This is an extract from an essay from The Resource Based Economy, a site dedicated to a world, which is free from the vicious grip that money has on us all. Where greed and competition are replaced by a realisation that only by mutual interdependence can we realise fulfilled and purposeful lives. To read the full article or to learn more about their work, click here
A resource-based economy is a society where money, is no longer used. Where the earth’s resources distributed equally without any form of exchange, barter or payment. It is not a new communistic approach. Neither is it socialism or capitalism. It’s beyond communism, socialism, feudalism, fascism, capitalism or any other ‘ism’. It’s beyond any social system that has ever existed on this planet, at least in our awareness. In communism the state owns everything. In socialism the state owns something while the rest is privately owned. In capitalism everything is privately owned.
The term and meaning of a Resource-Based Economy was originally conceived by Jacque Fresco, founder of the Venus Project. It is a system in which all goods and services are available without the use of money, credits, barter or any other system of debt or servitude. All resources become the common heritage of all of the inhabitants, not just a select few. The premise upon which this system is based is that the Earth is abundant with plentiful resource; our practice of rationing resources through monetary methods is irrelevant and counter productive to our survival.
Modern society has access to highly advanced technology and can make available food, clothing, housing and medical care; update our educational system; and develop a limitless supply of renewable, non-contaminating energy. By supplying an efficiently designed economy, everyone can enjoy a very high standard of living with all of the amenities of a high technological society.
A resource-based economy would utilise existing resources from the land and sea, physical equipment, industrial plants, etc. to enhance the lives of the total population. In an economy based on resources rather than money, we could easily produce all of the necessities of life and provide a high standard of living for all.
In a resource-based economy the world’s population doesn’t ‘own’ anything, but has access to everything. Anything ever needed, like food, clothing, housing, travel, etc. etc. is provided in abundance through the use of our updated knowledge, values and technology. There’s no ‘state’ that is the owner of the resources, and nothing is privately owned. In RBE the world’s resources are considered the heritage of all the inhabitants of this planet, not just a select few. RBE is not a society where we will live in scarcity with few resources. It is not a society where a few control and distribute the resources. No, it is a totally new society where we let today’s and tomorrow’s technology be developed to it’s fullest to work for us, and where we utilize knowledge about nature and technology to provide a life in abundance for everyone. It is a society where we truly have the option to take care of each other instead of struggling to survive.
It is a totally new way of life, unimaginable within today’s value system, but still something most people truly long for in their hearts. It is a world where we can call ourselves Free and live with dignity and respect for each other, nature, the planet and the universe. It is a concept where value no longer is measured by money, but rather by the joy we feel, the contributions we make, and the development we take part in. It is a society where we utilize our minds and hearts in providing a healthy life for everyone, developing our knowledge about nature and technology, and using this in the most sustainable way.
Imagine a world without money, barter or exchange, where everything is provided for everyone, and everyone can pursue their own interests and dreams and live in the way they want. Be it moving closer to nature and grow your own garden of delicious vegetables, travel the globe and experience the wonders of the planet, make and perform your own music or collaborate with others to develop a new invention for the betterment of society. In a society where we don’t have to think about money and profit, we can truly develop ourselves and the human race into something completely wonderful.
The monetary system
The monetary system doesn’t work anymore and is obsolete. This is obvious when you look at today’s world with increasing unemployment, financial crisis, endless consumption producing endless waste and pollution, not to speak of crime and wars. You could say money has outplayed its role on this planet. It produces greed and corruption through the profit motive we are all a slave to. The economy is falling apart, and everyone seems to be struggling to get richer and richer or just to make ends meet. The financial crisis has so far made over 200 million more people end up in poverty. Now, about 2 billion people in the world are considered poor. Poor countries that have received massive loans from the World Bank have become much poorer after receiving the loans, because of the interest. And they can only hope to pay it back. The collective external debt of all the governments in the world is now about 52 trillion dollars and this number doesn’t include the massive amount of household debt in each country. How can we owe each other so much money??? Because we think we need it.
