The
basis for all the proposed money in our parallel market, hence, our
parallel economy, is this single transaction.
As we get started, let's have a kind of word study, and since I am interested in diagrams that might make certain understandings easier, this concerns a certain divide in character among natural persons … and yes, you qualify as a natural person:
The word froward is an adjective; (of a person) difficult to deal with; contrary. Froward, from middle English, one who has turned away, as in that one has become antisocial. There was an episode in The Prisoner concerning those who were “un-mutual” that relates to this idea.
Synonyms of froward would normally include bad, contrary, errant, naughty, misbehaving, mischievous and words related to froward; defiant, disrespectful, ill-mannered, ill-natured, impolite, improper, impudent, indecorous, insolent, rude, uncouth, unmannerly as well as behavior that might be described as disobedient, headstrong, intractable, obstreperous, recalcitrant, refractory, transgressing, unruly, untoward, willful (or wilful).
In Biblical context, froward always implies a Godless defiance.
We might have more to say concerning being willful or willing further on, but froward persons might display behavior that is balky, restive, uncontrollable, ungovernable, disruptive, wayward or wild. Lawless, heedless of risk, Misunderstanding the certainty of applied FORCE. Their mannerisms might be consistently arch, elfish, impish, knavish, monkeying, monkeyish, ornery, pixieish, prankish, rascally, roguish, waggish or otherwise dissolute, perverse, wrongheaded, disorderly, rowdy, ruffianly, corrupt (willing to buy or sell things for money to which one might have peculiar access, etc.), evil, wicked, insurgent, insouciant (a sociopath), mutinous, rebellious, disobliging, inconsiderate, selfish (we have specifically defined this as deliberately taking advantage of anyone else for one's own benefit), thoughtless, unkind, unkindly, and also note, babyish, childish, immature, infantile, jejune (the peevishly or perversely dull, those who are proud of their ability to over tire or bore others), juvenile, kiddish, puerile (vapid, shallow and superficial).
OK? So that's one side. Here's the other.
Near Antonyms of froward would be acquiescent, compliant, complying, dutiful, obedient, submissive, in manners clear, clean, correct, decent, decorous, moral (knowing and observing actual right and wrong), proper (clean), respectable, considerate, courteous, kindly, mannerly, polite, thoughtful, and perhaps even to the extent of mannerisms that are angelic (or angelical), cherubic, divine (well most are or would be more modest), heavenly (same as before). Such persons might be considered amenable, docile, governable, tractable, amiable, complaisant, good-natured, obliging, pleasant. They would also be considered discreet, modest, adult, grown-up, mature.
So which are you? The reason it matters is because successful handling of responsibility requires a mature understanding of certain basics in life.
We do not suggest nor would we consider wise, the granting of some privileges to anyone who was not yet aware of certain adult realities. We will not allow you to be a member until you are 18 years old. If you are old enough to be hauled away by some government for some fool police action or war, and thence possibly to die, then we certainly will have you as a member. But you must still have two sponsoring members and satisfy the domicile requirement even if you are homeless.
We have decided that highlighting morality serves for a reason. Most seem completely unaware that morality (understanding the difference between right and wrong and preferring the right) is a basis for rational security in civilized society; it involves the fabric of civilization itself. Regardless of what one might think concerning a deity, without morality, we are nothing, certainly no better than the most savage animals! (as we are lately seeing all around us in the contemporary world)
So we wont give any opposition a chance, we'll march right in and state for the record, both to the wary and unwary alike the facts of right and wrong. Another hard definition: morality is knowing right from wrong. From here on out, we will not assume that everyone actually does know the difference because there is no way at all that ANY of our human institutions knows or cares the difference themselves!
What am I saying? I am telling you that most human institutions are amoral (without knowing right from wrong) or immoral (literally having a preference for wrong over right). Morality's principal concern is to keep people safe. So THAT is exactly and precisely why morality has any value for us at all.
Morality is useful in that the right generally benefits you and everyone else, whilst the wrong definitely produces the opposite; personal and social destruction. The other day, Betsy and Thomas were talking and Betsy spoke of virtues; that which can't help but be and do good:
Left – Right : In politics since the time of the French revolution.
Sinister - Dexter : of hands.
