So I’ve been thinking about this a lot. So much so that I had to get it out of my head and on paper just to get some mental peace. I now have an extensive document saved in my files with a primer for various aspects of human life and society, and how it needs to be unfucked. I decided that I’m going to share my thoughts here on my blog. This is the first in what will be a multi-part series. I will post them in succession, one every week or two, as I get around to polishing the posts. Each one will tackle a different overarching topic that may be divided into sections as needed.
DISCLAIMER:
I am not an economist, sociologist, or politician. What I share is one point of view from my personal perspective. It is likely to be incomplete, and you may find that you disagree on some points. You’re welcome to fill in the gaps or offer your own perspective in the comments, as long as you keep it civil.
And because I know it will come up every single time, I’m starting with the most popular question:
Who’s going to pay for all this??
Believe it or not, I do actually have an answer. But before I give it to you, I would like to suggest that if this is the first question that comes to mind when you think of making our society better, you already lost the plot.
The entire problem with our western (US) society is that it is being run as a for-profit business that exploits everyone and everything for the benefit of the rich. That is the first thing that has to be eliminated. We have to shift our mindset from the capitalist fallacy of ‘hard work is the only way to get ahead,’ otherwise the whole thing falls apart.
The reason we have to shift—and fast—is because we have officially reached a point in our evolution where technology starts to make a lot of human labor obsolete. You cannot have a system built on the value of labor a person is capable of providing while at the same time devaluing all human labor. You can’t blame unemployed people for being lazy when businesses refuse to hire because technology is cheaper.
Technological advancement should be a good thing. It should make all of our lives better, easier, and more enjoyable—and it can! But only if we can change the way we think about how society and business is supposed to run.
Therefore, my basic premise for this essay is very simple: The primary purpose of everything we do, create, and set up, should be to benefit the people. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t belong in our society. That’s it. If you really want a society that flourishes, people must have what they need to reach for their highest and best potential. When they do, growth and innovation comes naturally.
And because I know someone will come into my comments with, “Necessity is the mother of invention,” I don’t disagree. But invention cannot happen when your basic needs aren’t met. When you’re starving and freezing under a bridge, it doesn’t matter how amazing an idea you have for a flameless space heater that uses ambient energy, you’ll never be able to build a prototype, let alone get it into mass production. You see where I’m heading with this?
The other issue I want to preempt is, “But people are lazy! If they don’t have to work, they won’t.” First of all, if you think this way, you’re both an asshole and an idiot. Because this has been tested, and the results were that humans, by nature, want to be active and productive. People aren’t lazy. We don’t have a generation (pick whichever one is being scapegoated these days) of lazy kids. We have generations who are sick and tired of giving up their lives so that some CEO can make a few extra millions off their backs. They aren’t lazy, they’re setting reasonable boundaries as human beings.
People are society. If you can’t or won’t take care of them, you don’t have a society, you have a sweat shop the size of a country.
Research has shown that people whose basic needs are taken care of are happier, healthier, stronger, and still just as productive. At this point in time, any argument to the contrary is an argument for unfettered greed and bigotry. Period. End of story.
There. That should take care of the basics. Now let’s tackle the first item on the agenda:
Who's going to pay for this?
Corporate Taxes
Let’s begin with a basic premise. The purpose of business and trade is no longer to make record profits, but to improve the lives of all* people. As such, businesses work for the people, not the other way around. They are required to produce goods and services that provide a benefit to society (entertainment and frivolity included), and contribute proportionally to the society’s growth and development. This will be discussed further in the section on Technology and Innovation.
Public stock trading is illegal, as it creates a conflict of interest. Companies must answer to their consumers first and foremost, not their shareholders. If a company requires capital, it must secure private investors (information on which must be made public by law) or take out a loan and then pay off that loan at interest, just like an individual would.
Top salaries within the organization are capped not to exceed 50 times the lowest salary within the organization. If directors and CEOs want more money, they must proportionally increase all of their employees’ compensation as well. No exceptions.
Businesses and corporations are taxed on their profits. Tax liabilities cannot be passed down to the customer (current example: sales tax). Allowed corporate profits are also capped at levels depending on the industry and product. Once that threshold is reached, the company has a choice:
- Reinvest into the business – this must also include additional hires and/or a salary increase for all employees.
- Surrender excess funds to the government as special taxes which will be used to fund public support programs.
- Invest directly into the local community. This can be done through funding community programs, infrastructure, or services (police/firefighters/social work), donating to schools, paying into grants for artists/musicians/writers/creators, funding scientific or medical research, etc.
A company’s success is measured not by their market value but by how much they reinvest back into the community.
* When I say all, I do mean everyone in society. I will go into this in more detail in a future post, but just as a preview, I want to make it clear that I will not be making distinctions for race, gender, sexual orientation, age, physical ability, mental ability, ethnicity, or citizenship status. Under the new world order, all people are created equal, and will be afforded equal protections and services. In order for this to work, all of society must be built with the highest support need person in mind first. Accessibility is now everyone’s favorite word.
Religious Institution Taxes
Yes, I’m going there. Because the mission of a religious institution should be to care for and support its faithful. Therefore, they should have no issues with upholding the spirit and letter of that mission for the betterment of their local communities.
Thus, all churches and religious institutions are taxed. As with businesses, the amount of money they can take in from members is capped at two times (2x) the combined UBI of every person working for the institution. This money must be used for church employee salaries and the repair and maintenance of the institution’s building(s).
Any money in excess of this amount must either be surrendered to the government or used for community support projects, such as providing food and shelter to those in need, sponsoring local artists for church commissions, or sponsoring family support services (child care, elder care, substance abuse rehabilitation, etc.).
Other Taxes
Banks are taxed on their interest income. This includes personal and commercial loans. Since stock trading is no longer legal, this should cover the majority of their income.
Individuals who work and earn an income in surplus of their government-provided universal basic income (UBI) are also taxed on the supplemental (employment) income they receive. This will be discussed further in the section on Employment and UBI.
Property owners who earn rental income are classified as business owners. They are taxed on the rental income, and must also pay annual property taxes.
Tax Reform
UBI is not taxed.
Taxes are no longer levied on the purchase of any items, up to and including digital goods, appliances, heavy machinery, and cars/conveyances. Property taxes will not be levied on primary residence housing. However if the primary housing is an owner-occupied unit in a multi-unit building, the rest of the building will be taxed proportionally. No tariffs on imported goods, but whatever is imported will need to meet set quality standards. This will be discussed further in the section on Technology and Innovation.
In the spirit of providing for society, collected taxes will be used for public good programs first and foremost. This includes UBI, infrastructure improvement, farming subsidies, medical and environmental R&D and preparedness, etc. Second tier items will be social services, such as fire prevention, health services, utilities, police, etc. Third tier is anything relating to national security and foreign policy.
National budget cuts will be evaluated for highest and best use, while maintaining societal integrity. Meaning, third tier programs will be reduced first.
What's next...?
I think that covers the basics of money coming in for the time being. I may come back to this and edit if I think of something new. The next post will cover Employment and Universal Basic Income.
Obligatory Self-Promo:
If you’ve read this far and now want something a little more entertaining, I do happen to be a novelist. Check out my full backlist on the Books page. As of the writing of this post, I have a book scheduled for release in about a week. If you’re into paranormal stories with romance and an epic dystopian plot (which incidentally also includes big societal issues) War of the Shadows is the book for you. It’s a series finale, but all the books are stand-alones, so you can dive in to any of them without needing to have read the rest.
And now I go back to my regularly scheduled holiday decoration mayhem. As always, thank you for reading. 🙂
Until next time!