We don’t need money
It turns out that it’s not money we need. We cannot eat money, or build houses with them. What we need is resources. Food, clothing, housing, etc. Money is just a hindrance in making the resources available for everyone. Imagine if there was no money. Right now. No money. Everything would still be there, wouldn’t it? The trees, the mountains, the houses, cars, boats, air, grass, snow, rain, sun, animals, birds and bees and the people. Nothing has changed, really. Why? Because money doesn’t really exist. There’s no money in nature. It’s only an agreement between the world’s people, made up thousands of years ago as a means to control the world population. Instead of slavery, where one had to feed, house, nurse and guard the slaves, one invented money. With money everyone would have to fend for themselves, while the rulers collected taxes, controlling the masses.
It was a means of which people could trade stuff that they all needed. Labour, food, housing, etc. If it wasn’t scarce, there was no need to charge for it. Like water and air. The rulers claimed ownership to land, and thus became the “owners” of this land. They could then charge others for using it and for stuff that was produced there, like it is today. And the property could be sold and inherited in the bloodline. “Banks” became invented, and eventually; loans. And now society has become addicted to it, like a drug. But, like a drug, money is something that we don’t really need, we only think we do.
I wrote in an earlier blog, how pessimistic I feel about the impending environmental crisis, due to a twin pincer movement of over population and capitalism that is squashing the life out of the earth. Over fishing and pollution will mean our oceans become massive garbage tips, the countryside will be cemented over to create houses, offices, roads and factories. Species will disappear and people will be displaced, until the planet becomes one giant industrial zone.
The only way I see this disaster being averted is by incentivising people to actually change their habits. The recent failure to convince people that global warming would be a catastrophe for nature has shown that appealing to people’s consciences doesn’t always bring the required results; therefore, a more direct approach is needed, to secure a planet that is both healthy and sustainable.
I have become excited of late by some very interesting technologies that are starting to appear, and which offer some solutions to the disaster waiting to happen. Here are just three of them. All of which I see as playing major roles within the immediate future.
The product: Power Plastic
The manufacturer: Konarka Technologies
State of development: Being produced now
Imagine each and every surface under the sun covered with a film that captures light and transforms it into electricity; an office window that directly powers your computer, or a parasol that runs a laptop, allowing you to email from the beach. What about a sun roof that keeps your electronics ticking over while you drive, a canvas cover that recharges your electric car or a tent that turns a reading light on and warms up your sleeping bag after the sun goes down?
Rick Hess, who runs innovative solar company, Konarka, is justifiably proud of his company's latest creation, because it will do all of these things. Invented by the firm's co-founder and Nobel Prize winner, Dr Alan Heeger, 'Power Plastic' is a light, thin, flexible, energy-generating sheet. It converts both indoor and out-door light into direct electrical current - a solar panel that rolls up like camera film. "Soon, you might not even need batteries," Rick Hess says. "We can put this stuff anywhere!"
Power Plastic is made up of several thin components: a photo-reactive film, a transparent electrode layer, a plastic substrate and a protective skin, yet it is only five millimetres thick. The sheets can be 60 inches wide and any length, just like when a newspaper is printed on a continuous roll of paper. Its bendiness means that everyday items, even clothes, could be turned into power sources.
Unlike other photovoltaic technology, Power Plastic sheets are organic, free of toxic materials and therefore 'green'. Their easy application means they create complete energy independence wherever they go. Power will no longer be limited to rigid, outdoor, large-scale panels, nor will the consumer have to wait years to see a return on their solar investment.
Konarka, aptly named after the Hindu Sun God, recently teamed up with Arch Aluminium & Glass, to integrate Power Plastic into the development of light-harvesting windows. The idea is destined to become popular among homeowners who do not want to spoil the look of their roofs or who live in listed properties.
The product also comes in a range of colours to give architects free scope to design it into any type of glass surface, even laminated, security or sound proof. Of course, the process of installing new windows is much less intimidating for a homeowner than the idea of fitting an expensive solar rig on the roof. In fact, accessible power generation could soon be rolled out to an unlimited audience, especially remote or grid-less regions of the developing world. It could even, one day, turn every resident into a supplier of excess power to their national grid - an abundant renewable source of global energy, eradicating the demand for fossil fuel alternatives altogether.
"The burning question for all DIYers and eco-conscious geeks alike, is can we expect to see rolls of Power Plastic on the shelves of home improvement stores anytime soon?" Popular Mechanics asked Rick Hess. "Not exactly," he replied, "but check back in two years and we'll give you an update."
The product: Water from sewage
The manufacturer: Orange County Water Authority, California, USA.
