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On Wed, 22 Apr 1998, Steve Habib Rose wrote:
> I am very interested in seeing this thread continue. However, I request
> that you start future posts in this thread with the words:
> NEW ECONOMY:
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I write:
(Thanks, Habit, for the encouraging words.)
NEW ECONOMY! NEW ECONOMY! We've got to have a NEW ECONOMY!
I mean a new economy the way most people say, "We've *got* to have a
new car". I do not mean that we have to start from scratch. And the "new
car" could be a used car, but I don't think so. I have studied
"alternatives" -- Ithica Dollars, etc, and I doubt if they can handle the
rough roads.
A new economy should eliminate most poverty, illiteracy, crime, waste,
dependency and put to rest forever, by filling it, our instinct and craving
for financial independence. With these objectives in mind as "common
ground" for us all to stand on, let's try to proceed with an acceptable
set of "logical" rules. And let's not think of the world as our common
ground, but, rather, the USA. Maybe we can somehow set a good example
for the "world".
Old economies, current and past, have been based on a "Work or
starve" logic. While conditions then were such that a man or a woman
could create their own work, one way or another (by fortune or by fact),
this "work or starve" rule worked -- at least to a satisfactory political
degree. But as the ability to find that work was restricted, one way or
another, the basic rule has changed. Whether we like it or not that rule
has become something like "Work, steal, or get on welfare".
I make the suggestion that we could have a better new economy if we
agree to change that rule to something like "Work or go to school".
Which is to say that education (an educated mind) is equal to goods
or services and deserves being paid for. What do you think?
john short