The title explains my original intentions, I have reoccurring thoughts rattling around wearing groves in my brain, I hoped expulsion would expunge the stuff I am mostly powerless to do anything about, so I could be wise enough to focus on what I can get done.
Why not just write it down in my private 'tb' thought book journal? I believe that many people have the same thoughts as relates to how to make the world better.
Some of the more popular daydreams billions of people all wish for the same thing. Like for example clean air and water. The collective social digital consciousness on some topics is global.
My personal list is just one more voice, one more drop of text in the www ocean.
The action of writing this list is bringing to the surface both what I believe and my doubts. I believe, working together we, humanity can save the world. I doubt we can reduce suffering for all living things sharing our beautiful Earth if the human race doesn't collaborate and plan together. I believe this fear and sadness, observing life dying around us is the source of depression for most of the human race and also the reason why whales beach themselves. Therefore if I want to be happy I have to reduce suffering for all life surviving around me. I know I could just make art and write fiction. Entertain folks. But, while this would make some happiness the reduction of suffering is insufficient. Life is suffering, but escape is not the answer -- the answer is balance. Balance is constant work. So I work. I am posting expulsion of the fool, seeking mental balance. Expulsion of the food is a meditation and a work-in-progress. So, I continue.
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| Doodle for March 6, 2018. |
Daydream 25/50. Solve money. How do we reach that Star Trek utopia where money isn’t?
Economists have been shouting numbers at anybody who will listen for over a century now, it hasn’t helped, we are bored by the numbers. The gist is -- money is broken. Increasing income inequality, economic indebtedness of most Nations with individuals holding more money than many countries entire fiscal budgets and GDPs combined, means that working people are broke and the extreme wealth of the oligarchy is so much money “they” can’t spend it.
The reason why I am interested in money at all is because --
money is the primary obstacle in the way of everyone working together to reduce suffering and save the world. TMI warning: I can’t do many of the ideas I dream about because I subsisted near zero in my 20s and then after college and the second home we put 20% down on in 2007 my family, like most of those struggling to stay afloat in the sinking middle-class, has been treading in debt as negative-thousandaires. Well over a hundred million families, over half of the US population (80% by some statistics) all in the same sinking boat. Debt slavery is not working. We can’t tread forever, how do we solve money?
In my daydreams where money is "
no-problem", I imagine the global economic leveling we have been experiencing for a while now, spreading with digital communication and the internet since the 80s resulting in a multifaceted solution. Money-the-problem is a very ugly fractal when one attempts to chart it out. So I pull focus in on one knot, to break down that giant tangle of a tree chart, sector by sector.
1. Housing and buildings for small businesses (individual mortgages).
2. The arts, culture, and literature.
3. Postage, packages, and snail-mail.
4. Communication media.
5. Food.
6. Education.
7. Healthcare and medicine.
8. Transportation and shipping.
9. Industry and production for larger businesses.
10. And last Government (I break that one into three parts). A. Politics, B. the work of leadership and C. the military.
Note I didn’t add energy or fuel to the list because large electric power-plants and waste of energy pushing it long distances on ugly power-lines cutting up the air or spilling fuel to and from monster refineries spewing who knows what from blinking towers of smokestacks are all completely eliminated in this utopian daydream.
Daydream number 25 ‘Solve Money’ is divisible into more parts than I have ideas for. I will start at the top of my personal list.
Housing.
Mortgages and earned equity as the middle-classes base for savings and retirement should never be liquidated by the gamblers in banking, Wall Street, and insurance. The wealthy should never kick people out of the life-protecting shelter of their home threatening their safety and happin
ess. Usurpation means taking someone's power or property by force. Primary residences claimed as home would not be allowed to be owned by anyone else. The building or land may be owned by the state or the county, but the home is private property. Home is the most vital ingredient of the American Dream serving as the foundation for upward social mobility. Regardless of the home being nomadic or inherited for generations, people will always need a space to survive. Reinventing home-as-a-right would have a stabilizing impact on all sectors of the economy.
