Keith hudson describes in his first paragraph the rationale for local
currencies. A locally administered economy => networked with all others to
prevent isolation and permit global trade <= creates economic incentives
and rewards at a basic social level (maybe 5,000 people?) which allows for
social rather than bureaucratic control. People respond at this level of
community where the results fo their actions are immediately evident. The
global economy or even nation state are abstractions which require
tremendous ideological (read religious) reinforcement to make them work.
At 08:16 AM 02/09/98 +0100, Keith Hudson wrote:
>I refer to Thomas Lunde's proposals for a Basic Income.
>
>The idea of a basic income is appealing. Indeed, I have no objections to
>it in principle.
>
>But it won't work because it ignores one basic fact of human nature: we are
>essentially a tribal species, the product of millions of years of evolution.
>
>A basic income would work in a society of small governments because
>fairness and equality of transactions would operate visibly. Recipients
>would be seen to pay back their monetary incomes -- as much as they are
>able to do so -- by other forms of non-monetary help and service to the
>population paying the taxes. Malingerers could be readily identified and
>told to pull their weight or lose their basic income.
>
>We cannot institute a basic income when taxes disappear into a distant
>central government maw and are then redistributed (after huge
>administrative expenses have been paid) to people we do not know and cannot
>observe -- and which, besides malingerers, also contain substantial numbers
>of confidence tricksters in their midst. (The situation is bad enough
>already and the welfare state cannot be sustained for a great deal longer.
>In the UK there are twice as many national insurance numbers as the total
>population -- and I cannot imagine that we are unusual in this respect.)
>
>
>
>_______________________________________________________________________
>
>Keith Hudson,6 Upper Camden Place, Bath BA1 5HX, England
>Tel:01225 312622/444881; Fax:01225 447727; E-mail:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>________________________________________________________________________
>
