The Grey Area of Compromise

Yes I've been thinking about many possible solutions to our economic problems. One of the problems with our current system is our debt/growth based economy. Our monetary system is not backed by anything tangible it's just an every expanding bubble where the top 1% in our societies have the majority of wealth and because of our dependence on debt individuals, corporations, and governmental organizations have enslaved themselves to a future that is forever being postponed. This behavior is not sustainable to say the least and the future we've been postponing is right now upon us whether we like it or not. You can not have a potentially infinite amount of wealth creation within an environment with finite resources, human beings, and time. I believe this is the moment when the reckoning must occur.

From what I've seen our current government is still stuck in the old paradigm of a debt/growth based system, so as a result they're trying to throw unprecedented amounts of money (borrowed money) into the system hoping it will jump start it. It's not working and won't work because we've hit critical mass, the system is buckling under it's own weight. A radical change is needed.

My proposed solution would be to stabilize our monetary system by re instituting the gold standard. This is something that many economist have suggested and I think it makes sense, but only with my second suggestion (which is a bit more radical and has far reaching consequences). Before I get ahead of myself let me explain the purpose of having gold backed currency. First it is tied to our environment. There is a limited amount of gold in the world, once it's gone, it's gone. This is important for a sustainable economy, because it put's a limit on growth, which I argue is a good thing. If our cells reproduce without limit we call it cancer, when our economy keeps growing with no limit, we see all sorts of "cancerous" scenarios overtaking our environment in very destructive ways. But this solution will only work with my next suggestion.

Outlaw interest. Interest charged to people, corporations, governments etc. on loans is a repressive practice that while in the short term might seem necessary, in the long term it feeds on itself, keeping people in relative slavery, and distorting the realities of the present. Without the wealth creation tool of interest, debt would no longer be a viable option. The reason it must be implemented along with a gold backed currency, is because with a limited currency, interest has to be created outside of the system. Since we would be working within a system of limits, interest is not possible. That is why in our current economy, the amount of wealth in circulation has to increase every year to pay the interest of the previous year. This is usually done with debt. So we borrow further and further into the future. Eliminating debt would also have a profound effect on our view of the present, causing us to operate with a limited amount of resources as well as denying the instant gratification that, later, we end up paying for dearly. Getting people to embrace this "budget lifestyle" would be difficult given our recent luxurious history. This leads me to my third suggestion: Motivations.

Motives drive individuals, corporations, governments etc. to set things in motion that in turn effect us all. Some motivations would be said to include money, power, duty, reward and love. I have not read much on human drives from a psychological standpoint but these are just some that came to mind. An inclusive solution to our economic woes would have to include a reorienting of our motivations or drives from one of greed and power to one of a holistic lifestyle. This would entail leaving "jobs" or "careers" that are based on lower motives of wealth creation and power struggles. To more fulfilling work creating, socializing, and developing ourselves and our communities into more present minded entities. Of course there are many people who would not be motivated if it was not for money and power. Maybe there is a way we could incentivise them with some other reward. This is where the Integral Framework would be very important in "selling" the new system. Since there are many different people, at many different levels of altitude, you could tailor different "rewards" to their specific stages of development. So in other words, incentivise people to do things that are in the best interest of everyone using stage specific tactics. Unfortunately, I don't really know enough yet about all the various stages of development and their drives so as to come up with a specific example but I hope the general idea gets across anyway.

Any new system would have to be presented as an alternative initially, one that could be opted into, should people choose to do so. With all the current foreclosures and job layoff's I think there would be an adequate pool of people who may be interested in a more sustainable, simple, rooted and integral model of living. Our current state of affairs could also make this type of lifestyle a necessary tool for survival.

These are just some of the things I've been thinking about recently and I welcome any and all criticisms, critiques, corrections and input of any kind. We can only better ourselves and encourage progress in the most integral sense of the word by creating our future working together.

Mike

Here is a great video series on the economy that explains how it works and illustrates beautifully the quandary we're in.

http://www.chrismartenson.com/crashcourse