Social currency renews human energy

Jeff & Susan • August 2, 2021

“The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it” Henry David Thoreau

We are not a job driven people, our lives are larger than that.

Yet, we use most of our adult lives working jobs for money. The result of social value structures based on wealth. The myth is; you are more valuable because you have more money. This structure has been evolving since humans learned to enslave animals and each other in order to accomplish more work and increase private holdings, property, resources and goods. Today, our economics that thrives on competition and selfishness, has created slavery for everyone, which I define as ‘no control over our time’. This phenomenon includes the wealthy. We are all treading in place trying to maintain our survival or our privilege. “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” Thoreau.

A person is holding two phones in their hands with currency symbols on them.

When stress rises in a population a significant percentage of the people affected will chose to find scape goats for their increased discomfort. Usually this simmers unexpressed below the surface. But when there is a leader, a President for example, who gives permission for misplaced hatred to be expressed aloud and acted upon, there is the danger of violence and the oppression that follows which can lead to totalitarian government. We are all capable of hatred and goodness. We are driven by selfishness and selflessness. Capitalism is based on competition and selfishness. It tips the population toward distrust and fantasy. Fantasy, because to have no empathy toward another person you plan to get the better of, you need to dehumanize them. To do this a person has to justify their feelings to themselves. We all do this to different degrees. This is where fantasy comes in the form of conspiracy theories, distortion of word meanings, and lies. The result is confusion which creates fear, and distrust which result in retreat into emotional and political comfort zones that polarize populations. Agreement becomes hard to find.

The dynamic of Capitalism is, competition that ultimately confines the wealth of a Nation into the hands of a minority. This is at odds with Democracy and Science. Traumatizing the majority of a population through anxiety about income and survival results in the dynamic described above. Democracy needs compromise and agreement to survive. Nature cannot thrive in the context of the endless growth demanded by profit economics. When a Nation is squeezed economically there will be a breaking point. When it will come or if it can be averted, no one knows.

The fundamental human drive that is manipulated and threatened by a Capitalist economy is survival. If basic human needs are met by a separate parallel economics we can change the socio/economic dynamic to “post scarcity”. No longer ‘not enough for everyone’, the treat and strangle hold of Capitalism. Food, shelter, education and healthcare become basic human rights; basic needs equal the real basic income. Every living human being is worthy of these things. From this start the expansion of humanity’s potential will flow exponentially. The destructive symptoms of ‘money before life’ begin to fade.

Already the experience of living through a pandemic has changed us. Some things have become less important, some more important. The scientific imperative of life threatening illness does not allow ‘economics as usual’. Our worldwide adjustments to the corona virus will change the way we conduct economics, permanently. Science and ‘for profit’ economics have always been at odds with each other. This has become glaringly obvious during the pandemic. The importance of science and the importance of humanity have proven to be the real value standard, not money. Nature must be protected, humanity must be protected. And we know how to do this. Basic needs are human rights.

Human energy is a kind of renewable energy. Our human energy propels society and economics. We need a dependable renewable currency to sustain Human energy needs. One that has no strings attached. One that cannot be gamed or invested. Social currency used for Basic Human Needs = Energy Currency.

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Chapter 6: Cruising Around the World

June 9, 2025

At Sea

Chapter 5: Cruising Around the World

June 2, 2025

Mexico, 5/5/25.

Making up for the sins of Capitalism

May 27, 2025

“It is soulless, exploitive, inequitable, unstable and destructive, yet also all- conquering and overwhelming.” Capitalism and its Critics: A History from the Industrial Revolution to AI By John Cassidy This is one of the best descriptions of Capitalism I have read recently. The only thing it leaves out is that Capitalism regularly destroys itself and has to be rescued with huge infusions of human labor (money). But Capitalism is so appealing to humans that it is allowed to continually transform and conform to new demands and circumstances, even though it is inherently unstable and destructive. Like the charming self destructive uncle who is so entertaining with his stories and wild money making schemes, no one wants him to stop. It is so much fun! For a few people. And all it takes is a few people to keep Capitalism going, approximately ten percent of the World population, the richest ten percent. That Capitalism has lasted and spread is testimony to its ability to keep adapting and improving on its main strengths: soullessness and exploitation. As a species we have become, over approximately 500 years, completely adapted to Capitalism. No matter what it distorts, destroys or lays waste to, it has captured our imaginations like a religion. We won't be saying goodbye to it anytime soon. But there is an antidote. We can make up for some of its most destructive symptoms with a Parallel Currency that is used only for basic human needs, food, shelter, education and healthcare, Worldwide. Some countries are already trying to do this with their tax structures and laws but a Parallel Currency would do this without taxation or inflation. It is a separate currency that can only be used to provide basic needs and is destroyed when it reaches a bank; it will not create inflation. It also will not inhibit the positive capabilities of existing currencies. They will continue to function as they usually do. The Parallel Currency is a closed loop created for the dignified survival of humanity. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion are not enough. A government by the people and for the people must also guarantee freedom from starvation, ignorance and curable illness, all things as a human species, over thousands of years, we have developed remedies.

Chapter 4: Cruising Around the World

May 20, 2025

Preface

Chapter 3: Cruising Around the World

May 13, 2025

Columbia, Cartegena, Columbia 4/21/25

A black and white pencil drawing of a little girl in a dress.

