The answer to poverty is not MONEY - Read to know!

Money-Less Society – A movement towards abundance

The other day I was watching a program on Discovery Channel, about how the Egyptian civilization, one of the most advanced in the world in its time suddenly disappeared in a span of only one generation. The reason, they said, was the life line of the civilization, the river Nile, had dried up. The Nile was used for everything, those days, right from agriculture facilitated by the floods, which brought nutrients and water to the basin, to transportation of food, people and even the heavy rocks that were the building blocks of the pyramids and other buildings.

The pyramids were a sign of power of the Pharaohs who were considered as Gods who protected the people from droughts and provided, for rains and food and well being. The cause was a change in the ocean currents that stopped the ice from melting in the north, which, in turn, caused the Nile to dry up. This was 4000 years ago (2000 BC) and some of the pyramids still have evidences in the form of inscriptions, showing how desperate, disastrous and horrifying the consequences were. It not only caused people to fight with each other for food, but it went to the extent where parents killed their own children and ate them.

If we go back another 2000 yrs (approximately 4000 BC) the Sahara Desert in Africa was a jungle. Then came climatic changes, which caused desertification and the hunters living in those jungles to eventually settled around the river Nile and this formed one of the greatest civilizations in History. It is daunting to think that the people in the most advanced civilization would resort to eating their own children for survival.

Since then people realized that the Pharaohs lacked the power to protect them. This eventually caused the end of Pyramids.

Now let us come forward to present day. If we open the newspapers we often see families committing mass suicides, killing their own children and then killing themselves. We are in the midst of a recession. However if we examine, the cause of this recession, it is not because of a crop failure, or sudden drop in the resources that we humans need to survive or thrive. It is merely because of the amount of debt that accumulated in the economy.

If we look at the other great depression we know of, again we see the same phenomena. Here are the top five causes:-
1. Stock Market Crash of 1929
2. Bank Failures
3. Reduction in Purchasing Across the Board
4. American Economic Policy with Europe
5. Drought Conditions:- While not a direct cause of the Great Depression, the drought that occurred in the Mississippi Valley in 1930 was of such proportions that many could not even pay their taxes or other debts and had to sell their farms for no profit to themselves. This was the topic of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath.

Again, it is not the lack of resources, but it is because of money, and the importance it has in our society. Even the only condition which affected the resource availability, the droughts, had such drastic effects because of debt and taxes and not so much the drought in itself.

The other day someone sent a joke about ‘Money’… I’ll quote him below.

“It is August. In a small town on the South Coast of France, holiday season is in full swing, but it is raining so there is not too much business happening. Everyone is heavily in debt. Luckily, a rich Russian tourist arrives in the foyer of the small local hotel. He asks for a room and puts a Euro100 note on the reception counter as a deposit, takes a key and goes to inspect the room located up the stairs on the third floor.The hotel owner takes the banknote in hurry and rushes to his meat supplier to whom he owes E100.The butcher takes the money and races to his wholesale supplier to pay his debt.The wholesaler rushes to the farmer to pay E100 for pigs he purchased some time ago..The farmer triumphantly gives the E100 note to a local prostitute who gave him her services on credit.The prostitute goes quickly to the hotel, as she owed the hotel for her hourly room use to entertain clients.At that moment, the rich Russian is coming down to the reception and informs the hotel owner that the proposed room is unsatisfactory and takes his E100 back and departs.There was no profit or income. But everyone no longer has any debt and the small town people look optimistically towards their future.COULD THIS BE THE SOLUTION TO THE Global Financial Crisis? Or, is there a catch here?”

This joke, however corny, is an eye opener about the importance we humans have given to money as a society. While the Egyptians were driven to such horrifying results through the lack of an essential resource – water, today people are being driven to almost equally horrifying ends, because of money and not lack of a particular resource in society.

This trend can only get worse. Why? Because, every field is trying to automate their processes, be it services, or agriculture, or manufacturing. This is to bring down the prices so that the corporations can make more profits and be more efficient, while in the process people are losing their purchasing power, which would in turn affect the sale of these same products which were made cheap.

