1. The FREEconomy - THE idea

The Local Alien
Nov 14, 2018
5 min read

Updated: Jan 29, 2019

Hi! Wanna start #TheFREEconomy and do all the things in that first pic below? Take a look at it, and now strap in. You're about to be presented with the most inspiring, ambitious, and surprisingly, unbelievably, simple and practical way to solve society's (global) problems. In this humble, superhero's opinion, this is what everybody should be working on!

Imagine a world where anybody that wants to work, gets a job, and no matter what that job is, that worker (and their family) will have access to a quality of life that even the most developed countries' citizens scarcely think about today! Imagine offering "the deal" (offered on the home page) to ALL the unemployed people of just your city. In Cape Town, that's a workforce of half a million people, with incredible potential.

"That's all well and good, DP. I mean, great offer, but how are you going to pay for all those homes and feed/train all those people?" Well, all those previously unemployed people will be put to work making all the things that they themselves need. They just need to be organised efficiently. I think people won't really mind, if they have a home/environment they're happy with, and of course a steady stream of life essentials (e.g. food, water, clothing, etc.), none of which really need to be bought! In other words, if people are making and distributing things (for themselves) without using (bank-issued) money, then the system doesn't really need much. And if there are extra goods/services produced in TheFREEconomy, they can be sold to the bank-dominated economy, or swapped, for stuff not yet producible in TheFREEconomy.

Now, maybe you think I'm saying we don't really need money. I mean, yes, in a very real sense, money is not a natural object that we need, but large-scale human societies do need a universally-recognised/respected "unit of value" (or currency) that can represent the reward for each individual workers' labour - In a small community, you "may" be able to rely on people remembering the favours/work you did for them (thereby earning social capital) which you can rely on for providing for your needs. That's basically how groups of humans have lived since hunter-gatherer times up until today in rural areas.

The thing is, your social capital is only good in your village, among the people you know. As soon as you leave that village, and start operating on a global scale, you need another kind of "capital" that is transferable, and universally accepted - in other words, a currency that everyone in that system (not just your local community) respects. So, is there a way to convert social capital from just being in the memories of your local village, for example, into something measurable everyone in the world recognise?

Actually, yes! And, you, or at least most of humanity, have probably already been using this service for years now! It's called...... Facebook. Ever heard of it? People already use it to earn praise and adoration, i.e. "Likes/Shares". Everyone in the world can see, not only what you've done, but also how many people value your work! What if you could spend those well-earned Likes (or kudos) to actually buy products?! In other words, pure altruism could finally be consistently, "materially" rewarded, enough to sustain a lifestyle!

Since the (previously unemployed, unempowered) people of the world working in this altruistic economic system will earn kudos, then let's call our new currency that! Because, giving people kudos for doing good work just simply makes sense, doesn't it?! By moving the currency-issuing power from banks to a government-like organisation dedicated towards human development/prosperity you might find that a system built on the love of doing good, and improving human life can achieve much better outcomes than institutions/people who only care about making money (and mostly for themselves)!

"WHAT?!? Sacrilege! The banks are doing the best job anyone in the world could! And they are the best at economics!" you (and most people) protest! Let's look at that claim a bit more closely...

Most of us know that bad economies tend to create poor societies. And here in Africa, we know all about bad economies. The thing is, all the problems seem to be getting worse, even though human ability/technology has improved us and our lives in ways our parents could never imagine! On the other hand, economically-speaking, for many people around the world, even in developed countries, millenials are having to work twice as hard as their parents to get the equivalent lifestyles their parents had. What gives? Humans are getting better and better at making things, yet most of us don't seem to be living a better life.

Now, the reasons behind this are too complex for me to do a proper job of typing out. But I am most certainly keen to talk it out. So, join me on one of the many fun, engaging adventures I organise on the Do It With Us! page. You can also read (a lot) more about this in the next chapter 2. No Money, No Problems - And No Thinking In A Box. I (and you can too) look forward to meeting a passionate, active group of people to have some highly-stimulating dialogue (and sweat) with. OK, "plug" complete; back to what this is.

There is a growing number of academics, intellectuals, economists, etc. who have questioned some of the subtle mechanics/"features" of this economic model we're in. Suggesting, even, that the problems we face today are not despite the design of an unquestionably brilliant system, but because of its design. Some say what we're experiencing are simply the natural consequences of a deeply fraudulent system, which is based on inherently unstable, and corruptive practices.

Now, again, it's too complex to type out all the problems and their effects, but the fact that I'm a South African gives me an excellently simple way to show how countries, filled with bright people, can create absolutely authoritative belief systems that are totally corruptive to that nation. Ever heard of "Apartheid"? After living under it for a few seconds, the downsides of inherent injustice in the justice system, and shredding of the social fabric, proved... undesirable...

So, Nelson and friends said, "Nah.", and history was made! So, we shouldn't fear overhauling just another one of our hallowed human institutions (central bankers, instead of judges/lawmakers this time, though) in order to simply correct it. In the live version of this opening "Big Picture" presentation, I explain (with as many examples as I can pull out) a new, thoroughly sustainable, innovative economic model, and elaborate further on how our current system is flawed, and what we can do about it.

By the end of this "chapter" I sincerely hope you'll have a better (but maybe, still, basic) sense of what "economics" is about. But I think that even with just this basic sense of what it is, you'll see the incredible value of my proposition. You can watch the the talk version of this opening chapter that I gave to UCT students at my old residence (College House, baby!)