Wrong – Right : In ethics and morality
Vice (sin, a concept related to error and equated in the oldest texts directly with stupidity) - Virtue (that which cannot help but be good and promote good for everyone and is always attributed of wisdom)
The Enneagram identified nine of the "deadly sins" and identifies the nine virtues as their opposites:
1. Anger (losing one's temper) – Calm (tempered, composure, self awareness)
Nothing, absolutely nothing can be accomplished through anger. It calls a halt to any project and exerts its usually contemptible and childish assaults on any productive project. No matter what, as John Q Public says, never panic and as far as possible, accept the limitations of your present circumstances and remain calm. Remember to be and act in a certain way, not an uncertain one.
Reserve the emotional energy that serves your anger for when it really matters; when you will have to fight to preserve your natural right to life, liberty and property (And look at all the impressions you are getting that you are NOT supposed to own anything, that you are NOT at liberty and further that your life might be called into question by some higher authority that may have a higher right over your life? Hunger Games scenario).
So, please do not waste your natural energy. Save it for use against our natural enemies as was always intended for it. That's what it's there for, not to use to shirk responsibility and the necessary expenditures of physical power to accomplish ordinary life tasks. Meanwhile remain as wise as serpents (know when to go away or underground away from danger) and as innocent (humble) as doves (calm and awake).
2. Pride - Humility
Pride is a deeper subject than is commonly believed. It is considered by some the primary sin (error, stupidity), to which all others are attached, because it embodies a can't lose invincible attitude that one cannot ever fail, be fooled, be taken advantage of, be swindled, lied to, cheated on, etc.
Hence this blog and its proposal to shove right under your nose to the contrary, telling you that you already have been taken advantage of, someone else has already had their way with you since before you were born, etc. So get over yourself!
Prideful (not proud) people really do not like being told what to do either. The really stupid among them believe they are special and whatever it is, they will get away with it. This is the show of entitlement everywhere. Entitled to what we might ask and out of whose money? But not only is this attitude flat out wrong, as applies to reality, it is very foolish, dangerous and self destructive. Whether for the moment or not, prideful attitudes have no future.
Narcissism is always the result of excessive pride. To a narcissist, their view of the world as it should be, based on their idealism (an itch with an ideal) no matter how preposterous, must be pressed on with, doubled down on, etc. even if it means their own destruction. This explains much of what's going on across the political spectrum, except that there is something else that nearly always happens. Narcissists and narcissism attract predators in the form of psychopaths (singular destroyers) and sociopaths (mass destroyers).
It is one thing to feel pride in one's accomplishments, while quite another to think so much more highly of oneself than of other natural persons that one is willing to make a kind of gulf between oneself and the rest of us. Believing one is anything more than one actually is, for example, is usually a big mistake.
I know not what other courses anyone else may take, but as for me, if one satisfies the requirements of being my brother or sister socially, then I treat them as fellow royals and render them the due respect and hospitality required by a visiting royal. Understood?
3. Envy - Gratitude
This is a big one and directly affects more people than perhaps any other error. The afflicted want things to make them happy, things that usually belong to other people. Sometimes it extends to the significant others of other people. It begins with a chip on one's shoulder that might have actually intentionally been put there by one of THEIR agents, the end game being your control, whether you knew it or not. Whatever you might desire that belongs to someone else, once it's yours, there is often the “stolen goods aren't so sweet” reaction. Among the successful among the raiders, robbers and pirates of the capitalist world, one is supposed to swallow whatever real pride one has left and accept the “so what?” attitude of the smug winner who has just pulled off a rigged game.
It may come as a shock to most people, but most did not have much direct say in what they are or what they have. People may have nice things, a nice life, etc. but there is never any guarantee that we could somehow step into anything anyone else has and be able to enjoy it or even keep it as well as those that own it. We all pretty much find ourselves where we are and among what we have to work with. We end up knowing what we know and would be uncomfortable operating too far out of our own experience or expectations. Without the grounding gratitude gives us, we are … literally at someone else's mercy; whoever or whatever has managed to make us want what THEY (usual suspects) have.
Another thing this relates to is the idea that one is empty or nothing without things. This can't be real hunger, because it serves no immediate purpose to sustain anyone's individual life. So your unhappiness is not about having little or nothing or even less than anyone else you know. It is something else, usually your inability to figure out what innate wealth you have and how to express it through work. THAT is the underlying theme of this blog too; you don't advocate for our own money without a concern that most other people can't adequately find expression for very real talents that they might have.
We contend that ALL the money is illegitimate. It's basis is wrong and it benefits the wrong people at the expense of everyone else in society. That is NOT the same as saying that all present money isn't money. Those kinds of ideas are silly. ALL the money serves the purpose of splitting barter and barter never goes away. Legitimate money would spring from each of us as legitimate members of a trading exchange operating on a single worldwide ledger.