To achieve this goal of a home as a right for everyone we have to invent a new kind of mortgage system isolated completely from all other types of banking. The despotism of the housing market's "burst-bubbles" would be leveled as a guard so that no one would be able to flip and gamble on investment housing or be a slumlord over rental properties. The wealthy would still be free to do whatever they want with vacation rentals, luxury condos or second homes etc…
Primary residences would be similar to a rent-to-own contract or a 100-year lease to protect small businesses. Every payment you are able to make counts towards saved equity. If you are unable to make a payment or damage your home it’s sort of like reverse equity, except because home is a right, not a privilege, the amount deducted can never go below zero. Meaning you own your home, you and your family never have to worry about being kicked out onto the street, you simply have zero equity.
On the plus side, every payment made is saved equity. This savings can be used to start a business, for a downpayment on a nicer home, for retirement etc… If you improve the value of your home it’s the same as buying a fixer-upper now. Your payments can be small while you invest in construction, you improve the quality of your family’s life by staying in your improved home or because your house gets a better selling price so you can afford a cross-country move for work or other life events like a birth in the family.
After the bailouts of over 700 billion to banks too-big-to-fail, who then turned around and made "profits" paying themselves ten of billions in bonuses for several years in a row, never refunding the losses to middle-class American's pensions, retirement savings and FDIC insured mortgages. To mitigate future loss to main-street caused by bailouts of the big banks, American's should not bank with these MultiNational Conglomerate Corporate Banks, instead, all primary residence holdings should be kept in small local and State-owned Credit Unions. Interest rates are only for construction loans and green home improvements and those loans have to be managed like mortgages now so that people don't borrow more than they can make payments for, but these loans should never balloon, with interest kept fixed as low as possible. Also making payments should result in interest jubilees on any loan longer than seven years. Historically the king would forgive all the debt, but in modern life, people move and change jobs so it would be more realistic to keep a record of all the interest paid, and then reduce the amount owed on the loan by the interest paid over time or if the loan is paid off then add this amount to the equity savings of the homeowner.
Home as a right, not an investment would be an economic paradigm shift that would reduce suffering by eliminating homelessness and positively change the quality of life for everyone we share the sidewalk with.
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| #drawfool doodle for March 7, 2018. |
If you read the post above from yesterday, you may notice some old words stuck in the mix. This is because I had been searching for any possible basis for home-as-a-right, in the Bill of Rights/Amendments to the US Constitution. Home is protected from seizure and searches without just-cause and due process of the court of law, but home as a protected right for everyone is mentioned less than the pursuit of happiness or public safety. Trying to resolve the conflict of how deregulated banking adversely effects the housing market is disappointing and has resulted in more tangles and knots than segments I can extract from daydream 25, solve money.
Onwards to the next economic segment in
my list to solve money. -- The arts, culture, and literature.
After the robots are installed to do menial labor I believe there is plenty of work only humans should do, in the arts. Many creative people would be happy to be excused from the workforce if their 'day-job' was doing what they love. For many artists, writers, dancers, musicians, actors etc.. regardless of the creative endeavor, the obstacle is the same - money.
I have an economic stimulus idea for social capital plus a bit-coin type fee-free currency.
Imagine every voting US citizen has a dollar a day of social currency
to spend on the arts, culture, and literature. People "click" on any art or literature they "like" and vote with a digital-coin (like a tip-jar) in a comment box.
$365 dollars a day doesn't seem like much. It wouldn't fund the arts completely, but it would be a way to stimulate the economy. The arts make up about 2% of the US Gross National Product. Unemployment or under-employment in dead-end jobs is debated between 5 to 7% depending on the demographics of the region in question. Why not increase the arts to over 4% of the GNP? (Yes I know technically it's GDP, Gross Domestic Product, I so much prefer GNH Gross National Happiness, 😀 GNP is a compromise).
The voting age population of the US in 2016 was just over 250 million people. 250 million dollars per day times 365 = $91,250,000,000
ninety-one-billion-two-hundred-fifty-million dollars per year (plus an additional 250 million on leap years).
Okay, that's nothing to sneeze at, but divided into $100,000 yearly
salaries that's only 912,500 people.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 6,680,000 million people are unemployed and 1.7 million people are marginally attached to the labor force.
