posted on Jul, 15 2010 @ 05:51 AM
I think that the biggest issues facing our modern societies are:
(1) Fiat currency
(2) Hoarding of virtual wealth - (i.e. measuring the ownership of debt as wealth) based on promissory futures, relating directly to (1) above.
(3) Disintegration of society (at local through to national levels) through the abandonment of localised 'real' wealth growth (we've become
dependent on mega-corps and public sector spending) directly as a need to maintain the status quo for (1) and (2) above.
(4) Globalisation as part of (1), (2), (3) above, leading to an increase in imports and outsourcing.
(5) Collapse of quality of life (balancing work and private life, quality of foods and even products) purely to feed the requirement for growth to
maintain (1)-(4) above.
I believe that most concerns can be seen to be derivatives of the 5 points above since they are not necessarily ideologically specific - this is why
we need a change in perception rather than a changing the tools we use to achieve certain things.
Money itself is not a bad thing. The desire to create wealth (real wealth!) either by the accumulation of wares or the currency equivalent is not bad!
The biggest issue is illusory wealth - ownership of debt!
Debt inevitably destroys society since it is based on a promissory future that cannot be assured or accurately measured!
You ever start to do a job and then somebody interrupts and says, "Can you just...?" You do them the favour and until somebody else says, ""Can
you just...?" Eventually, you realise that you do not have enough time to finish off the original job. We only get time at a measured pace, we cannot
get 'more of it' as individuals as such.
So we create illusory wealth 'today' by promising that we'll earn the real wealth to 'back it' tomorrow. Fiat currency is simply an IOU! We keep
swapping IOUs with each other, we trade them for goods but they mean nothing. As long as you have Fiat currency then you are forced to pay
taxation.
ATS has a history of proclaiming that taxes are bad... until societies return to backed currencies, either by clear relatively direct links with
'real' wealth creators (i.e. producers) then we will always be crushed by the yoke of government through taxation.
Taxes will inevitably only go up... since more and more IOUs are in circulation, the economy demands it. Those taxes may shift from individuals to
businesses, even to other countries via import taxes, but the fact is they need to rise to keep pace, especially since birth rates are falling.
Reducing the reliance on IOUs solves a lot of issues, it gives a level playing field. This should be the first step in reclaiming our societies!