The ledger of accounts is the actual money, the tokens are just the outward expression of that money. We are NOT envious of the rich or want any of THEIR stuff. IT ISN'T OURS. We want our own lives and in order to make that happen we want our own money and we will then decide what stuff or what kind of life we would be interested in leading. That's all.
4. Deceit – Honesty
Do you want the truth? Then tell the truth. Stop telling lies or falling for lies. Accept nothing but the truth based on your own powers of observation and experience. But I have one very strong caveat: your enemies, who would certainly take advantage of you; your life, liberty and property, as well as whatever passes for due process wherever you live, do NOT deserve truth from you! Best tell THEM nothing more than you are demanded to deliver to THEM. And remember, law is FORCE. THEY have it and you don't.
Now, let me get personal with you. We have all heard of “romantic love.” Does anyone really know what romantic means? It means fictional, out of story books, etc. not real. So do you want real love? Then really love! Swear your allegiance to each other and have no others! Honesty begins with the heart!
5. Greed - Generosity
It is said that the loneliest people in the world are the greedy. We seek to promote an obvious way out of this. The storing up only to store up impedes the natural flow of life which is far more dynamic and interesting than the loneliness of hoarding. Our society promotes greed by equating it with wealth! Wealth, as we demand to being accepted, is not mere stuff that one may trade away for something else, NO! All wealth MUST provide income or it isn't wealth. So the way we see it, being greedy is … an expression of the hollowness inside, else, enough would be enough!
Generosity begins at home! We are all encouraged to provide for those with whom we have natural bonds, despite whatever the latest bullshit to the contrary is perpetrated upon the public by THEM through THEIR amoral social machines; THEIR education and THEIR media. Parenthetically, please go back up and reread what I said about morality and recognize that virtually NONE of the usual human institutions are at present organized to guarantee that your safety is the uppermost in their concerns. Yes, and we're supposedly paying for these same institutions with supposedly our own money. You know what? Most of you are dreaming and fast asleep. It's time to wake up, see things as they truly are and do something else literally before the present course drives us to a mass extinction event, which may be assured anyway. Oh, really? We are just as certain that earth abides and will continue and we need to take constructive action anyway.
Therefore, with our own money, we will promote a reason to save and a financial vehicle worth using and saving and the more one has naturally and finds one's place among a community of supporters, the easier and better and more satisfying life will become; the impulse to greed will give way to natural generosity; taking care of those one is naturally bonded to, developing what one honestly likes and is called upon to do for others. We regard many of the characteristics of the greedy as the deliberate affects of the present disorder of social machines, especially THEIR monetary machine. It encourages a state of never being satisfied, because THOSE who lend THEIR money are never satisfied!
6. Fear – Courage
Even the bravest of us are afraid. Everybody is afraid. That's no excuse! Those who have made history or contributed most to benefit other natural persons just did what needed doing and never asked anyone else's permission. THAT right there is freedom: you know what to do and what needs to be done and you do not require anyone else's permission to move on it.
Rational application to reality usually works better for more people than any other imposed system. The great historical actors, acted in a certain way (not in an uncertain way) and accomplished things for themselves that benefited their families, communities and society at large. Our proposal requires courage.
7. Gluttony - Temperance / Composure
Everyone can have enough and it will be enough. Our proposal promotes this concept too.
You will always be at your best when you are satisfied rather than overfed or drunk, whether you think otherwise or not! If you're a drunk or have some other substance abuse issue, you are technically a glutton and no doubt believe in other fantasies as well as that somehow you are different and require vast quantities of whatever it is to feel satisfied or even normal. There are such people and the various 12 step programs and the anonymity with which they are usually conducted has helped many overcome their addictions. We do not need more addicts.
When I was in hospital in 2000, I was given a good pain killer. I was later told it was a cousin to heroin. After I got out of the hospital and had recovered, I had no further need or want for whatever it was they gave me.
So what is the message here? Certain things have been and are misused and under the present system, someone other than you is profiting off of your addiction! At bottom is a message that the addict is not worth it, expendable, and their addiction to whatever it is, proves it. It's another of the “THEY want you dead” messages. I draw no distinction whatsoever between the legal pharmaceutical drugs and some illegal varieties. Are you going to accept your addiction or get yourself cleaned up and become honest, starting with yourself?
