconditional basic income triggers so-called »envy debates«. Working people ask themselves why they should produce the money or products consumed by other people who in their eyes do not work. Supporters of the unconditional basic income try to defuse these envy debates with all kinds of arguments without any real success.

A basic income covered by services makes such envy debates superfluous. After all, everybody has earned their active basic income with services to the community.

National income proportional to the number of inhabitants

The second amount of money created (1,000 gradidos per person per month) goes to the national budget. Without having to levy taxes every country has a per-capita national budget at its disposal of an amount customary in Central Europe, including health and social services.

Central Europe currently has the highest standard of living worldwide. Therefore it serves us as a yardstick when it is a matter of defining what we imagine worldwide prosperity to be quantitatively.

Since the second amount of money created also includes health and social services as well as the national budget, neither taxes nor other levies have to be imposed. Hence, considerably less government control is necessary than today, which makes it possible to reduce bureaucracy significantly.

The national budget is funded without any debt whatsoever. All the costs of servicing capital in the present system are avoided. In future there will be absolutely no reason for a government ever to borrow money. For, on the one hand, the national budget is already generously calculated and, on the other hand, an additional fund of an equal amount is provided for protection and decontamination of the environment.

Equalisation and Environment Fund

The third amount of money created is intended for decontaminating and preserving our environment.  With 1,000 gradidos per person per month the world environmental budget is as high as the sum of the national budgets of all countries. As its name says, the Equalisation and Environment Fund has the task of eliminating economic and ecological contamination as far as possible and protecting nature and the environment  in a sustainable manner in future.

By economic contamination we primarily understand the serious differences between the hitherto poor countries and the rich industrialised countries. The Equalisation and Environment Fund helps in this respect in addition to the equalising impact inherently brought about by the Natural Economy of Life. The elimination of the differences between rich and poor as fast as possible is first and foremost a signal of peace as it shows the unconditional willingness of the rich nations to make good the damage they caused in the past. And worldwide peace also benefits the environment as well as human beings.

The long-term task of the Equalisation and Environment fund is sustainable protection of the environment and nature. Eco-friendly industrial branches, products and services are subsidised. This means organic products will be significantly cheaper than products harmful to the environment, which will not be able to maintain their position on the market. Only eco-friendly economic activity will be worthwhile. Industrial branches hitherto harmful to the environment will receive support during the changeover.

With the creation of the third amount of money we have created a worldwide environment budget to make funds available for a return to being harmony with nature. However, this can only work if we firmly integrate an important natural law into our monetary and economic model – the cycle of growth and decay. 

Chapter 3.17 – Summary

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

Now that we have the single elements together, it is easy to assemble everything into one whole. The single components have been described in detail. The next chapter is entirely devoted to the beneficial effects. That is why a brief summary follows at this point.

Let’s begin with the most important decision criterion of the Natural Economy of Life, by which we measure all our thinking, talking and acting – the threefold good.

 

The threefold good

1. The good of every single participant - win-win.
2. The good of the community – family, community, country, humanity…
3. The good of the big scheme of things – nature, environment, mother earth, universe…

The natural law of growth and decay

The threefold good is, so to speak, the ethical foundation of our monetary and economic model. For it to work we have to develop it in harmony with natural laws. The most important law for us is the cycle of life, the cycle of growth and decay. It is integrated into our model in the form of creation of money and perishability.

The threefold creation of money

The threefold creation of money is derived from the threefold good.

The community, represented by the government, creates three amounts of 1,000 gradidos for each citizen every month to be used for the following purposes:

1. Basic income, either unconditional or active,
2. Government income, including health and social services,
3. Equalisation and Environment Fund (EEF) to protect and decontaminate the environment.

Basic income

The model supports the two options of an unconditional basic income, which is paid out »just like that«, or an active basic income.

The active basic income follows from unconditional participation in the community: everybody has the right to work for the community for up to 50 hours a month in accordance with their inclinations and skills. The community remunerates this work with 20 gradidos an hour up to a maximum of 1,000 gradidos monthly. Because of the manifold beneficial effects of unconditional participation, we prefer the active basic income, particularly as the money thus created is covered by services and full employment is automatically achieved.

Government income

The second amount of 1,000 gradidos is sufficient for a generous national budget, including health and social services, on the scale which currently exists in the Federal Republic of Germany. Taxes, social insurances or similar levies are therefore not required: gross and net income are the same. A huge reduction of bureaucracy is possible. Illegal work no longer exists by definition.