All this digital money would be in a corporation owned by everyone in a completely transparent social capital pool. This is not money to spend but money to tip in comment boxes for artists, performers, crafts people and writers of all types (fiction, cookbooks, poetry, prose, journalist, comedy etc…).
The shares are digital-coins processed with a fee-free system to the artist's accounts where they accumulate. It's important that there is a limit to how much anyone can tip per month and also people can change their minds. If they vote or tip by accident or decide they don’t like something a couple days later they can move their vote or tip to another account for 30 days after the original tip comment was placed.
If individuals choose not use technology or do not have access to the internet they may vote by paper ballots delivered by the USPS. They can write in up to 365 artists of their choice or support their local library, artists they know or local bands, or whatever they would like that is related to arts, crafts, performance, literature, etc....
Next is the payment to artists and creative individuals. This money is not about getting rich. It’s also not about replacing people buying tickets to shows, or paying for art, or buying books. It’s about stimulating the economy directly via arts and culture.
Small checks under $365 are cashed by the artist via USPS money order, larger amounts are direct-deposited into accounts created for the artists and writers in local credit unions and small local banks. This is to protect creative people from scam artists and big banks that charge fees to get their own cash out of ATMs.
Large masses of tips over the $9k per month limit are production budgets. Artists and writers are expected to create 10 jobs for every million in tips over their 9k per month survival limit. This means they don't ever cash large lump sums of money. It goes from the bank to the local contractor's via a construction budget to build an art studio, and hire carpenters, plumbers, electricians, etc… The artists' design what their community needs. They build an art gallery and hire an art manager to run the gallery. They build apprentice quarters and a paid position to run the art studio, etc… on an on. If they are filmmakers 33 million is nothing. The production budget for one movie. But, they can easily hire 100 or more people. It takes an army of people to make movies, tv shows, documentaries, run a theater or a dance company, operate a game cafe’ for board games or create even small indie video games etc…
When a solo type artist starts making over 2 million. When they have already built their studio/home in previous years. They hire an accountant and a personal assistant to shop and schedule plan so they can focus on their art, now what? That’s only 2/10 of the jobs expected. The answer is, it’s not their money. If they don’t need more funding to make their art or to hire 8 more artists to work with them, then they designate a charity direction. They support the art critic and reviewers pool, -- yes I said critics’ and reviewers’ pool. They forward the money to another artist or other creative persons who inspired them. They fund the retirement pool. Yep, I said, retirement pool, like SAG(Screen Actor's Guild) only for artists(to keep future Monet's children from starving and future Mozart's out of the mass grave).
The catch is ‘it’s not their money’ all transactions are public because this is a publicly owned corporation. 100k to their music tutor is totally fine. 50k to their college. 100k to the local soup kitchen near their art studio also totally fine, because IMO cooking any type of food by hand is an art form. 150k to a children’s hospital or hurricane relief fund to pay back a chief who used their own money to feed people also totally great. Since this money is public if the chief gets too much money, they can forward the money to set up a filtered water system or build housing for the people they are feeding. The money is public and moved forward where it’s needed. No one hoards it, ever.
What is important is the people vote and everyone had an equal share in the conversation for the arts, literature and culture they want and by doing so, everyone becomes part of a digitally facilitated cultural renaissance.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Social currency for the arts, culture and literature is daydream 26/50.
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| #drawfool doodle for March 8, 2018. |
I woke up today the manic downswing that caused me to delete my first attempt to share this daydream, yelling at me.
"There are so many ways this idea can go horribly wrong!"
Negative me: People could tip artists they know and follow them to the post office to collect their money order, then follow them to the grocery store or local credit union. Or worse, they could plan a long-con.
Me: Yeah, a few bad people will do that kind of stuff, mostly in the non-paraniod world of 75-80% good people, the majority of people do not.
Negative me: People will start pyramid schemes and trick other people.