8. Lust – Love
The desire to control MUST subside or those attempting it will be destroyed as the desire is similar to putting a lid on a pressure cooker or attempting to stop a flash flood. The desire to control must give way to the willingness to take command.
If you really love anything, you will take responsibility for its manifestation and maintenance. Find out if you really love something by seeing what you will sacrifice to attain and preserve it.
We spoke earlier about romantic love. We want to encourage strong marriages, families, communities and societies. But what of those in other parts of the world with different arrangements for spouses, families, etc.? Why should we interfere in what they want? Why should we allow them to interfere with what we want? Each place and people will decide the social terms under which they will live, no matter what the temporary inconvenience of some governance determines “under the gun” or not.
9. Sloth - Diligence
You don't just do nothing. THAT is what is wrong with all of THEIR money! It doesn't require anything of you! You just decide to get paid in it or accept the terms of your work and its pay in THEIR money and since it is never enough, there is a tendency to fall into ALL the traps identified here.
There is also the sucking off of society that usury represents and the idea that as long as you can convince as many people as possible to join you in sucking off the rest of society, then you are welcome at the table. We're speaking of the widespread notion that if you hold money, you should expect a return on it, that even if you are doing nothing with your money that it deserves a return. As far as I know, only that which is bartered requires a return, NOT the tokens or means used to split barter in the exchange. What we require of the money we use is that it retains its purchasing power and the only way to do that is to set the standard and demand nothing else but what the standard requires in exchange for any of our money in THEIR money. That way, our money is worth saving! So much for capitalism, the itch with capital. We seek a revival of free / private enterprise! Where is the wealth to help us?
The answer is within each one of us: within each of us is innate wealth, that which must provide an income (a living). We must work, that is take time out of the rest of our lives, to earn a living. Our proposal aims directly at sloth by taking away the usual excuses that there isn't enough money. Yes, there in fact isn't enough of THEIR money, as more and more of it will be devoured by debt, because THEY (usual suspects) refuse to give up usury (the demand back of that which was not issued/created)! But meanwhile, whether or not any of that, we must still earn a living, whether in THEIR money or our own.
So before we consider matters of inventory applicable to a B member account at a local Valun exchange, let each one of you take a quick personal inventory and decide which side of the divide you really want to be on long term.
We assure you; going through life angry, envious, deceitful, greedy, fearful, gluttonous, lustful, lazy and proud of it all, is sort of like being dragged through a life-sized hose backwards kicking and screaming. A lot of people out there behave just like that too and expect the rest of us to just go along and accept it as normal or as their right, or whatever. It's babyish, isn't it? Recall, on this blog we castigated our leaders years ago as “savage babies” who the rest of society is supposed to respect and desire to follow as role models?! Babyish is no way to proceed.
So now, on with it:
Businesses that become members will be furnished with B member accounts. We have not yet decided whether these should be free as the A member accounts are, or not. Of course transaction costs will remain one tenth of one percent. Each of these accounts will have three balances:
Retained earnings balance (Capital)
Income balance (Revenue)
Escrow balance (Payroll and recurring debt)
When we consider what E. C. Riegel said about the needs of all businesses, it would amount to getting engines started and making sure they have enough fuel to remain running.
We'll start with an 80% rule. We say that the monthly payroll AND all recurring debt (uses the escrow balance) of any business must never exceed 80% of the company's combined income and retained earnings balances.
So what's on that retained earnings balance and how does it get there?
Retained earnings in generally accepted accounting refers to the percentage of net earnings not paid out as dividends, but retained by the company (one paying dividends is usually some form of incorporated business, public or private) to be reinvested in its core business, or to pay debt. It is recorded under shareholders' equity on the balance sheet. It represents the savings or capital of a business.
That's all well and good, but we need something a little more basic and easy to grasp, since we are going to be dealing with a vast number of single proprietors, people who work for themselves, who are self employed, which can include a vast number of specialists that work as consultants, agents, etc. all have skills to sell, etc.
To us, the retained earnings of a company are fully paid for capital and land assets and any cash after taxes; savings. These are funds that can and might be made available for the purpose of securing more business; advertising, publicity, etc. or of capital assets. But we have made a specific attempt to simplify the necessary accounting tasks for everyone.
All business accounts have income and outflow (receivables and payables), in and out of the flow of money, which represents split barter for the business among customers and other businesses. Money from sales enters the income balance, money pledged to pay all regular debt – including payroll – flows into the escrow balance. In and out.
