Prosperity, not money

[txlibdem]

That is what Americans (and I believe most people in the world) want.

Each human being should be granted as a birthright:

clean water
fresh, nutritious food in sufficient quantity
a relevant education free of charge (all the way to PHD and beyond)
safe, comfortable living space
access to free communications with anyone else in the world at any time
equality and a just system that does not favor those with more money than you

What will the current monetary system give you?

crime
inequality
pollution (because it's cheaper to pollute than to pay to clean up your own messes)
sickness
lack of social justice

You decide.

[dkf]

1. So can I sit on my butt and watch tv all day while you provide for me?

Or do you expect I will do something in return?

[txlibdem]

2. What will I provide once you have everything you need

And a free education, don't forget, so you can go back to school.

Or paint a picture and give it to someone. Make a sculpture and donate it to the local museum.

Travel the world and learn about the ecosystem, animals, ocean life, whatever. When you return I will reap the rewards of your self-discovery in some small way.

It's hard to think of a world without money and a job but if a robot can build a car or make a cell phone then what do you need a boring, repetitive job for anyway? Unless it fulfills you in some way... then by all means go for it.

[eridani]

9. Yes. An excellent idea, given that productivity has increased by 400% since the end of WW II

IOW, one person can make what used to take four. What would you suggest for the other three? Being converted into soylent green?

Of course you could minimize the sitting around by reducing work hours by quite a bit and keeping pay levels the same. Lavorare meno! Lavorare tutti!

[bluerum]

3. Why should education be free?

Teachers need to be compensated. Schools need to be built and.maintained. Books, equipment and staff are required.

How is any of this free?

[mother earth]

4. Maybe INSTEAD of the corporate welfare plan we practice today, INSTEAD we could

promote education and actual health care, INSTEAD of rationing those things and promoting desperation, crime and ignorance, INSTEAD of families going bankrupt because someone gets sick, people who live their lives dependent on drugs because rehab is unobtainable...you get the picture.

Why not? Why do we have to stay locked into modern day slavery INSTEAD of thinking outside of the box, for something that could actually better the quality of life, instead of profit margins.

[th1977sk]

10. agreed

[txlibdem]

11. +1

Great post

[Fuddnik]

6. Do you mean like everywhere else in the civilized world?

Like healthcare in other places?

Amerika the Beautiful. Let 'em die, dumb and diseased!

[OnlinePoker]

7. Maybe this from The Young Turks is the way to go

[Johnny Rico]

5. Absurd wishful thinking. n/t

[Shagman]

8. TANSTAAFL

There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. I believe that these goals are laudable and attainable, but there have to be resources going back into the system. Somebody has to keep the pumps running, the crops tended, the classrooms busy. To earn your benefits, you have to volunteer for a job (or set of jobs). If you don't volunteer, you get assigned a job nobody wants, like sewer cleaning. If you don't show up for work, you lose your benefits. If you're unable to do your job, you get a job you can do.

It won't be easy getting everyone on board. Those vested in our kleptocracy will fight, and they control a lot of guns.

[txlibdem]

12. We have them outnumbered by about 30,000 to 1

We've got the numbers, we've got just as many guns, we've got right on our side.

Sounds like the stuff folks were talking about in 1776.