Equalisation and Environment Fund (EEF)

The third amount of 1,000 gradidos constitutes an additional fund of the same amount as the national budget. The Equalisation and Environment Fund serves to eliminate economic and ecological contamination, primarily to remedy as far as humanly possible the disastrous environmental damage humans have caused over more than the last hundred years. It is the largest environmental fund in the history of humanity. Protection and decontamination of the environment will become the most lucrative sectors of the economy. 

Self-regulating system stabilises the money supply

The cycle of growth and decay is already integrated into the gradido. The threefold creation of money is subject to decay of 50% a year. Only 50 gradidos still remain from 100 after one year. After the pattern of nature the gradido is thus a self-regulating system, which keeps the money supply per person constant. The money supply cannot be manipulated.

Creation of money without debt

The creation of money follows the pattern of nature without debts having to be incurred. The gradido only provides for credit balances. Loans are still possible. They are agreements between lender and borrower. As only existing money may be lent, the money supply is not altered by loans. Although interest is not forbidden, it has no chance on the market.

Common good currency

As  you see, each part of the money created is spent on a contribution to the community. The gradido is thus a currency for the common good. The call for an economy of the common good is getting louder and louder. Besides the gradido, there are already several projects in this direction but so far they have not considered the monetary system. While reading this book it should have become clear to you, dear reader, that an economy of the common good cannot work in the old monetary system. With the gradido every sector of the economy will become an economy of the common good all by itself. 

Understanding it is child’s play

The entire model is described in essence in this summary. It is so simple that even children can easily understand it with an appropriate explanation. The Natural Economy of Life has many life-saving benefits over the old monetary and economic systems although these may not be recognised at first glance. In the next chapter you will therefore learn the 100 most important advantages of the Natural Economy of Life. Let yourself be inspired!

Advantage 1 – Creation of money through life

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

»Anyone who does not appreciate life has not deserved it.«

– Leonardo da Vinci

Italian artist and universal genius

Creation of money through life is probably the most important property and at the same time the greatest benefit of the Natural Economy of Life. It is the fundamental difference to all other monetary and economic models. The Natural Economy of Life is so very much connected with life that even the creation of money itself takes place through life. From this main feature a whole range of other advantages derive and we will examine each of them individually in the following chapter.

One very practical aspect is that creation of money through life means that the money supply is always adequate, for money is created proportionally to the number of citizens. A small nation with only a small number of citizens logically needs less money than a big nation with a large number of citizens. The basic requirements are fairly distributed. What people do with them can differ from country to country.

How does creation of money through life work? Quite simply, a certain amount of money is created for every citizen each month according to an international agreement and credited to an account. From there it can be allocated to basic income, national income and the Equalisation and Environment Fund. The money is created without debts being incurred. 

Advantage 2 – No creation of money through debt

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

»Banks are more dangerous than standing armies.«

– Thomas Jefferson

3rd President of the USA

We have already several times pointed out the devastating disadvantages that result from creating money through borrowing or debt. Alone the fact that debt is absolutely necessary to create money is already sick: humankind is split into creditors and debtors, often even before birth.

Nowhere in nature is there such a cynical system so contemptuous of life. On the contrary, debts are unknown to nature which practises a gift economy. When you consider that almost all our economic problems today are due to creating money through borrowing or debt, a monetary model that manages without creating money through borrowing is an imperative requirement for the survival of humankind. For nature knows very well how to deal with behaviour hostile to life: a species that continually behaves in a way hostile to life becomes extinct.

Elimination of disadvantages is frequently already a big advantage, as it is here, too. By doing away with incentives hostile to life we give behaviour friendly to life the necessary air to breathe. Healing can take place when we do not split humanity into two camps in a schizophrenic manner. Humans can act together again and direct their attention towards joint survival.

A species hostile to life then becomes one friendly to life that cooperates with nature. As such we will get the right and the chance to thrive in a sustainable manner. The new incentives friendly to life motivate us to consider the threefold good in all our decisions – the good of the individual, the good of the community and the good of the big scheme of things.

Advantage 25 – Freedom from tax and social security contributions

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

»You have to be a philosopher to be able to file an income tax return. It is too difficult for a mathematician.«

– Albert Einstein

German mathematician and physicist

The national budget plus health and social services is funded from the second amount of money created. No taxes, compulsory insurances or social security contributions are necessary. The national income per capita is roughly as high as it currently is in Germany. A great deal of expenditure is no longer necessary:

•       A debt-free state has no costs for either interest or repayment of debt

•       Unconditional participation means that work is done that would otherwise be at the expense of the national budget

•       Many social security contributions are no longer necessary because of the basic income.