Me: The entire point is people voting for whatever they like. Actually having a vote in the arts and culture, not just wealthy people who can afford to buy fine art. Every vote and every payment is public and transparent, pyramid schemes are easy to recognize. They would not be allowed to cash any of that money and it would return to the pool.
Negative me: What if they didn't do an easy to recognize pyramid pattern. Why if they start a meme where they take a photo of their pet's butt and then call that art and have their friend pay them? This spreads as memes do and thousands of people cash $30 checks for photos of dog and cat butts?
Me: Well, it's still public, if that what people want to do with their vote for the arts, culture and literature, then that's what will happen. Also, these people are on public record as an artist whose art is photos of butts. Not very many people would be proud of that. I think it's more realistic that people will cash in a Halloween costume for the month of October or a tip a Grandma for a lovely Thanksgiving dinner in November. Or best of all, thank a friend for a hand-knit scarf. If people want to support any type of craft art, costume making or cooking I think that's great.
Negative me: So you are fine if it turns out, the art people mostly like in America is cat videos? 91 billion on cat videos!
Me: It's most important that people define culture for themselves. Their dollar a day vote is just that. I am very aware that people in cafes rarely talk about alive fine artists. Of the top-grossing fine artists, only two of them are alive and all 15 are men. No one dead can cash a check. This daydream is about social capital and people who are creating now. I'd love it if fashion and dance and mediums very difficult to break into or make a living at benefited so they became more a part of our culture and everyday lives.
Negative me: Fine. More handcrafted pot holders everywhere. I have nothing against flower arranging and baskets or anything type of arts and crafts. But, people are busy. What if people don't have time for voting on art? Or what if people don't like arts and crafts at all?
Me: I'm starting to repeat myself. They can vote to support their local library. They can read the newspaper and vote on articles they like. I think buying subscriptions to online news is a great way to vote with your social capita
l. If they don't like to read or listen to music or podcasts, eat, watch TV. If they don't like anything at all and don't want to waste their time they can opt out.
Negative me: Last doubt. How is this massive social capital funded?
Me: Just like stock brokers use computer algorithms to pull millions out of the air in a few seconds, or programmers "mine" digital coins or the Federal Bank prints money all based on a Fiat = by decree of arbitrary authority. The people will decree their vote is real, and the digital coin it stands for is real.
Negative me: So the tough part is getting the United States Postal Service permission to print the money orders? What? Why would the USPS ever do that?
Me: It a big chunk of change. It's enough to completely revitalize the entire USPS, they have been operating in the red, in debt for a while now.
Negative me: The Federal Bank and the US Government would never support this.
Me: The tax revenue both State and Federal would also be substantial. This is income. The middle class pays most of the taxes. People in middle-class tax brackets, pushed-up even just a little bit, is a lot of revenue. It would be great economic stimulus, it would create a lot of jobs. The market would be helped because people would buy stuff. It's a really good idea.
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| #drawfool doodle for March 9, 2018. |
Daydream number 27/50. Remove money from politics.
Attempts in recent years to remove money from politics starting at the top with lobbyist and campaign finance reform has failed and is pathetic as relates to corporate payoffs of our elected government.
Politicians who take payouts for issues that contradict the majority of voters should be replaced with new blood, who will actually do the work they were elected to do. Should, but it isn't happening, yet.
Instead, in recent elections we are actually moving backward, not making progress in upholding voters rights, nor making every person's vote count equally.
With our current broken system, we need to start at the foundation of democracy, with the people -- make every vote count. There are so many examples besides the popular vote for president where broken politics damages our country. Even on a local level, the people vote for one thing and the government does the opposite. Take Seattle, we voted down a sports stadium and we voted for several mass transit proposals. Seattle built a couple sports stadiums and has the worst mass transit system of any large city in America. The obstacle on every level small town to the White House is the same -- money counts more in politics than votes.
There is no question that an overhaul of our voting system is needed for national elections. Tho, it is interesting and even hopeful to note some states are having more success at processing votes than others.
The Supreme Court and Congress should protect all American's rights to vote and a resolution to end Gerrymandering forever should be passed into law.