One more revealing fact that comes out if you closely examine money, or cash, or a note, is what it stands for. It says – “I promise to pay the bearer a sum of X Rupees” (in Indian Context). What does this mean? It means you owe, it means it is debt. How did that note end up in your pocket? Well, the Government printed it, and loaned it to a bank for interest, the bank in turn loaned it so some entity, which in turn, provided a service or a product in return for that loan to be passed on. You in turn have provided a service or a product, so that you could get it. What did the government do to own all the value of all the products and services associated with it? It just printed a piece of paper, which is almost worthless in itself.

Do you know what slavery is? Someone being made or forced to work against one’s own will. The whole country is working for that piece of paper without which it will be denied the right to live, since he cannot buy food, water, shelter etc. In earlier cases, violence was used to get slaves to build the pyramids, but now it has become way more ‘high tech’ where we do not realize that we are slaves. Remember that nagging feeling you get on a Monday morning? Well that is your subconscious mind telling you that you are a slave. There are 90% chances, if not for the money you would not be doing what you are doing currently for a living.

Earlier religion, fear of God, force etc. was used by the Pharaohs to enslave people, now a select group of people, have found a much more efficient way and that my friends is a mere piece of paper - money. It doesn’t stop there, for every value we add, for every bit of work we do to earn that wretched piece of paper is taxed. Every time it exchanges hands, it is taxed. What happens to this money we are paying? Someone is winning, after all! That someone is the 10% population – the investors, the corporations, the banks, and of course the politicians who are in turn paid by those investors or corporations. So in effect 90% of us are in fact slaves.

Now let us look at another seemingly unrelated example: Oxygen. The most essential element for human survival, we’ll die if we do not get it for even 5 minutes, we can go without food or water for days, but not without oxygen. If all the oxygen was taken away from earth, for five minutes, life would perish (except for the plants and some bacteria). Yet since it is available in abundance, we see no dispute over it. No one points out “that you have too many children and they are taking up way too much oxygen” or there are no laws governing the consumption of oxygen, no one tries to steal oxygen, there are no jealousies arising because of oxygen, there are no crimes related to oxygen, yet this is the most vital element for human existence.

If we take a look at the causes of human suffering today, war, crime, poverty, hunger, stress – the root cause in every case is scarcity. Yet the resources in our planet are abundant if they are properly utilized and can support a population many times that of our population today. If there were no constraints about the “price” of resources, technology exists today, that could make life full of abundance for everyone on earth. That’s right, everyone on earth.

How? Let us explore this a little. Our earth has the same quantity of elements (the basic building structures of all matter, be it solid, liquid or gasses.) for billions of years since its inception. That quantity has not changed. Life is a cycle that depends on a unique balance, say for example the food chain. What we consume, we also excrete in the form of gasses (CO2, H2O etc.), or in the form of liquids or solids (urine and feces, which then fertilizes the soil, and are ‘eaten’ by plants, that we eat either directly or eat those animals which in turn eat these plants, and thus closing the cycle. The same is true for the CO2 we breathe out, without which the plants would not survive. So as long as the cycle is complete, as long as we maintain the balance, we can have as many human beings as physically possible. We’ll look at some of the resources we humans need below.

Space – Housing

Sitting in a traffic jam on a Monday morning while going to office could make it seem “there are way too many people than the earth can handle” but in reality, there is a lot of space, if we did not have to crowd the cities. Villages are not overpopulated. There is so much space that is not utilized. On a week end drive away from your city and you’ll notice the empty spaces. Then there are the jungles, there are oceans, there are many possibilities. Technology exists today, which can make it possible for people to live in these terrains, oceans, mountains, deserts etc. very comfortably. Do you need examples? Look at Dubai or Los Angeles that were built on deserts. Look at Netherlands that was built on an ocean, there are buildings being designed now that will be floating on the ocean in Japan. The resources needed to build such housing also exists in abundance, if, there were no constraints of “money”.

Food

Have you ever heard of Hydroponics? It is a system where plants are grown without soil. They are anchored on a media (burnt clay pellets, or sand, or pebbles etc, to provide support) and there is a stream of water and nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorous, calcium, potassium etc.) that flow underneath and is re-circulated over and over again. This way plants can be grown vertically, one over another, thereby increasing the amount of yield per amount of space available to grow food. On top of this, the quantity of water and fertilizers needed are a fraction of what is otherwise needed in conventional agriculture. The yield in this form of agriculture is much more per plant than conventional agriculture. So again food can be grown anywhere, if we can artificially maintain the temperature and humidity and light required for that plant to grow, you can grow as much as you want. Yes even in deserts and oceans. Again, this can be done on a massive scale, provided, there is no constraint of “money” to set up these systems. The resources and technology exists today. Oh yes, the food will be organic, no harmful chemicals and pesticides will need to be consumed.