State of development: In use now
The Orange County Water District is purifying waste water into drinking water at a $481 million recycling plant. The plant uses microfiltration, reverse osmosis, ultraviolet light, and hydrogen peroxide disinfection. 70 million gallons of sewer water is treated a day in Orange County, meeting the drinking needs of over 500,000 people, including visitors to Disneyland.
Some call the process “toilet to tap”, but officials prefer the term “Groundwater Replenishment System”. Thousands of microfilters, hollow fibres covered in holes one-three-hundredth the width of a human hair, strain out suspended solids, bacteria and other materials.
The water then passes to a reverse osmosis system, where it is forced through semi-permeable membranes that filter out smaller contaminants, including salts, viruses and pesticides. Reverse osmosis also is the main process used in desalination.
Finally, the water is disinfected with a mix of ultraviolet light and hydrogen peroxide.
The resulting product exceeds all U.S. drinking standards but gets additional filtration when it is allowed to percolate back into the ground to replenish the aquifer.
"These types of projects you will see springing up all over the place where there are severe water shortages,” said Michael R. Markus, the general manager of the Orange County district, whose plant, has been visited by water managers from across the globe.
The finished product, which managers say exceeds drinking water standards, does not flow directly into kitchen and bathroom taps; state regulations forbid that.
Instead it is injected underground, with half of it helping to form a barrier against seawater intruding on groundwater sources and the other half gradually filtering into aquifers that supply 2.3 million people, about three-quarters of the county. The recycling project will produce much more potable water and at a higher quality than did the mid-1970s-era plant it replaces.
The result, Mr. Markus said, “is as pure as distilled water” and about the same cost as buying water from wholesalers.
Recycled water, also called reclaimed or grey water, has been used for decades in agriculture, landscaping and by industrial plants.
And for years, treated sewage, known as effluent, has been discharged into oceans and rivers, including the Mississippi and the Colorado, which supply drinking water for millions.
But only about a dozen water agencies in the United States, and several more abroad, recycle treated sewage to replenish drinking water supplies, though none steer the water directly into household taps. They typically spray or inject the water into the ground and allow it to percolate down to aquifers.
Namibia’s capital, Windhoek, among the most arid places in Africa, is believed to be the only place in the world that practices “direct potable reuse” on a large-scale, with recycled water going directly into the tap water distribution system, said James Crook, a water industry consultant who has studied the issue.
The product: Compost and timber production from plastic waste
The manufacturer: WastAway, Tennessee, USA
State of development: Fully implemented now
WastAway, based in Tennessee, have a fascinating technique that takes unsorted household waste and converts it into a product called Fluff, which can then be used in a variety of other ways. Fluff is similar in consistency to wood pulp, and can be processed for use as a growing medium for plants and turf, can be gasified to generate steam, can be converted to synthetic fuels such as ethanol, diesel, and gasoline, or can be compressed and extruded to make products such as construction materials. Their aim is to have zero landfill waste. The idea of using compost
That is made from plastic, on my vegetables, doesn’t fill me with enthusiasm, but it is one of the more ingenious methods of dealing with plastic I’ve come across, and I feel this process is one of the more exciting schemes I've come across so far, for dealing with such a toxic product.
WastAway takes something the world doesn’t want and converts it into something the world can use. Apart from compost, the company are also converting garbage into electricity, synthetic fuels, steam and building materials. WastAway takes ordinary household garbage (also referred to as Municipal Solid Waste) and creates a product that can be converted into any one of these items, and more. We convert garbage into a useful commodity - and while we do it, we keep from filling our landfills! That’s the WastAway goal: Zero Landfill Growth.
One major problem with usual recycling programs is to do with the separation process. However WastAway’s process doesn’t require the user to pre sort recyclables from their ordinary trash. Instead councils can simply use their existing waste collection pick-up system (bins, bags, or boxes) and can collect waste with a single truck, which saves money and reduces emissions. The waste is taken to a WastAway facility where recyclables are separated automatically and the remaining refuse is processed into Fluff in about 20 minutes. This can eliminate the use of expensive and often subsidized recycling efforts, yet yield 100% recycling participation in your community. The company are at present also testing fluff to turn it into Synthetic liquid fuels such as ethanol, gasoline, and diesel. Wonderful!
