THE CHANGES ARE MAJOR

Nobody is expecting these changes to be a smooth transition to a fair society where we have full employment without growth.  It is going to be a great disruption but with care it can be managed smoothly.

Occupy Phillipines shows discontent with corporate greed

But there are signs of hope as the mainstream media is trying to come to grips with the major economic and environmental problems facing us all. They are interviewing people who have new solutions. The Occupy Wall Street movement is not going away and governments probably know this. Corporate rule is no longer an option. People know we need a Plan B.

It’s all got to be done in the right order. Some of the changes will be inflationary, others deflationary and it will take all our collective genius to steer our way through it all. Pain will happen. There will be a total change in our patterns of investment.

The land value tax will change patterns of land use and have a downward and stabilising effect on land prices. Dropping GST and income tax will put many bureaucrats and accountants out of work and lower prices. Taking away the bank’s privileges, bonuses and power will meet with massive resistance from vested interests worldwide, so there will be pressure for all countries to do this together and we can’t wait. Imposing more petrol taxes will push up the price of everything and cause changes to the transport and employment patterns.

Because interest is built into the price of all goods manufactured with the assistance of bank loans, banning usury will result in lower prices. Getting rid of income tax and GST will free up purchasing power and release a huge surge energy and action in the sustainable businesses sector.

Businesses heavily dependent on fossil fuels or products derived from them will falter and shrink. Allowing the creation of local money will be inflationary if it isn’t matched with an increase in business.  But allowing it in association with dropping income tax will allow farmers and land owners to employ the labour they need. Giving a Kiwi Dividend to all citizens is inflationary but at the same time will release more human potential and creativity.

The trend will be away from reliance on long distance tourism and exports, towards holidaying and recreational activities closer to home and import substitution, especially of the basics.  Collaboration and the necessary sharing of resources in all spheres of activity and at all levels will be the norm.

Sporting structures and practices will undergo radical change, restoring sport to a healthy social and physical activity engaged in at the very local and occasional inter-regional level.  This change will make sport affordable for the masses and at the same time reduce the carbon footprint of sport’s current big business model.

It is change all the way. The dropping of the NZ dollar will result in pressures to grow a wider variety of food but be good for exporters. The carbon tariff will raise the price of goods from coal hungry China, bring back manufacturing jobs and transform our shopping patterns. The West Coast will have to adapt to life without coalmines. Resource taxes on items like superphosphate and pesticides will transform farming towards organic methods.

This change is transformational. With unearned income a thing of the past and the opportunity for everyone to be employed gainfully, we won’t have to spend time wringing our hands about the gap between rich and poor. With a comprehensive policy to contain alcohol marketing and gambling our citizens will have real hope for the future and it will reduce our prison population. Everyone will be happier.

It’s just that it’s going to be a bumpy ride. Going over a waterfall means we have to hang on to our boats and trust there is calm water at the bottom.

But the change isn’t optional. Do we want a future of economic and social chaos, food riots, fascism, invasion, starvation and war? When we think of the storms our grandchildren will be forced to endure do we really have a choice?  Yes it’s a hard problem. Yet somehow it’s a paradox – although things are going to get desperately dangerous and urgent we must act positively and full of hope. Come with us on this journey.