All antiquated voting machines should be recycled for parts. The voting method proven to be both the most accessible by everyone and le
ast able to be tampered with is mail-in paper ballots. At this point in the information age, why are people having to leave work and wait in lines to vote ever? Web and paper ballot systems should have been implemented years ago for the best of both security and efficiency of voting results. Mail-in ballots combined with a digital system able to be tallied instantly and checked by the voters themselves while still maintaining each individual's votes as private, we have the technology, we have a very good postal service. Why are we losing vital elections because of punch card chads in Florida? Lost or stolen voting machines in several states? Spending tons of money on inefficient recounts in too many states to list? etc....
All political advertising should be illegal. News outlets or social media announce events and schedules, but no paid political ads ever. Instead of mailers and attack ads on TV and radio, there should be a politics channel and official state, county and national websites that only broadcast politics. All town halls and rally events are televised there and all candidates get equal airtime, the airtime divided up by National and Local elections and issues -- by importance to the people. Conversely, no advertising for other non-political products, services or commercial stuff allowed on the political channels/websites etc...
It may seem I'm reinventing the potato chip if you watch C-SPAN (Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network) or live in a state that has a well-organized website. But, you are missing my point. Money shouldn't be the determining or limiting factor for any issue or political campaign.
From brainwashing to voter suppression the US fails everyone when money is valued more than the people.
Currently, voters’ pamphlets are publicly posted on the web and printed available at the post office in most states in the US, but not all. I never knew who or what issues were on the ballot during the years I voted in Atlanta, Georgia. There were sites were groups actually charged a fee for their opinion of what was being voted on. I would search the internet for hours, make a list and my list never had the correct issues and I didn't even know the names of more than a couple people, much less what the other faceless names stood for. Of course, these states then vote in the incumbent, again and again, for years. Living most of my adult life in Washington State and Oregon, and reading the hilarious blurbs written by some of the people who got themselves on the ballot, made it so much harder for me to then vote on these faceless names with zero in
fo. I have never owned a TV, was that the problem? Was there an accurate list of issues and candidates listed on the TV shows I never watched? Information as vital as what or whom is on the ballot should always be free.
Waiting in line with next to zero information about who and what is on the ballot, is another angle of voter suppression.
I know it could be worse, and is worse in other countries, but knowing this doesn't make me less ashamed of politics happening right now, in the United States of America. If we truly believe in democracy, and that all people are created equal, prove it, please. Remove money from politics.
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| #drawfool doodle for March 10, 2018. |
Daydream 28/50. Truth in journalism and news via peer and public review balanced with the rights to publicity and privacy.
Sources are cited --- always! If you are going to make up a big steaming pile of “fake news” you are going to get credit where credit is due. If you break privacy and publicity laws, by hunting celebrities, minors or invading people’s homes or commit unlawful search of persons, wiretapping etc..., -- there will be a penalty. If you are guilty of defamation of character or treason. There will be a trial. If it’s treason it will be a military tribunal.
That’s it. No exceptions. No more buying local TV stations, newspapers and magazine blogs to force them to broadcast lies as news.
If you want to write a gossip rag, there is no such thing as victimizing others anonymously. On the flip side, whistleblowers and accusers have protections as victims,( as victims should have protections under the law now) but privacy payouts for cash or NDA for crimes are also not allowed. Also as relates to victims rights spam or public broadcast containing victims private information is protected. I.e. no news vans filming outside of schools after a shooting, or following students home etc…
I am aware that there are both laws and guidelines in place that upstanding news organizations have been following for a long time. This is about how bad it has gotten since Fox "jumped-the-shark" by calling the election for Bush before the results were in plus all the other crap over the years that we as a Nation let slide, wrong or even illegal defamation of character type lies that should never have been allowed that we are paying dearly for now.
P.s. Thanks for listening. I don’t know why I don’t get any comments here, but I recognize a lot of the stuff I write is borderline Asperger’s Syndrome/manic. I figure no comments is the equivalent to the blank stares and shrugs I get out and about in the world. Still, if you want to say hello, I do check-in on
twitter and
G+ almost every day. Tho, I don’t DM. I am only interested in public social conversations.
Anyways, have a nice day.
