Some countries in the world have more wealth, usually because of a history of colonization (the development of international law in the form of customs and treaties which were created and implemented by military or economic super-powers designed to keep them in a position of superiority). Or countries which profit off of natural resources such as oil, which is provided freely by the earth but which is extracted and sold to those who need it to survive, in order to gain power and influence. Then there are countries who abuse weaker countries, and grow rich off of monopolizing their natural or human resources, leaving them with nothing. Wealthy countries create appalling living conditions for the poor, conditions which they themselves fear, and conditions which they themselves would never touch.
Wealthier countries can afford to have social services, or social safety nets in place to support the vulnerable and underprivileged portion of the population. Social safety nets exist because capitalism necessarily creates poverty, on the international level as well as within individual states. The existence of the social safety net makes the statement that we are all aware of and consent to a system that creates appalling conditions, conditions which we fear, and conditions that we ourselves would never want to experience. So we work like hell, we sweat and toil for 35-50 average hours a week so that we never end up like ‘them’. We even go so far as to resent them (we would all like to be supported by the system instead of sacrificing our lives to work for money), we call them lazy and blame them for living off of our hard work (we can hardly afford to feed and clothe ourselves).
It is true that while there is some legitimate use of welfare programs, there are also those who abuse them. Individuals and families learn how to ‘work the system’ to gain the maximum assistance by lying and cheating, manipulating and basically stealing from the public purse. Then they teach the next generation to do the same so that the abuse is perpetuated for generations. However this is no different from wealthy business owners, CEO’s and bankers who also ‘work the system’ by finding loopholes in the law (ie: calling a corporation a ‘legal personality’ so that it gains the same rights as a person, and so that the actual human beings behind the corporation don’t have to take responsibility for the suffering caused to other human beings by the corporation, etc…), or hiring lobby groups who successfully influence the law in their favour (for example: tax breaks), they lie, cheat, manipulate and steal just as much, if not more than the ones we call lazy. They also teach the next generation how to ‘play the game’, so that the abuse is perpetuated for generations.
The implementation of an Equal Money System will see an end to these games that strip us of our humanity and our purpose. It will free us from merely surviving to actually expanding and becoming living breathing beings who know who they are and why they’re here. Children will be born into a world where their only goal will be to reach their full potential and be caring, considerate beings, as most children already are. This will happen because they will be supported for life, no matter what, because only our economic system creates the uncertainty and insecurity we currently live with. Children won’t be born into poverty and taught how to survive, or born into riches and taught how to abuse others, they will be born into integrity, decency and equality.
If you’re not on any kind of social assistance but you’re not rich, and you’re thinking “but I love my job, I don’t feel like a slave who sweats and toils for 35-50 hours a week, I love what I do”, then you’re very lucky. You’re also living proof that people can love what they do to the point where their work becomes an expression of that love. If you were supported in terms of having enough food, a nice home, healthcare, transportation, education, communication, but you weren’t required to work, would you quit working and do nothing? Or would you continue to do that which you love?
In an EMS everyone will be freed up to find that which they love to do, and then they can do it without the limitations we currently live with, which are lack of funding, low pay, the stress of debt and deadlines, no medical benefits, etc… Imagine how much more enjoyable it will be to work without all these stresses buzzing around in our heads, keeping us up at night. How nice it will be to stop thinking about all the ‘what-ifs’, because our lives are so insecure that one little accident, one bounced rent check or mortgage payment, one missed deadline can send our entire worlds crashing down.
This brings me to my final argument, which is that we live in a world where the poor are born into a poverty that is usually inescapable. A child brought up in poverty on some kind of social assistance usually will not have educated parents who know what’s best for them, nor will they have the tools to give the child that which it needs to rise above poverty. Individuals born into poverty aren’t the ones getting a good education they’re not the ones qualifying for loans to invest in, for example, small businesses or certificate programs to give them some kind of skills to earn them the money necessary to pay their way. They are no competition to the rich. As a general rule, they don’t have a chance. Their only chance to better themselves, and the only way they may know how, is to work the system that created them. There’s no morality to abide by, the rich are doing the same thing, and the system doesn’t care about them, so why should they care about the system?
We can call them lazy, we can resent them for benefitting off of our hard work, and we can spite them all we want, but the truth is they aren’t going anywhere, not in this economic system. The only solution is to create a system that actually supports everybody, so that everybody can find what they love to do, and do it well for the benefit of all. Not for money, not to survive, but because they love to do it. Then maybe we can experience an appreciation for each other, and a mutual respect for one another as equal human beings, instead of being spiteful and resentful drones pushing the system along as it is, concerned only with our own survival.
Let's not be that anymore, let's all rise above poverty together by not creating it in the first place. Join the Equal Money movement to make this a reality
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