What is required? One must know what one's monthly escrow coverage needs to be. That is a matter of budgeting. Any member may move funds from their balances at no fee to the exchange because the money remains in the same account. The transfers from income balances to escrow balances may be accomplished through our labor contracts, as described elsewhere, or as required based on known recurring exigencies.
I am often asked how it is possible to predict the future, or how can I often appear to be quite sure of certain outcomes? The study of systems is never complete, but it is the best we have and it saves us in many respects over the long run. Scheduling is very important. Keeping appointments and following through with expected assignments and chores is key. Most people require far less education and far more experience practicing routines – patterns - that work. Certain successful patters usually produce predictable results. It is possible to foretell the future if one is participating in making it. So get yourself busy in a certain way! This is an attitude that is indispensable. If one doesn't have it, by all means, get it.
So the capital one has must make up that retained earnings balance. It must of course be itemized and delivered to the exchange as figured in Valuns. You always want to be putting out of that escrow balance for payroll and recurring expenses no more than 80% of your combined capital and income.
So if one is a simple craftsman, one takes note of one's tools. One assesses their condition and or relevant usefulness. One affixes some monetary value to them, in this case in Valuns of course, and whatever that is becomes a series of actual transactions one makes into the retained earnings balance of one's B member business account. This is done as addenda to the contract one agrees to when opening a B member account at a local exchange.
Asset valuations are subject to changes; there is sometimes depreciation or even appreciation projections based on market conditions, because you are indicting that these assets are separated from everything else you may own and are part of your business assets and might be sold to meet/settle some debt the business has acquired. A business may choose to add or subtract from these assets as listed and may also change the valuations as long as all transactions involving the escrow balance are satisfied.
Another way of figuring the meaning of the retained earnings balance field is as the value of your business in Valuns, just in case someone wanted to purchase it from you, in Valuns of course. So from the very start, you have an objective means of building businesses that can be expanded and sold off as needed and how to evaluate their value in a Valun system.
So then as an ongoing business, you have the monthly income, averages of income balances for the business which can be projected backward based on complementary figures in “public money”,to determine a likely projected income in Valuns. We would say that for any Valun based contracts the business has outstanding, projected forward, they would be able to take a backward projection to determine the most likely monthly average for projected income.
Now again, one's usually permissible debt burden would be no more than 80% of the combined retained earnings balance and the average of the monthly income balance.
This places a reasonable cap on extravagant demands for remuneration. If of course one wanted to just pay someone something from one's own personal account, one could certainly do that and that doesn't involve any contract as long as one has the Valuns of course.
The other 80% rule involves labor contracts for additional pay in Valuns for doing work one is already engaged in doing and for which one is being paid in public money. We will start with a limit of 80% more compensation in Valuns. Basically for every $100 one is regularly paid, one is not permitted to issue more than $80 in Valuns. We want to make sure our members understand the tax implications of added remuneration and that they must be responsible for settling their own income taxes, which are at present a fact of life that must be dealt with.
Advertising is usually tax deductible for business and paid in THEIR money, since all taxes must be paid in THEIR money. The entire Valun Exchange Network (ven) requires paid advertising for its members. Each local exchange will be engaged in selling advertising and those ads will be placed on the backs (reverse) of our V-Checks which will have a six months' duration to run as our cash, so advertising will change the backs of these open checks quite often. The fronts (obverse sides) of our V-Checks will show the designs for each exchange and these would regularly change as well.
Printing costs will also have to be paid in THEIR money until we can take all of it in house and run mostly in Valuns. IVES will be tasked with recording and preserving all the V-Checks designs, so that we can track and identify them.
There will be so many designs that counterfeiting will be too much trouble. We anticipate that we will need series of V½, V1, V2, V5 and V10 to begin with. Originally and eventually we may see V20, V50, V100 and V500 V-Checks. V500 is a lot of value exchange. Advertising costs would be related to the usage of the V-Checks; the ads on V1/2, V1 and V2 would probably cost more than those on the V5, V10. Etc.
Now then, these are some of the basic ideas. Specifics will be decided among ourselves in our own private counsels. It takes three individuals to decide to start a local exchange. It will take a steering committee to get each local exchange started. It will take the formation of IVES to coordinate all the efforts, to serve, not direct, all efforts. Each local exchange will be a private business.
The proposed Valun closed 2017 at $2.68. More anon.
Happy New Year!
David Burton
dpbmss@mail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment