A No Surplus Wealth World
If there is no wealth to steal, theft is impossible.
If no wealth is present to hoard or “reserve,” there is nothing needs protecting.
If wealth is created in the moment on the promise of providing goods or services in the future, there is neither debt against nor the withholding of wealth necessary. No need for “insurance,” no need for guarantees of payment, and no possible abuse of power in controlling how others use the wealth they create for each other.
In my ideal immodest world, at the start of each day, every person would receive $160 per day of self-issued debit credit, $40 of which is redeemable by your landlord (or mortgage holder) each day toward paying for living space as rent. This would add up to $1200 per month for your rent alone, leaving $3600 of available debit credit per month earmarked for other expenses; transportation, communication, education, food, healthcare, and entertainment. The price for living space would be set by a minimum square-foot measure for each person, 400 square feet personal space adjacent to 400 square feet of shared space, for a minimum total of 800 square feet per person, times the number of people in the household, each eligible to receive the minimum daily debit-credit allowance. This doesn’t mean a person who can afford it, can’t possess and live in a larger space, but every person is guaranteed, as close as possible, this minimum of affordable space, in order to avoid over-crowding into an unhealthy living condition. At the end of the day, any unspent debit-credit is rolled back to the beginning of the next day.
All of this credit is based on prepaying a stimulus minimum of eight hours of future work at a minimum wage of $20/hour. This would establish for our society a stable baseline of equal distribution of wealth, balanced with labor, without the stigma of “giving or receiving something for free” or relying on the currently unstable, unworkable, inequitable “bang for the buck” debt-for-profit, system.
This new system would require the establishment of a National Federal Debit-Credit Union which would hold the earned wealth of the society in a public trust to be distributed as a Universal Basic Income stimulus on a daily basis to every citizen of the country with no rollover of revenue gain into the following day. Every person living in the country or who emigrated, would be automatically enrolled in the system, and entitled to the stimulus as lawful citizens.
The amount allocated to the public trust would match the current national deficit at the time the Credit Union was set up, essentially buying back, over time, all of the debt accrued. From that point forward, the deficit would be reduced incrementally every day with every private/public person-to-person exchange of goods and services. This would free us of the learned tendency to “save money for a rainy day” that never comes, or, as is the case now, is raining harder and harder every day. Hoarded wealth against an unlikely future need denies everyone the benefits of a fluid economy.
With hundreds of thousands of multiple transactions per day, the national debt would be paid off in no time, and establish a balanced sustainable economy, so long as the earth’s naturally recyclable resources exist. The success of this formula in the United States would inspire other countries to follow suit, and establish a peaceful coexistence of mutual sustainable gain into the future, with no one using a corrupt designer system to vaunt their own private power over the populace. Billionaires and oligarchs and dictators would become a thing of the past.
“By working to end financial exploitation and spread real financial opportunity, we believe you are leading the way in restoring a just, productive, and prosperous economy to our people.” — Fifty-five academics, private business owners, and policy analysts’ letter supporting the bill, and demanding a fair hearing.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders co-endorsed their Loan Shark Act, groundbreaking legislation that would cap interest rates at 15%, and hold exploitative financiers accountable for their grifting off the backs of impoverished Americans.
Conservatives and lobbyists call these measures extreme, that they would have disastrous economic consequences. Yes, they would. For the wealthy.
For too long, the working-class have been forced to make impossible choices with limited access to credit, deciding between taking out payday loans or letting the power get shut off. They’re forced to take on up to 500% APR loans so they don’t have to skip a doctor’s visit.
Profiting from having a business is one thing — but entire business models dedicated towards taking advantage of impoverished, working-class families are unjust, and have no place in a modern, moral, and wealthy nation.
Massive banks, wealthy donors, and Wall Street financiers are going to do everything in their power to stop this critical fight for financial justice.
That’s why I’m fighting for an economy that works for all and provides the New Four Freedoms to every person.