Energy

The sun shines enough energy on earth in an hour that we humans, collectively all over the world, could consume in one year. Then there is Geo Thermal Energy, Wind Energy, Energy from tides and ocean currents that are in abundance. They cause virtually no pollution and again technology and resources exist today. If there were no constraint of money, this could happen worldwide.

Consumer Goods

If manufactures had no constraints of profit, or “money” they could produce items that’d last a hundred years, without ever having to be replaced. That in itself would reduce wastage, and provide for everyone in abundance. If there was no cost involved, we could recycle almost everything thereby maintaining a balance in the ecosystem while providing for everyone.

Every day we read about scientific breakthroughs that can affect mankind positively, yet the only reason they are not available today to the public is because they are not “commercially” viable.

Could we survive without money in a society? Yes. We could not survive without the resources, but we can survive without money. If there is no money where is the incentive for people to perform or work? The answer lies in the following facts.

1. Great authors did not write for money
2. The great scientists did not invent or devote their lives to science for money
3. Great painters did not paint for money
4. The people who invented the airplane the telephone, electricity or almost anything without which life today would be incomplete did not invent them for money
5. 90% of the population today would not do what they are doing if they did not need the money, instead they’d do what they love, what they are good at, what gives them a sense of satisfaction, a sense of achievement just like the ones mentioned in the first 4 points.

Yet there will be work that’ll have to be done which people would not do if not for the money. These will be done by machines. Such technology and resources, again as I mentioned before, exists today, only they are not ‘commercially viable’.

Another revealing fact that comes out, if you closely examine money, or cash, or a note, is what it stands for. It says – “I promise to pay the bearer a sum of X Rupees” (in Indian Context). What does this mean? It means you owe, it means it is debt.

How did that note end up in your pocket? Well, the Government printed it, and loaned it to a bank for interest, the bank in turn loaned it so some entity, which in turn, provided a service or a product in return for that loan to be passed on. You in turn have provided a service or a product, so that you could get it. What did the government do to own all the value of all the products and services associated with it? It just printed a piece of paper, which is almost worthless in itself.

Do you know what slavery is? Someone being made or forced to work against one’s own will. The whole country is working for that piece of paper without which it will be denied the right to live, since he cannot buy food, water, shelter etc. In earlier cases, violence was used to get slaves to build the pyramids, but now it has become way more ‘high tech’ where we do not realize that we are slaves. Remember that nagging feeling you get on a Monday morning? Well that is your subconscious mind telling you that you are a slave. There are 90% chances, if not for the money you would not be doing what you are doing currently for a living.

Earlier religion, fear of God, force etc. was used by the Pharaohs to enslave people, now a select group of people, have found a much more efficient way and that my friends is a mere piece of paper - money. It doesn’t stop there, for every value we add, for every bit of work we do to earn that wretched piece of paper is taxed. Every time it exchanges hands, it is taxed. Earlier people were put in chains, and those chains were feared and hated. Now however, that chain comes with a disguise – in the form of notes! Ironically, those notes (chains) bring a lot of smile on our faces and we willingly allow ourselves to be chained or enslaved!

What happens to this money we are paying? Someone is gaining, after all! That someone is the 10% population – the investors, the corporations, the banks, and of course the politicians who are in turn paid by those investors or corporations. So in effect 90% of us are in fact slaves and are working relentlessly so that the select 10% control the rest of our lives, all the power and wealth. We have all heard that 10% of the population own 90% of the wealth on earth, rich are becoming even richer and poor are becoming poorer. This is how we humans have evolved. Not just humans, animals and plants too. It is just a matter of where one lies in the food chain. So where are you in the food chain? Those select 10% or the rest of the 90% who are struggling with the 10% wealth?

