The financial systems of the world are becoming increasingly plutocratic benefiting the banks, the financial institutions and corporations, through shameless and obscene profiteering at the expense of other sections of society, non-humans, and the world’s resources.
As a long-term alternative to the existing financial systems based on money and debt, The Venus Project has proposed a Resource-Based Economy based on the assertion that there are enough natural resources on the planet to provide everyone with basic needs and that money is a social convention and is not necessary for survival. Whilst we agree with this as a potential long-term solution we feel that, in the meantime, billions of humans and non-humans will still suffer and die needlessly and that the environment will suffer much damage. It’s estimated that upwards of 50,000 poor people die every single day from starvation, water borne diseases, or Aids, and this equates to 1 person dying about every 2 seconds, which is quite an obscene statistic when we already produce more than enough food to feed every human on the planet.
Peaceful Economy Proposals
When reading these proposals, you will need to remember that all monetary and economic systems are social constructs. This means that the current rules/laws/constraints/regulations under the current orthodox monetary system do not apply in our Peaceful Economy heterodox monetary system. There will be regulations but only with a view to benefiting all of us.
A Peaceful Economy is our proposal for a more short-term to medium-term sustainable alternative for monetary reform and will give governments the sole right to all money creation. Banks currently create 97% of all money in circulation (from interest-bearing debt) and the governments just 3% but in our proposed Peaceful Economy it will be illegal for any financial institution to create money, other than the Governement’s national bank.
Below we outline some relevant economic concepts, as well as the key components of what we mean by a Peaceful Economy. Fundamental to our new economic system is how money can quite simply be created electronically out of thin air with the click of a computer mouse button (to understand how the banks “create” money, we recommend that you watch the documentaries “Money As Debt“, “Money As Debt II“, “Zeitgeist“, or “Zeitgeist Addendum“ on our Peaceful Economy resource page.)
We are not economic experts, and the following list is subject to change and revision. These proposals are an open-source project and we welcome suggestions from the general public as well as economic experts. (Please do think outside the box when reading these proposals):
- The creation of all money will be the prerogative of all the individual governments of the world with just one national bank per country (e.g. “The Bank of Britain”, “The Bank of USA” etc.)
- It will be illegal for any other financial institution to create money. No more money creation by the banks as interest-bearing debt.
- All private banks will be nationalised. All branches of private banks will become branches of the new National bank – this will keep most bank employees gainfully employed.
- Currency is not required to have a store of value against a commodity (e.g. gold, gilt bonds etc). It is to be accepted that all currency is actually worth its own store of value and that the currency is, itself, the commodity. (e.g. a £1 coin is actually worth £1 and a £5 note etc is actually worth £5!). To have a store of value against any other commodity (gold etc.) is socially constructed in the current monetary system.
- No devaluation. This is socially constructed in the current monetary system
- No inflation. This is socially constructed in the current monetary system.
- All taxation abolished. (e.g. income tax, health insurance, motor tax, council tax, etc). Strictly monitored and regulated, the government “creates” money as and when it is required to fund the services that our taxes pay for ( e.g. councils, council services, council housing, the Health Service, transport, elderly care, child care, deprived areas etc.)
- All taxpayers to be refunded their tax payments for a term to be decided (12 months?). A welcome cash bonus for every tax-payer and will keep most tax employees gainfully employed.
- All government registered charities to be funded by the government. Strictly controlled and regulated, the government creates money to fund these absolutely vital services (for example, it’s a scandal that the likes of Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital in London has to “beg” the UK public for funding through national TV advertising.)
- All world debt to be cancelled (international, national, personal). All nations will be able to create money to enable them to become self-funding and self-sufficient to service the needs of their own populace. An end to famine and poverty.
- All loan companies (mortgage, banks, credit cards etc.) to be repaid their outstanding debt by the government – minus all interest charges.
- All future loans will be provided by the government.
- All government loans will be interest-free.
- All utility services (gas, electricity, water) to be nationalised.
- All utility services to be free.
- Inflated profiteering to be outlawed. A government department will be set up to monitor and regulate the difference between the “cost of goods or services” and its “selling price”. The maximum markup on cost price will be 100%.
- Free education for all.
- Each adult citizen will receive a Citizens Living Allowance (CLA) of, for example, £100 per week to spend on whatever they wish. The CLA payment would be a welcome supplementary income to each person’s individual weekly working wage or, for those people who prefer not to work and feel that they can live sustainably on just the CLA income alone, they will be freely allowed to do so. With the introduction of the Citizens Living Allowance, all unemployment benefit payments will be abolished. We would like to thank Positive Money for the Citizens Living Allowance idea.
As you can see from our Peaceful Economy proposals, by giving all money creation to just one central national bank for each government, cancelling all debt (international, national and personal), abolishing all taxes, gifting each global citizen with a Citizens Living Allowance, a Peaceful Economy would create a world economy were each and every adult citizen on the planet would be cash “richer” and not cash “poorer” through spiralling international, national and personal debt, as is the state of the world economy today.
A Peaceful Economy would create a world were not one man, woman, or child would ever again die needlessly each and every day through poverty and starvation.
In future blogs, we will develop some of these ideas in more depth as well as explore other alternatives to the current exploitative and negative monetary systems.
Peaceful Creativity + Peaceful Diet + Peaceful Economy + Peaceful Interaction + Peaceful Living
The Peaceful Planet
It’s Time Change
