How can we practically go about implementing an Equal Money System?

We live in an economically bipolar world, where the majority of human beings remain isolated in poverty while a small minority experience relative comfort and security. Even though there are enough resources to provide every human being with a dignified life, the current economic system diverts these resources to the top. This creates waste, pollution, over-consumption, obesity and greed, while the bottom 80% experience starvation, malnutrition, poverty and death from preventable disease.

 Both ends of this polarity, the developed and the developing worlds, experience survival issues and self-compromise due to money, and very few people are actually benefiting in this equation. Furthermore, many people are kept just comfortable enough to keep them from speaking up, or stepping out of line for fear of losing what little they have. Many have food and shelter, but are ‘mortgage poor’ or live under crushing debt, one step away from food stamps- the modern day bread-line. The current economic system we live in is a legal system wherein the rules are such that diverting resources away from the under-privileged (who are most easily taken advantage of), causing people to starve to death en masse, is a completely legal phenomenon. Figments of legislation have been weaved in to place, one by one, creating this bipolar and asymmetrical global situation. We are stuck, and the system we live in now doesn’t have any answers, all it has anymore are false promises, conflict, deceit, debt and compromise. If you’re not rich in this world, you’re a slave to money. If you don’t have money, you have no worth.

We need a new system, and the Equal Life Foundation, brought into being by the group called Desteni, proposes the solution of a new economic system: the Equal Money System. Within an Equal Money System, value will be inseparable from Life, therefore, money will be backed by Life. Each human life will have an innate worth, and that worth will correspond exactly to the worth of a dignified life whereby all basic needs are met, so that the human can stop merely surviving and start learning how to take responsibility for him- and herself, and become proper custodians of the earth.

The implementation of an Equal Money System will not be easy, as humanity, society and all its institutions will have to go through a major transition, from competition, survival and lack, to peace of mind, security and care. The first stage of implementation will be voting by the people through legal democratic elections. The Equal Life Foundation is busy developing political parties and their platforms all over the globe. Regular people are in the process of empowering themselves through the Desteni ‘I’ Process and are going back to school, cleaning up their lives emotionally and financially, and taking responsibility for themselves in every way in order to become effective members of the current system. It is this kind of self-change at an individual level that is the very first step necessary in order to implement this system. We cannot be in this world as children, dependant and in need of being taken care of, and we needn’t demand change from a rich or powerful elite; they will not change the system that created them.

 We need to create the change we want to see, by becoming the system itself and changing the system from within. We do this by becoming the politicians, the well-educated and the rule writers, by using all the resources we have at our disposal to empower ourselves in this way, to share the process by which we achieved our success in order to empower others, and to support each other to stand up from within and as ourselves, so that we can stand up from within and as the system. Right now we have no options and no alternative, so we are taking the responsibility to create one: an Equal Money System for all that supports all life equally, and that abides by the principle of doing what’s best for all in all ways.

Once the Equal Life Parties are voted in we will begin the transition from one system to another by first introducing a Basic Income Grant phase (BIG phase). Within this phase, profits from natural resources and other major sources, such as technology, will be distributed equally, as it should have always been. All debt will be forgiven and every human being will be provided with an income guaranteeing their basic needs such as food, shelter, medical care, transportation and communication. This way people can become accustomed to experiencing themselves as dignified beings with innate worth (otherwise known as equals) and realize the value of life, which has been disregarded for too long.

Over time, we will collectively work out the necessary adjustments using existing technology, knowledge and expertise to eventually implement the Equal Money System. The process of implementation will be an entire re-education and an altogether new system of distribution so that each being can learn to not only value himself, but also to value his neighbour, as well as the plants and animals that feed him. In the process of creating and implementing this system, people will learn how to become decent, considerate human beings who take into account the rest of life and their place within it. No longer will it be acceptable to place oneself above the rest of life, because the consequences of such allowances is what we see manifested in our reality today, in terms of the greed of a few and the consequence of the suffering of many.

This Equal Money system may be a long way off from the current system we experience ourselves within, which has no regard for human life and views the plants and animals as resources to exploit in the most abusive possible ways. That is why it is necessary to begin the self-change that is required right now, to begin to re-educate oneself now by living one's actions according to the principle of what's best for all, which are actions that will accumulate an all together different reality.