The problem with this uneven distribution is that the ones with the wealth also control the earth’s resources. Those resources were here since the beginning of time. They belong to everyone, not only humans but also animals and plants. So if I have control over the oil reserves, I have the power to exploit it to my advantage at the cost of destroying our planet. If I own an arms and ammunitions company then “peace” is my most feared enemy and since I have the guns, I also get to prevent peace from prevailing at any cost. If I own a construction company, I have no incentive to build a road or bridge on schedule because I know the more I can delay the project, I get paid more for the same amount of work through wages for labor. Considering I also have money to pay the politicians or authorities, who are there to supervise me, I can get away with a lot of money at the cost of convenience to the public. Who is paying for that road to be constructed? You guessed it – it’s you the tax payer. So corruption is profitable. This being the case and the world’s most powerful people profiting from corruption would it ever end? No matter how many people vote and whichever party comes into power?

Let’s say you are one of the 10% and decide that you want to end corruption, will you be able to? The rest of them in the 10% will just make you disappear. This is evident from the assassinations of presidents of countries who actually wanted the people – the common man to benefit, and not some global corporations or a powerful country.

Imagine the amount of energy and resources that goes into creating and protecting borders between countries. The amount of research that goes into creating super weapons, guided missiles, nuclear bombs, battleships, surveillance satellites and then maintaining them. Imagine the number of people dying on both sides of the border and all this sacrifice for what? And what are we protecting really? At the core we are no different from the people on the other side of the border. We need the same nutrition, we live approximately the same number of years, we have the same diseases, we have the same dreams and aspirations, and we reproduce the same way. If you think about it, whenever there is war, it has never ever benefited the common man. It has only benefited the kings, or the politicians or the owners of very large corporations. Before partition of India, Hindus and Muslims lived in the same localities, and just when India was about get its independence, some people saw an opportunity and divided the two nations by instigating people using religion. The rest is history, the neighbors turned into foes, criminals got wings, and the number of lives lost is appalling. The people who benefited at that time are long gone, but the hurt and hatred that was created lives even to this day. People were hurt on both sides of the border.

If the same resources, the same focus, the same energy, the same research was directed towards abolishing poverty, providing safe housing, sanitation, food, healthcare, seeking renewable energy, developing technology to abolish manual labor, we’d all have a much better lifestyle, and a solution to most problems humanity faces today.

No religion teaches violence, yet most wars have been instigated using religion as an excuse. What is surprising is everyone realizes that the Quran, the Bible, the Bhagwat Gita, the Guru Granth Sahib all teach the same things, yet we have strong religious biases. We teach children fairy tales, where good always triumphs over evil, and in turn they grow up classifying others as good or evil. While we all know that at the core we are all the same.

Today because of the Internet, satellite television and technology we are able to connect with people from all over the globe. We can learn recipes from different parts of the globe through the internet and make the best of dishes, and by learning through video recipes, even a novice can cook as good as grandma! Technology is making a lot of specialists redundant with so much information available free of cost on the internet. We are able to play games on real time where each player is in different parts of the world. Through video conferencing we can communicate with others who are thousands of miles away. There is no reason why we should have any more borders, states or countries. Instead we have the power to unite as one global community and not let a select group of people benefit from the miseries of the common man. If you think about it, these borders are a pain for the common man. Why? Billions of dollars of taxpayer’s money is spent on defending these borders at the cost of infrastructure, or basic amenities, sanitation, nutrition or healthcare. The common man is the soldier who dies defending something created by someone else for his or her own benefit. What a waste of lives and resources.

It is time we wake up from our slumber, wake up and decide not to be slaves anymore, not to be exploited any more. It is time we truly globalize, abolish all borders, abolish all currencies and unite as one race – Homo sapiens. It is time we have the greatest revolutions of all time – one of peace, one of abundance, one of happiness.

If this makes any sense to you and you think something should be done, there is good news for you. Something is being done about this. You can do something too! To see what is being done and how you can help make the change – go to www.thezeitgeistmovement.com and pass it on to as many people as possible before that select 10% shuts this movement down. If the movement becomes too big, no one can shut us down. Remember the Pharaohs could not protect the people of Egypt, they only claimed they could, similarly no government or corporation can protect you, or provide any well being. They only claim they can.

Please help spread awareness about this movement if you find any substance in it.