Desteni Research: Want to Change the World?: December 2011

It is our understanding that most of the suffering that is currently being experienced on earth is caused by human beings denying other human beings equal access to living resources. This has probably been going on since the very beginning. Though over the ages the system in which we exist has specialized in becoming ever more ruthless. The inequality and the absolute disregard for life that we’ve come to embody as a specie, is now placing us at a crossroads: will we stop and start honoring each other as equals or will we close the cycle and put an end to the human journey?

What we suggest is to have a platform established that will allow for human beings to take a break from the madness. This can be done through establishing an equal money-system, whereby every human being on earth will have a right to an equal unconditional income – from birth to death. The equal money-system would be aimed at removing fear and survival from the equation called ‘life’. This will establish a level of equality in which we can start to learn what it means to live together and how to trust each other.

Simplistically, money is the tool the system is using to perpetuate its control over human beings.

We say money can be used for good – if we understand how it works and then change the rules. Then we can come to a new agreement about how we want to live, where everyone is equally taken into consideration.
Isn’t Equal Money just another name for Communism?

Many as they first come to hear about the Equal Money System are fast on the trigger to declare it as communism and as such inherently evil and to be avoided at all costs. Though in having a closer look at the principle of The Equal Money System you’ll realize and understand that it’s not at all communism.

Where communism is based upon the belief that the injustice and inequality of the world is solely based upon a specific class in society as the capitalist – as those that employ a working force – Equal Money is on the other hand based upon the realization that we’re all responsible for the mess that is here; whether you are a worker or a so called capitalist, we’ve all participated in and accepted and allowed the current system to function as it does. As such a change will not come through blame, as in attacking those ‘others’ apparently responsible, but instead through an agreement within and as the entirety of humanity – to manifest a world that is best for all.

As such – where communism is based upon blame towards the rich; Equal Money is based upon an mutual understanding between people that we’re all responsible and that only through considering everyone that is here upon this earth in our practical day-to-day life – will we be able to see a change.

What is further to be understood and noted is that The Equal Money System due to it’s foundational principle as that of Equality and Oneness – can’t and will never be a hierarchical system of abuse such as the communistic systems of China and Russia has proven to be. The Equal Money System is based upon the principle of Jesus as ‘Do unto another as you would like to be done unto Yourself’ – as such to hold the perception and picture of forced labor camps and correctional facilities in relation to the Equal Money System is completely faulty; no abuse or harm is to come to earthlings no matter what – this is the very purpose and objective of The Equal Money System.

Read more about this point here, and here
Why using Money as a solution – will money not lead to corruption again?

Money is not intrinsically Evil or does not by itself promulgate greed. In the current system it is the way money is used and defined, that is promulgating greed – those are rules that are agreed upon. The rules of what money is based on can thus be changed. An example of such a rule, is that: no one has right to any money unless someone has worked for it. This rule dictates that children will receive no support in this world unless directly by Parents that work to earn money to sustain the child or indirectly through redirected taxes. (A third way can be through charity but that is not consistent enough to be of any significance in the bigger picture.) A consequence of this rule is that children born on earth in the current system have no right to exist – because the fact that this child exists does not grant it the right to actually have the means to live, which is money. Rights only come with labor – And if you are unable to buy yourself the right to exist through labor, someone else must be found that can buy that right for you.

This rule creates a situation of fear. Because under such conditions no-one’s existence is ever secure – as your ability to live is permanently dependent on your ability to get money from the system.

Here we can easily see that it is the rules of the money-system that are creating a struggle for survival.

It is important to see that such a struggle is a result of the rules of society – which are man-made – and not a condition of life per say.

Many use the argument that ‘the struggle for life’ can be found in the Animal Kingdom as well – which is then brought forth as the reason why such a struggle is inevitable in general. Though when placed in the proper perspective, this is invalid: because there is at this stage no reason for starvation to exist or for anyone to exist in any form of deprivation. There is actually enough for everyone today – this fact is well known, and the reason why no change has thus far come forth is due to lack of political will.

One has to understand greed. Greed is created out of fear there will at some point not be enough. So therefore one will grab as much as possible, disregarding anyone and everyone else – because in fear one is only able to act in self-interest, especially when it comes to fear of death.

Though when a provision exists whereupon everyone can trust, that no matter what, I will have access to anything I require to sustain myself in this world and lead a life in dignity, fear is immediately out of the picture, and so is greed.