Slowly this group is growing, as people realize the common sense in taking the initiative of self-change and to begin taking complete responsibility for oneself and this world. It's time to stop waiting for someone else to do it for us, and as I mentioned before: we need another option. We need to create an alternative, and that alternative is a world that considers all life within the manifestation of an economic system that actually provides for life- instead of denying life to those who can't afford it.

Oppression, isolation, separation, corruption, and abuse are not Life, they are systemic, so we need to change the system to one which reflects what Life truly is: caring, nurturing, providing, considerate, equal and one. Join the Equal Money movement by researching it, donating, checking out the blog books (http://store.desteni.org/categories/books), voting or actually actively participating in it. Try out the Desteni I Process (www.DesteniIprocess.com) to change your life to one where inner-stability and peace of mind will allow for the self-movement and self-mastery necessary for this kind of global change to occur sooner rather than before it's too late. Realize that we can't change the world if we can't change ourselves, and that life doesn't have to be this way.

Self-change, systemic change, Equal Money- it’s that simple, and it’s that possible.

"We must start taking individual responsibility for the collective responsibility we have for the relationships that create this world. And start to understand how we - through accumulation created this world and then correct it...by corrective action at an individual level collecting, accumulating a result that is best for all." - Bernard Poolman

"Walk directively - breath by breath - accomplishing every task, piece by piece managing your time effectively, knowing that you will have to walk through the resistance, and that by doing it this way - you will accomplish a result you are satisfied with. And in this way - focus on self-satisfaction, that empowers you to be able to contribute to what is best for all, and through that -acquire a real benevolence and self-acceptance." - Bernard Poolman

Videos:

Basic Income Grant - Equal Money FAQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b68sr3oA1Xg

What will happen to my debt in an Equal Money System? -FAQ:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpVgzjt6gq0

How will the Equal Money System be implemented? - Equal Money FAQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ld_8tve2a1s

Equal Money FAQ thread:

http://desteni.co.za/intro-forum/viewforum.php?f=41&sid=b2fef4cc5155619ed76f52091d91ad9e

Do You Need Friends in an Equal Money System?

Do You Need Friends in an Equal Money System?

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                In Equal Money System friendships will no longer be economic relationships, because each will have what they need, and each will have the same opportunity as the other to have more.

If you consider groups of friends today, think about who gets invited out the most, or to the most parties. Who is the most popular and who is it that people want to be around. It is always the one who has something more, something to offer, the one who others can receive ‘something’ from. And that ‘something’ doesn’t only have to be money. It is sometimes money, in terms of the one friend who buys all the drinks and pays the way. It can be the one with the car, the one from a rich family who has a large house for parties, or a ski lodge to bring friends to, or a second home somewhere exotic. It can be the one who has an outgoing and successful personality, one who is looked up to, wherein others might gain 'tricks of the trade' or networking connections.

                These relationships are based in self-interest through gaining something from the other. There may be some reciprocity, but a self-honest look at the starting point of this type of giving will reveal that it is not based on actual caring or concern for the other, but rather ‘what is in it for me’.

                This type of relationship is the type that is fostered in our current economic system, where we are born in to a world of competition and survival. We have to fight each other for finite resources, and the attitude is: “it’s me or you, and it might as well be me”. This is what lies at the starting point of most all relationships in our world. Behind the handshakes and crocodile smiles, all the niceties and nice-to-meet-you’s, is the ‘what-can-you-give-me and ‘how-am-I-a-better-competitor’.

                If one were to take a look at all the friends one has and ask how many are based purely within economics or business? How many are kept out of guilt, or because something is gained from them? If each person eliminated all these types of relationships, which are based in self-interest, would there be any ‘friends’ left?

                Conversely, if one is rich, and shares everything and is therefore constantly surrounded by friends and family, I ask: if the sharing is stopped, how quickly will the situation change? If one who is rich were to lose everything, would he still feel he has something to offer others in terms of ‘who he is’? Are friendships bought? And if one has very little, how many friends are kept because of gain? How many people does one want to ‘be like’, instead of just being ok with who one is?

