infinite individuality

These thoughts were inspired by a selection of quotes from Plato's Republic, in particular, his description of how democratic men become tyrannical men. "Last of all comes the tyrannical man; about whom we have once more to ask, how is he formed out of the democratical? and how does he live, in happiness or in misery?" Our founding fathers and the history of our country has shown that we can apply Reason for the sake of Liberty. We have been flawed the entire time, but we were the first modern people to rid ourselves of the injustice of monarchy. In our Revolution, we rejected the idea of divine-right, of titles and nobility, and replaced them with the authority of property-right. Though the extent of some of those property-rights have been oppressive in their own right, the fact that we rejected the institution of slavery indicates to me that we can correct our property system's flaws. We're still capitalists, but at least our political process has...

I think laws often provide an illusion of fairness which can really only be enacted by those who seek it in their hearts. Unfortunately for us, the rule of money, the market, and law have so far invaded the rule of our consciences that we must all act with complicity in modern economic injustices, or one will be punished. As a Christian, I interpret God's form of fairness and justice as one of mercy and grace. The Golden Rule and Jesus' reminder to not judge lest we be judged are my personal favorite when considering the application of force or violence for the greater good. I have given a lot of thought to applying grace economically through social agreements because I believe a merciful society requires a systematic approach of protecting our rights to access the available means of our survival as well as a fair title to the fruits our labors. The Old Testament describes such merciful justice with the law requiring that the fields (held in common) be harvested in a circle by...

The point of economic activity is to make our lives easier - to economize our time. It is nonsensical to consider its purpose to be anything other than to reduce the efforts for the actors involved. Unfortunately, many of us are Tom Sawyers at heart. It's the human condition to want to take the greatest advantage of everyone else in our society while having to do the least. Worse, we want to be told "good job" for our lack of effort. We want to be given our Lion's share - but this tendency to idleness allows some people to take theirs. We think of ourselves first - it's natural. I mean we were hunters and gatherers just like the other animals for much of our evolution. We developed bonds with our mates, kin, and tribe as we lived in the "Garden of Eden" of Africa. We pondered why we were here, but we lived in a land of plenty. We have always been social creatures and as we grew in number, so did our collective intelligence and the scarcity of resour...

We like to say the world is finally perfect. At least as is, to borrow the phrase, humanly possible. It all started when Lazarus Incorporated designed the first true nanomedicines. We could now record and correct our bodies at the molecular and genetic level. We conquering death and disease and balancing our hormones in the process. We had never felt so physically fit. With death conquered, those who owned Lazarus, Inc finally began to understand listlessness that comes with eternal life. Seeking purpose facing a projected endless existence, they decided to do what they could to prevent death from conquering the lives of others. The motives for this purpose were unique to each individual. Most of the shareholders just wanted to be rich, though there seemed to be a general spirit that to be able live with an eternal conscience, one had to help others who aspired for the same opportunity. As the information age evolved information technology, it necessarily evolved our political econo...

Property is a state defended right that entitles us to compel actions from one another. For instance, the State can declare someone as indebted to someone else who claims property damages.  Our Legal Tender, Federal Reserve Notes, exemplify state enforced property-right as they are "payable for all debts, public and private" of dollars, our favorite construct of exchange-value. This modern money (and the banking and credit systems built around it) allows the manufacturers of debt to own our common means of exchange even as we use it. Owners exact a tribute for it's use in interest, much as our absentee landlords exact tribute in rent for the use of their property. As a result, those of us who live paycheck-to-paycheck (laborers) are compelled to pay tribute to those with property-rights over the land and money that we, the Common, use to work together. We pay tribute to the owner-class to exchange our ideas, goods, and services. Property-right found perhaps its fullest e...

After reading Mutual Banking , I want to attempt to provide an example of how such a society could function. Greene proposes a real-credit system, where notes of exchange are created upon the mortgage of real-property for collateral. Essentially the mutual bank agrees to a use-value for the home (in dollars for Greene) and is willing to give the mortgagee up to half that value to be traded as currency with an agreement to pay back said mortgage. The interest rate can be held at virtually 0 due to the non-speculative nature of the notes, creating a system of "paper money" with legal value among the mutual credit association. This credit is to be used in trade and for services among the other members of the association. As goods and services are provided, they are constantly reassessed in comparison to the use-value of competing goods on the market. The divide between real-property and currency disappears into the numerous associations' joint-ownership of all of the fo...

The biggest flaw of a capitalist free market: the inequality of bargaining power between the wage-worker and the hierarchical corporation. "I have shown the contractor, at the birth of industry, negotiating on equal terms with his comrades, who have since become his workmen. It is plain, in fact, that this original equality was bound to disappear through the advantageous position of the master and the dependent position of the wage-workers. In vain does the law assure the right of each to enterprise . . . When an establishment has had leisure to develop itself, enlarge its foundations, ballast itself with capital, and assure itself a body of patrons, what can a workman do against a power so superior?" -Proudhon The modern day economy is a master-serf relationship as the worker must depend on his employer for every form of sustenance via his wage. It is our state enforced conceptions of private property which support such an unequal market, and so to free ourselves, we must...