Therefore one can see that such forms of greed will disappear as trust gets established and people realize there is no more need for such behavior.

So, money can actually be used as a key to change the human experience on earth, where one can walk the streets without fear of being robbed and where one can actually start trusting each other.
Wouldn’t it be better to have no money at all?

No. For this simple reason: the goal is to establish equality on a basic physical level – equal housing and electricity, equal food and water, equal health care and equal education. This means one will work with an economy of goods and services. Now, practically speaking it will be far more effective to distribute one single resource to all – being Money – than to distribute all the different goods and services continuously to everyone. Because when each one has their own money that gives them access to what they require, each one can then go and get what they need, for instance in central stores and shops. To go to a situation of no money at this stage would lead to chaos and anarchy – because there would be no measure for anything – while equal money is a very specific measure, that will make sure each one has their necessary resources. So money is also a tool that allows for managing distribution in an orderly way.

Furthermore the only alternative to money is Barter, though to use barter at a world-wide scale as a replacement for money – is quite impractical. One merely need to consider that barter led to the creation of money in the first place, as human populations grew larger, because it is easier to express the value of all goods and services in one commodity – being money – that is most accessible to everyone. Thus if the money is sound, the principle of barter is actually contained within the use of money and there is no loss of value. Obviously this is not the case in the current system, where the value of money is based on debt.
But if everyone has equal money, who will do the work that is required to sustain society?

Here I suggest we be very specific. Currently we have a system that consists out of uncountable jobs and tasks that need to be performed. This number of jobs and tasks is based in the starting point of the current money-system. Which is that everyone has to do a task of some sort to gain access to money, without which one cannot exist in this world. Thus if we go and look what is the nature of many of those tasks and jobs, we will see that they don’t necessarily exist to support human beings physical existence and the quality of life on earth. Instead, we will see that for instance a corporation is formed to sell a certain product that – if one is self-honest – it can easily be seen there exists no need for the product they are selling. Though the existence of such products and services is justified through the need for employment – where it becomes quite irrelevant if the product or service provided has actually any relevance to the quality of life on earth, as long as there is a market for such products and services that allow the corporation to make money and be a source of income for its employees, without which they would be unable to survive in this reality.

Take a call center job for instance: many companies employ call centers to increase their sales. But if we now look at those companies: they are merely trying to sell a product because they need to survive as a company to generate income. Many companies are actually quite deliberate in this, where they will emphasize the need and the importance of their product, knowing full well what they’re saying is not true. So the employees of such a company together with the employees of the call center are performing a task that is not actually contributing in any way to the quality of life on earth – or at least where the quality of life on earth is not seen as having any priority.

In an equal money-system such jobs will no longer be necessary to be done. Because the only reason why they exist is to generate income. We’re not even talking about those jobs, tasks and professions in the current system that are harming and destroying life on earth. Of those jobs and tasks that currently generate an income that allow people to survive in this reality, there are many. (e.g. cutting rain forests, hunting for animal fur or ivory, weapons development and trade – one merely need to consider America’s military spending to understand the vastness of this arena – ; soldiers to be trained for war and killing – would anyone join the army if they had no need for the income? – ; alcohol trade, etc.)

Now, let’s look at the kind of arena’s, tasks, jobs and professions where it can easily be seen that they are critical to the quality of life on earth.

The manufacturing of clothing
The building and maintaining of housing & living infrastructure
Energy production, such as electricity
Providing clean drinking water
Sewage system building and maintenance
Agriculture/Food production and distribution
Education and schooling
Health care
Organization/Administration
Computer and software
Research
Etc…

So what many argue is: who will do those necessary tasks? why would anyone be motivated to do anything? Let’s look at it this way: do people require to be payed to have the motivation to wash themselves? No, because most understand it is necessary to be done as a matter of hygiene and also because they enjoy doing it! So here we have an example of an action that is based on understanding and that is not done out of profit, because it’s part of ‘taking care of oneself’. Though, to wash yourself, you would actually require water that comes out of your tap. And because you live in a community and you understand that everyone would benefit from having water, you understand that it would be far more effective to have one coordinated system of providing water for everyone, instead of each individually having to sort out their water-issues by themselves. So within the community you come to an agreement as to who will take responsibility for making sure there is water. This is basic common sense. It has nothing to do with profit-calculations, but with looking after oneself in the understanding that ‘what is best for all, is best for me’. The same procedure can be applied to any requirement that would then form a public service.