                If there are some people who haven’t been eliminated after having asked all these questions, then consider income levels. We are limited to friends within our own general level of income, because it costs money to do things and to hang out with friends. I myself have been in the situation where simply buying a coffee at a café was a luxury I could rarely afford; so when my ‘well-off’ friends would invite me out, I had to decline because I simply couldn’t afford it. I eventually had to withdraw from the relationship. The reality is that if a middle income individual has a very poor friend, it is only a matter of time before he or she gets tired of paying for everything, or simply can’t afford it, or the poverty stricken individual becomes tired of declining or making special arrangements to suit his financial situation. And if you have friends that are very rich, it might be hard to relate to them and to their problems and issues when you’re struggling to keep up on rent, or mortgage payments and bills. This kind of class difference facilitates the psychological issues of judgment, feelings of inadequacy, shame, pity etc…. It is simply easier to choose friends only from your level of income, in which case money is the determining factor of the friendship.
        Another experience I've had with a supposed 'best friend', was when we discoverd a profitable employment opportunity to which there was only one position. The years of 'friendship' were quickly replaced by a situation of survival of the fittest. True friendship, where loving, caring and respecting your friend as you would love, care for and respect yourself, simply cannot exist in a situation where are we are competing with eachother for survival, yet this is the global reality we exist within.

                It is the ugly truth, but it is also completely unnecessary. The real truth is the fact that there are enough resources to go around, but that they have all accumulated into a lop-sided equation, wherein a few have the majority of the wealth and the means to production, while the majority are left fighting each other for the scraps. There is no dignity in this, and there is no dignity in relationships that are based on this principle.

                In terms of ego, in an Equal Money System it will be very apparent that there is no need and no room for ego within equality. Ego, like survival, is something we cling to in order to save ourselves, to be the best, or to be the victim, to be hurt and to hurt others. Within the Equal Money System, those who cannot see past their ego to their oneness with the rest of life, and the equality with all that is here, will be gently re-educated until they realize that no one needs to suffer mercilessly due to the existence of the ego of another (i.e. The ego that needs to surround itself by millions of dollars as security, as survival, while others are born into poverty and starvation).

                In an Equal Money System, resources will not be owned and profited from, they will be evenly distributed as the distribution of a dignified life for all. No one has the right to profit off the labour of another as slavery as is accepted and allowed in the current system, just as no one has the right to own and profit from resources that are provided freely and unconditionally from the earth. Absolutely nobody has the right to profit from resources that we all depend upon for our survival, nor to keep them from us if we can’t pay. That is barbaric. In an Equal money System, each human will be provided and cared for equally, and each human-hour will have the same value, relationships will therefore be formed within absolute equality, thus friendship In an Equal Money System will not be based in self-interest, competition, personal gain and survival, but rather on actual caring, sharing, mutual respect, and it will be dignified.

                To answer the question: ‘Do you need friends in an equal money system’, the answer is no. You don’t NEED them because there is no need or dependency; you either choose to have them, or not. The real question is: will you be brave enough to enter into friendships with nothing to offer other than who you are?

Friendship based on Money Will End in an Equal Money System:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhPZXEt-iVY

Our Fracturing Systems

Everything is beginning to fracture, real (nature, the animals, the human) and imagined (the economy). The fucked up thing is that the imagined one is the cause for the destruction of the real one. Why is the economy not real? Because it is an idea and a belief. One which we made real by participating in it, which manifested physical institutions and physical dollars which changed our behaviour (controls our behaviour?) It stratifies us into a hierarchy of rich and poor. Very similar to religion- it's a belief which manifests churches and bibles, a hierarchy and the division between 'good' and 'bad' people (wherein the 'good' have god's favour- god bless america, where the money's at). The great thing about something that's not actually real (the initial idea/belief) is that you can stop believing in it, just like that. If you were once a christian but decided to no longer believe -as many people who were raised in that environment do once they become older and realize they have a choice- you just stop participating in it. Your bible looses the value you once placed on it, and the church looses a worshiper. We were raised in the economic system as it now functions, so we don't know any better because we have not been exposed to alternatives, very similar to a religious upbringing, however, here's where the two part: leaving the church is a choice, changing the economic system is not. It's continuation will destroy us. The bible looses value without our belief in it, and becomes obsolete. Money, on the other hand, can have whatever value we decide to give it, as it is not a message or teaching, it is paper. A blank page with the potential to be the most effective tool of equal distribution of resources we've ever known. Free yourself from a dead religion that binds you through lies, choose equal money -the only real alternative.