Chapter 2: Cruising Around the World

May 6, 2025

“The path of least resistance.” (The path of the most loot.) Bonarais 4/13/25 “Island of the giants,” was the name the Spanish gave to Bonarais in the 1400’s because the native people were so tall. The prehistoric people of southwest Florida, the Calusas, were exceptionally tall also. Maybe the earliest sailing explorers? We are watching as they are unloading a container ship on the finger dock near where we are tied on. Four people halt its sway as it dangles from a crane and approaches the ground. A flatbed truck is already there, the container is placed and driven away. Repeat, repeat, again, again. An island has to import most of its needs. Bonarais is like a village of beautiful doll houses. The Dutch who were historically of colonial dominance, after they drove the Spanish out, and still maintain significant influence, designed the buildings with color and form that reminds them of their homeland. Pastel orange, yellow, and turquoise structures with contrasting gingerbread eves, cafe's where locals sit outside with coffee and converse in Dutch. The children eat ice cream. Very civilized, unhurried, no garbage.

Chapter 1: Cruising Around the World

April 25, 2025

The question is not, “ How do you pay for it?” The question is, “ What do you want to pay for?” We finally boarded the ship in Barbados 4/7/25.

A woman is holding a baby and a little girl

The Role of Women in the Economy and the Need for a Parallel Currency

March 13, 2025

Explore women’s impact on the economy and the concept of a parallel currency. Learn how these ideas shape sustainability and equitable financial systems.

A Government is not a Business

March 7, 2025

The purpose of government is not to make profit, it is to protect and defend its citizens. Government is not a platform from which a business deal is made. It is carefully structured to sleuth out the most important needs of all its citizens and provide for them. When it operates as it is built to do, its citizens are generally content. When it is gamed, in bad faith, for personal power and wealth, things fall apart and the government and its citizens have to move to defend themselves. The necessity to do this should never have evolved. But a well functioning government depends on people working in good faith, who are honorable, who seek truth and have guiding morals. As we know, sometimes people get into positions of power who don't have these qualities. The unfortunate development of political positions being won by individuals who have the most money to spend has placed a significant number of people in Congress and some Presidents in the White House who have no moral compass. We see the influence of unimaginable amounts of money on campaigns. Made worse when corporations were found to be citizens. Let's dive down the rabbit hole of history. In 2010, when Obama was president, the Supreme Court found in the case called Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that corporations have 1st amendment rights to free speech and political spending. They named this “ corporate personhood” which holds that corporations are associations of people and have certain constitutional rights. This allows, among many other things, corporations to make independent political expenditures and allows corporations to spend unlimited funds on elections. Also, a corporation is allowed to exist in perpetuity. Even Voldemort would have envied this! So, here we are. Both Democratic and Republican administrations have pushed more and more power and wealth into the hands of the few and in turn the recipients of this largesse have shown their gratitude by paying into more and more autocratic governments that will continue to protect their economic and business advantages. This is not hard to see. It is very hard to live through. And even harder to reverse. But this has been done before and can be done again. Good government is not a given. It has to be watched carefully (thank goodness for bureaucrats). But everyone needs to play a part and feel they can be effective. At Renew the Earth, renew the-earth.org, we have been developing over the past 20 years a concept that allows choice within our World Economic System. We call it a Parallel Currency. This separate currency can only be used to provide basic human needs, food, shelter, education and health care. It cannot be invested or hoarded and will not cause inflation because it is destroyed when it reaches a bank. Susan Caumont, President, Renew the Earth

Making the World safe for Gangsters

February 28, 2025

David Brooks made this statement in reference to recent events that may threaten the existence of our democracy. Is this where our country is going? Or are we going to stand up for our “inalienable rights”, Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness? “To secure these rights, governments are instituted among men.” Governments guided by laws and run by Bureaucracies. When we look at our “inalienable rights” one at a time, we understand the profound intention of our Constitution. Life. All people are created equal and have the inalienable right to life. To have life, each person has to have the elements that sustain life; food, shelter, education and health care. Liberty. Freedom of movement. “Free from oppressive restrictions imposed by any authority on one's way of life, behavior or political view.” Pursuit of Happiness. Not just to try to be happy, but a guarantee of happiness. This is an “inalienable right” not just a quest or pass time. We negotiate the inevitable disappointments and tragedies of living but also experience the joys that keep us alive. And the resulting happiness, in its fullest reveal, is a good life. This good life also depends not just on the happiness of one person, but all citizens, including immigrants and refugees. We suffer and rejoice together. Government must ultimately guarantee basic needs to all citizens; food, shelter, education and healthcare. Most World Constitutions include these guarantees, but cannot afford them. There is a way to pay for all human basic needs without creating inflation and debt using a Worldwide Parallel Currency dedicated only to the basic human needs. You may ask, “How do we provide basic human needs to 8 billion people Worldwide?” “Is it possible?” If a majority of people agree that this is something that needs to happen in order to preserve our survival on Earth, it can be done. We already have invented all the tools necessary. We need more than a patchwork of aid that can be interrupted by a statement from the president. We must build a permanent infrastructure that conveys efficiently and consistently the human right to live in the form of basic food and shelter, education and healthcare. Efficient systems that get needs where they have to go can be designed by already existing computer intelligence. How much, where it needs to go, what kind of transportation is available, how long it will take per shipment, all these things are calculable and apply to food and medicine and building materials. Education needs shelter, and schools will be built where they are needed. We can do these things on a “small scale”. We know how to do it. We do this in our Military. Now, we must think Worldwide and ramp it up. This is where AI can become a hero! Ultimately, we do live in a “Small World”. As Bucky Fuller once put it, we are living together on “Spaceship Earth.” We glide through the dark in the company of stars, our orbit warmed by the sun and encouraging life. We are connected by visible and invisible strands, tracks and roads. A thread is plucked somewhere and reverberates Worldwide. Our fates depend on each other.