With the current technology that is available – it would not even be necessary that everyone does a job. Because the jobs that exist would not be based on the need for income but on the understanding of what is best for all.

To practically arrange this, would require a ‘Dual-Money-system’ – because the first step is to have the basics of society organized, which would result in a Labor-system. This would then be the physical support for the entire society. To manage the access to the basic goods and services the Equal money system would be introduced: simply, everyone receiving the same amount of money unconditionally – that would allow for a regulation of the distribution of basic goods and services. Meaning, this money one would only be able to spend on what is agreed to be the necessary requirements to live a dignified life, such as: proper housing and electricity, water, food, clothing, education and health care. Those that are actively involved in the labor-system would receive an extra income. This income would be the same for every participant according to the time-units they have worked, regardless of the nature of the activity.

Note that with what we’ve established thus far – everyone is already taken care of.

Now the labor-income will be a different type of money, that has no restrictions with regards to what it can be used for. Thus a space is created for anyone wanting to engage in providing certain goods and services, that are not strictly necessary – but that many would regard as desirable in some way. This space will function as a free market within the equal money-system. People performing a job will have access to a greater variety of goods and services according to their preference. Note that, even though there will be a difference in private wealth resulting from this arrangement, actual poverty will not be able to exist, as each one has a dignified minimum, which is according to each one’s equal right to live a decent life.
But how can you make sure the basic facilities are actually provided for everyone?

This will be done through a system of conscription – where everyone who finishes school will do 4 years of mandatory labor, in any one of the area’s that are required to support the basic support system of the world. This will make sure the basics can constantly be provided for everyone, and look – it will only cost you 4 years of labor and you get labor-money !

The basic support system includes food production and all the public services, such as mentioned in the list above.
Can one just create money out of nothing – isn’t that what is causing the current money-crisis?

Indeed. What we’re proposing is a fiat money-system. Meaning: money that is created and issued by a central institution directly and declared as Legal.

With regards to the current money-crisis, one must understand: it is not due to money being created ‘out of nothing’ – but solely due to the procedure according to which all money being issued has the nature of a loan with interest.

This is completely against what we’re suggesting: because the point of having money is not to use it to exploit people for power and control, but to make life easier -which is by the way what children in schools are being taught about why money exists. Unfortunately they’re not being told the whole story.

As explained above – money will be a tool at your disposal that gives you access to living-recourse. It will not be a ‘loan’ – because you have a right to it: it is your money.
What will the Equal Money look like – how will it work?

Most practical would be to have all the money be digital – because then it can simply be send from one (or many) central point(s) to all the individual accounts. Which would then require digital payment technology at every shop/store/warehouse and chip-technology. So it will be very similar to the payment systems that are already in place. As to what kind of chips, we could either go for a chip on a credit-card or an implanted micro-chip in the skin – whichever works best. A micro-chip has the advantage one will not lose it – which is preferable as without it you’d have problems with your ability to pay for your goods, where you’d lose time with getting a new chip. Though remember, the point here is to have a digital system – which can be done by using bankcards or microchips.

Another reason why digital money is preferable – is that just as easy as the money is created, it must be able to be deleted. This would happen as soon as the money is used at the first payment. When I for instance buy myself a pair of shoes, that amount of money that I’ve just spent will not be ‘transferred’ from my account to the account of the store, it will instead be deleted from my account. Because remember: the purpose of the money is to make sure there is equal access for all to basic living-resources. Therefore once the money has served its purpose, there is no reason anymore for it to exist.

Within this, the money could be distributed either as a monthly or as an annual income.

So, yes – the entire experience of what money is and how we use it, will certainly change.

How will the Money-system be managed – who can be trusted?

The best solution that we’re seeing here is to have an administration – not a government – to oversee the working of the system. Yes, we’re expressly suggesting the system should be largely automated, so as to diminish any opportunities for abuse. The administration will be replaced with an entirely new administration yearly – based on majority vote from the people, whereby one can ‘be in office’ only once and then never again.

Specific training programs will be set up to teach people the nessecary skills to perform such a task – where the test will be if the person develops the skill on the one hand, but more importantly: if the person can be trusted with such a responsibility – to always act in a way that is best for all.

Note that our current leaders don’t require to be tested on their integrity to be able to go for office – the one who is able to best deceive everyone will generally win an election, which is why this world has never changed. In an Equal money-system such forms of abuse will no longer be possible.