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Rethinking and bypassing the mechanisms that got the US and the world into this mess - so that the world can move forward, be prosperous, peaceful and productive, instead of destructive, greedy and violent requires total out of the box thinking and re examining the value of capital, labour and how the two work in tandem.
The globe faces an energy crisis, a healthcare crisis, a food crisis, and now a financial crisis. Dollars or currency have no value - and yet we chase dollars, ever wanting more, so we can buy food, so we can exchange that piece of paper for the home we live in, the car we drive, our education, our healthcare - everything that our lives revolve around seem to involve dollars. And the only way we "get" dollars, the only way our dollars have "value" is by labour.
We have the means to become energy independant - except for that little problem of dollars - it "costs" too much. We have the means to provide healthcare easily - except for the little problem of dollars - it costs too much. We have the means to feed the world - and yet, starvation is ever present to many, because they cannot afford to pay with dollars. WE invade other nations under false pretenses, all the while eyeing their oil fields, because energy is a scarce and precious commodity - and we must ensure that the oil is priced in US dollars........
Homeowners in rising numbers are facing foreclosure, and the value of homes are plummeting. Unemployment grows, and with that an ever rising panic of how to feed your family, how to find and keep a roof over their head - how to survive.
Financial institutions and corporations that are in trouble are not part of the problem - they are the problem - with outsourcing jobs to increase profit, with ponzi schemes that defraud investors, with fraudulent securities ratings sold abroad to increase profit - and when a person understands that many millions of people use the stock market and its siren song of making money from good hunches, or bets, and use that system to ensure a viable retirement scenario, becaue everything costs money, more money tommorrow than today - for EVER....it is not at all hard to see why we face the scenario we do today.
I propose another currency. A currency that cannot be traded on the market, cannot be saved in the banks - a credit of sorts. This credit cannot be traded for anything other than essential services - shelter, food, electricity, healthcare, education, or from businesses and industries that have taken federal funding for their businesses. If you are a homeowner whose home faces foreclosure - Uncle Sam buys your home from the bank and in return, you work for Uncle Sam for the credit to stay in your home. Where do you work? Perhaps you will be building or help building solar panels for a greener, more self sufficient America, perhaps you will be helping in the healthcare field after getting government subsidized training and education - and that is another thing.....education of health, should be mandatory for all high school students, so that they can work either help out at the hospitals for general care, or at least learn to live a healthy lifestyle - all of which would reduce the cost of healthcare. Perhaps you will be working in community gardens, helping your neighborhood grow food, prepare and cook healthy meals with fresh locally grown ingredients. Perhaps you will be working on bridges, roads, infrastructure. Perhaps you will be one of the workers who will build a high speed electric train.
Now, America needs goods and services from abroad - these were priced in the past in US dollars. Commodities could be traded directly for other commodities.
You are correct - this would effectively kill Wall Street and the big multinational financial firms. Or would it? I think of a research firm in the UK that has technology that would benefit America and they want to import it and produce it locally - then they would need to establish some type of trade of a real product or alternative technology that would benefit the UK.
But, think of this in other terms, with a credit that can only be earned, not saved, and used for shelter, and essential services, and if those shelters and essential services cannot be traded or negotiated on the open market - I wonder what the crime rate would be? Unemployment would be a dinosaur. It would be the ultimate cashless society - a futuristic vision of the future without chasing dollars for fear you would lose your home.
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