Economist's Journey to Life: equal wages

Friday, 22 March 2013

Day 207: Will Equal Money Bring about a Utopia?

It's interesting when the concept of Equal Money is introduced on discussion boards, on the one hand the Equal Money Team is blamed for being Utopian and on the other hand is being blamed of being fascist.

So - let's look at the Utopia point in this blog and in the next one look at the fascism point.

Will Equal Money Capitalism bring about a Utopia?

Introducing Equal Money will definitely change our society and solve many of the problems we have been struggling with for decades. Will it become a utopia, though?

You're still going to have to go to work. Your work environment will probably be different and you'll probably be doing something you actually like to do - and, hey, you might actually have a say in company policies. But, you're still going to have that alarm going off in the morning and you're going to have to show up for work every workday.

Pregnancies will still mess with your hormones, where you have to suddenly cry for no reason or have weird cravings or feel tired. Though, you'll have a qualified medical team to support you and so will your neighbor and every other woman.

Your house won't clean itself. You're still going to have to get your hands dirty to keep your household in order. Though, you'll have the comfort of knowing that it's the same for everyone else, since there will probably be no-one who wants to go clean up after another - so, cleaning will just be part of living in the physical world.

You'll still have to study and apply yourself in everything you do if you want to be effective in it. If you want to make something of yourself and your life, you'll have to work for it. And you might need to try out a whole range of different things to discover where you 'fit in'. Though, with Equal Money, everyone will have an equal opportunity to do this.

You'll still get sick - snotty nose, fever, diarrhea - those annoying physical conditions will still visit us from time to time. But you'll have your proper healthcare and a schooling system that is geared towards educating you to be informed about how to prevent as much illness as you can.

So, for those who are worried that Equal Money Capitalism is too much of a utopic idea - don't worry - life will still suck from time to time. But the main stress-point of worrying about money will be removed - which will make life so much more enjoyable.

It's not because we're showing a different way of living, a different way of organizing our society - a way that provides results that are best for all - that we're naive or utopic. It just means we haven't given up yet and that we are not interested in settling for anything less. Why should we settle for anything less? For some, Equal Money Capitalism might not bring about that much of a change at all - those that have a life of security will see it being continued. But for soooo many others, it would mean living a secure life for the first time. Does that make us evil? Does that make us stupid?

Did you know there's children in poor countries who think that there's something wrong with the world just for a moment, which makes it that they can't have food and a house to live in, that makes it that they have to work so that the family can make ends meet? And did you know they think that the people in rich countries are working every day to try to fix the problem so that they don't have to live like that anymore? I mean - let's do that - let's fix the problem.

Monday, 21 January 2013

Day 178: Zuma says to benefactors: "Everything you touch will multiply" - EMC will End Corruption

For more context, please read Jo'burg's R1bn 'present' to Zuma benefactor.

The Problem

At the ANC anniversary gala dinner, President Zuma of South Africa made the statement that "wise" businessmen who support the ANC could expect that everything they touch would multiply. In the Mail & Guardian, this has been called a 'controversial remark' - but is it really controversial if everyone is doing it?

Whoever supports Zuma will receive support in return - this is how political parties buy their power in a country. An example was in the newspapers just a few days ago - where Reddy Vivian's company was awarded a R1.25 billion contract to supply 'smart' electricity meters to the city of Johannesburg. The way in which the tender was awarded is full of irregularities.

"Detailed allegations that an initial technical evaluation score-sheet was amended to improve the result for Reddy's company, Edison Power;

The revised scoring pushed another bidder, Hefcom, below the cut-off 70% technical score. When price was factored in, Hefcom – whose bid was half the cost of Edison's – would have scored better than Edison;

A letter informing Edison it had won the bid is dated before City Power supply chain management even received the bid recommendation or the chair of the adjudication committee had signed off on the decision;

Edison's share of the contract was pushed up from an initial recommendation of a R600-million share of an R800-million contract to an exclusive contract for R1.25-billion; and

A man central to the award, City Power chief executive Sicelo Xulu, is alleged to be "friends with Zuma" though he denies this."

If it hadn't been for friends-politics, and if tenders were awarded purely on quality, Hefcom would have probably been awarded the tender, which would have halved the cost for supplying the electricity meters. The South African public is being conned continuously as no decision is made in the best interest of the whole, but only in the interest of those in power - both the politicians and the companies. This type of neocolonialism is a big problem as it perpetuates inequality and brings about results that are completely inefficient, imposing unnecessary costs to those with less. And, where decisions are not made to support life but to support greed, the environment incurs higher costs as well - because the environment which gives life is simply not considered.

The Solution

Firstly, each one will earn an equal income within EMC. One of the problems we're facing today, which prevents people from working together to find solutions for common problems, is the fact that the value of a person is not recognised as being equal. And each one's value IS equal - Because we are all here and we are all Life - it doesn't matter in which form - without Life, you wouldn't be breathing right now. Yet, the current capitalistic system gives value through money in an unequal way - creating the perception and idea that people are not Equal. Understand - equal does not mean the same - we are not all the same. Some run faster than others, some understand math better, for others math is like an alien monster. We are not equal in capacities and skills in that we are not all the same - but we all are equal in value - there is no one more important then another, there is no one that deserves better opportunities than another.

Every time each one receives an equal income, each one's value is being recognised as being equal to that of another. When value is not equally recognised, it creates the perception that there is a lack of value to go around and that each one must compete to receive value. With everyone receiving equal income, such competition for value will for a large part disappear - because there is no fear of ending up without value and without recognition. Things like power-hunger will for a large part disappear due to this simple correction, as being in a position of power is merely one of the ways individuals attempt to find value and recognition through competition. With each one being out for themselves, the larger picture is forgotten, and one's responsibilities towards one's fellow human beings are forgotten. Once everyone is recognised as equal, working together as a group becomes possible, because things like jealousy, competition and sabotage no longer stand in the way.

Of course, in EMC - Politics will be different from what it is today - one will not give up their voice to a representative and then hope that this representative indeed acts in your interest. Instead - each one will be part of the decision making. We go back to the origin of democracy, which was direct democracy. Ones territories started becoming too big for people to gather and do the decision-making, a system of representation was introduced. And for a moment, this was the best option available. But with today's technology, we are able to implement true democracy once again - because we don't require to physically come together to discuss and vote on things. We discuss and vote on things with people far away all the time on the internet; on forums, on twitter, on facebook. So - to organise our political system in a way that everyone has a direct say is today possible and very do-able.

Those in political positions will merely be managers, but they will not be decision-makers - and therefore, will not have the ability to influence, for instance, who is awarded the tender for supplying electric metres.

Rewards

EMC will put an end to Corruption - making sure that the funds that are pooled together through tax is no longer wasted on the exuberant lifestyle of those in power. Tax money will be used to provide each one with their Basic Living Rights. You'll be able to follow these things online, monitoring the entire process of why a certain solution was selected and you'll be able to say whether you agree with the decision.

Obviously, less money and resources will be spent on investigating corruption, cycling cases through the justice system. With such distractions out of the way, we'll be able to truly focus on how we can enhance life - for humans, animals and plants - this will create a different world for everyone, the world we were told we lived in as children, but soon realised was a lie.