Without the need to impose taxes we have a generous national budget with health and social services and with considerably lower expenditure. The surpluses can be used for the »nice things of life«, which further enhances people’s quality of life.

Advantage 36 – Demographic change? No problem!

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

»The inter-generational contract has been terminated demographically.«

– Kurt Biedenkopf, CDU [Christian Democratic Union]

Prime Minister of Saxony, 1996

People like to depict the so-called demographic change as a bogey. What does demographic change actually mean? On the one hand, the birth rate is falling in the wealthy countries and the younger generation is smaller. On the other hand, life expectation is increasing and people are getting older and older statistically. 

In the old system this means that the so-called »inter-generational contract« no longer works because fewer and fewer young people have to provide financial support for more and more old people. Here the emphasis lies on the word »financial«, for there is enough food for everybody. The politicians are trying to defuse this problem by raising the retirement age. This is a questionable approach when you think that we have unemployment On the other hand, we cannot make the politicians reproaches as the problem results from the system and therefore cannot be solved in the old system.

In the Natural Economy of Life old people contribute to creation of money like all other people. In addition, they also have the right to unconditional participation and hence an active basic income. 

Advantage 46 – Equalisation and Environment Fund

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

»We don’t want to rave about the source but drink from the source; we don’t want the flowers, birds and butterflies in more and more beautifully designed coffee-table books but we want to get to know them very personally; we want to breathe the air and enjoy fruits that don’t make us ill; and we want to dream into the evening free of noise under healthy trees.«

– Hubert Weinzierl

German environmentalist

In the past hundred years humankind has destroyed more of the environment than in thousands of years before. The felling of rain forests, extermination of many species of animals and plants, poisoning of water and air, nuclear energy, emissions from industries and cars, factory farming, electromagnetic pollution and much more are taking the ecological system to its limits.

Nevertheless, protection of the environment is only practised when it is »economic«. And to make it »economic« the most absurd forms of calculation, such as trade with certificates for CO₂ emissions, are introduced. Apart from the fact that carbon dioxide has now been branded the number one climate killer, this is nothing else but modern selling of indulgences. And the destruction of the environment goes on.

The Natural Economy of Life is based on the threefold creation of money. Every month three amounts of 1,000 gradidos are created per person: 1,000 gradidos for the basic income, 1,000 gradidos for the national income and 1,000 gradidos for the Equalisation and Environment Fund (EEF). Every country thus has an additional budget at its disposal for protecting and decontaminating the environment, equal in amount to the national budget itself. For this reason the Natural Economy of Life is the only monetary and economic system we know of that attaches such importance to decontaminating and protecting the environment.

The Equalisation and Environment Fund is a guarantee that the good of the environment is the top priority with everybody. Even »money people« will find their love of Mother Earth again.

Advantage 57 – Respect indigenous peoples and protect their rights

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

»Tribal peoples offer today’s world alternative values

and ways of successful living; diversity is important.«

http://www.survivalinternational.org

        from ”What are our guiding principles?“

It is incomprehensible that today indigenous peoples are still being expelled from their territories. Incredible harm is being caused out of sheer greed for profit, whereas it is perhaps the primeval knowledge of these people, who are in close touch with nature, that is badly needed for the whole of humankind to survive. The protection of indigenous peoples is of great importance in the Natural Economy of Life. It is a blessing that there are now already organisations campaigning to protect them.

From the standpoint of the Natural Economy of Life, members of indigenous tribes contribute just as much to the threefold creation of money as do any other people. They have the unconditional right to participation and hence to an active basic income. They themselves know best what they need and what they can contribute to the threefold good. They are stewards of primeval knowledge which can be vital for humankind’s survival. Their knowledge and their contact to nature may possibly be crucial to the renaturalisation of the rain forests since most primeval knowledge is lost to the so-called civilised peoples.

Only in close cooperation with the indigenous tribes will we be able to survive as humankind and transform our earth back into the paradise the creator must have made. Humankind expelled itself from this paradise, as is reported by the holy scriptures of various religions and cultures. But the paradise was never in another place; it was always here and we have destroyed it almost beyond recognition. Together with the indigenous peoples we have the chance to return to the lost paradise.