April 19. 2014, by Unter Uns Eseln, Altstadtlüt – Das Blat vor dem Mund
Während der industriellen Revolution und bis Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts war eine Arbeitskraft vorhanden, deren Aufgabe und Lebensunterhalt langsam und schleppend zu verschwinden begann. Dieser arbeitstätige Teil der Bevölkerung war in der Schweiz noch zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts tatsächlich noch beträchtlich gross (1 Angestellter pro 25 BürgerInnen der Schweiz). Obwohl solche Tagelöhner allmählich durch Dampfmaschinen ersetzt wurden, halfen sie immer noch in den Feldern, schufteten in den Gruben, zogen Wagen für kurze Strecken und unterstützten, sofern dienstfähig, die Armee als gefügsame und fleissige Kompagnons bis an die Grenzen des Heimatlandes. Die Ankunft des Verbrennungsmotors aber verdrängte rasch diese Arbeitnehmer, so dass schon Ende 1950 nur noch die Hälfte von ihnen arbeitete. Es wurde bisher immer mehr für ihr Futter reichte.
Bundesratsbeschluß vom 13. März 1900
Im Hinblick auf den vom Nationalrat am 21. Dezember 1899 und vom Ständerat am 22. Dezember gleichen Jahres zu diesem Zwecke bewilligten Kredit von Fr. 50’000 verordnet der Bundesrat die Zählung des gesamtschweizerischen Pferdebestandes.
März 15. 2014, by Unter uns Hunden, Altstadtlüt – Vom Kindergarten in den Nationalrat
In einem Hof sind 95 Knochen vergraben. 100 Hunde werden dazu ausgebildet, diese Knochen aufzuspüren und ihren jeweiligen Besitzern zurück zu bringen. Nachdem die Hunde in den Hof freigelassen wurden, kehren sie alle zurück. 95 von ihnen bringen einen Knochen; fünf jedoch kommen mit nichts. Die Hundehalter reagieren darauf mit einer härteren Ausbildung ihrer Hunde. Doch welche Methoden sie dabei auch immer anwenden, und egal wie oft sie ihre Tiere belohnen oder bestrafen: Jedes Mal bleiben fünf Hunde übrig, welche keinen Knochen gefunden haben. Wie lässt sich dieses Problem lösen?…
An analogy can be a powerful thinking tool to help identify patterns in man-made systems. Without losing sight of the differences there are similarities between economics and *aerodynamics;
Human labor, consumption, money and resources are of vital importance in a economic system.
The important part of a plane are: the engine and propeller, wings, ailerons, elevator, rudder and a landing chassis – without these elements you could not successfully build a manned, powered, sustained and controlled heavier-than-air flying object.
The first U.S. patent of the Wright brothers, 821,393, did not claim invention of a flying machine, but rather, the invention of a system of aerodynamic control that manipulated a flying machine’s surfaces.
It is Eiffel that established that the lift produced by an airfoil was the result of a reduction of air pressure above the wing rather than an increase of pressure acting on the under surface.
So lift is generated only up to a point until the smooth airflow over the wing is broken up; when this happens, the sudden loss of lift will result in the airplane entering into a stall, where the weight of the airplane cannot be supported any longer.
Essentially there are 4 aerodynamic forces that act on an airplane in flight; these are thrust, drag, lift, and weight. In simple terms, 1) thrust is the power of the airplane’s engine, 2) drag is the resistance of air, 3) lift is the upward force and 4) weight, is the downward force (gravity).
For airplanes to fly, the thrust must be greater than the drag and the lift must be greater than the gravity.
This is valid also for Achieving a Healthy Economic Stability; the human labor (thrust) must be greater than the consumption (drag), and the money supply (lift) must be greater than the expenditure (gravity).
It took thousands of years for humans, to figure that out: When there is no “flow”, there is no “lift” and the aerodynamic forces acting on the “wings” are zero.
With each technological advance more and more goods and services are produced by fewer and fewer people. Managing that transition is going to be the greatest challenge that our society faces.
* Aerodynamics, from Greek ἀήρ aer (air) + δυναμική itself from δύναμις dynamis (miraculous power) (Source Wikipedia)
Money Makes You Fly
Remembering
Georg Friedrich Knapp
Alfred Mitchell-Innes
John Maynard Keynes
Abba P. Lerner
Teachers beyond compare
“Father Gold, Mother Money”
by Alberto Veronese, November 2012
Any dictionary defines BARTER as: (n) an equal exchange, (v) exchange goods without involving money. (e.g.) We had no money so we had to live by barter.
Well, indeed, in order for the barter to occur, NO money is needed at all. All it needs is two people (TWO ENTITIES), or two groups of people, who barter their goods with each other because they want to.
On the other hand, when money is involved, the equal exchange can not be said barter; In fact, goods or services are exchanged by their money value (i.e. price), where someone ‘sells’ or ‘buys’ goods – for money or with money.
It easy to understand that, for a monetary transaction to occur (i. e. involving money) a third distinctive entity (an authority or assembly) is needed; A THIRD ENTITY which creates, owns and controls the money supply.
NONE of the TWO ENTITIES (which barter with each other) can issue/own the money for themselves; because if so, the resulting exchange would be again nothing else than a barter.
From the dawn of modern history to the present the ‘creation of money’ was an means to move resources from the citizens to the THIRD ENTITY – money must have emerged as a ruling instrument for deferred payments;
In exchange for protection people would assent to give up a part of their resources and obtain developmental projects and services of ‘public-interest’ and the benefits of political order.
In ancient time taxes were paid with work or with a variety of objects. The presumed yield of the fields at harvest was calculated in advance. Whippings inflicted by tax collectors upon the disobedient peasants were frequent.
Throughout civilizations taxes* and obligations were being supervised by functionaries; codes, laws and notices regulated the life of the citizens, and shaped rules for contracts, commerce and private property.
Thereon, money was ‘administered’ to the people and then used as a levy raised by the authority to support the needs of the state. A ‘tax credit’
– fundamentally to assure the interests of the upper cast.
Even today the Internal Revenue Service pays attention to taxing barter activity – you name the swap, the IRS wants to tax it. That means each side must report to the IRS the fair market value (in money) of the item or services received.
Back in time the city-state became an answer to human necessities. Inside the city-state, all in all, people were interdependent from each other, tightly tied to their hierarchies; political and economic life was dominated by war.
The privilege of striking money was of great importance, especially in time of war – ‘Moneta’ has its full power as a ‘monere’ ** – it improves the productivity, the efficiency of labor and settles remunerations and tax collection notices all at once.
The weight or composition of money could differ for many reasons and was not a matter of importance – i.e. large numbers of slaves were used to work the mines – what was important was the name or distinguishing mark of the issuer.
The rise of ‘more democratic’ states, new technologies and new ‘monetary tools’ further the public purpose and benefit (succeeded only after civil strife and violent conflicts) the citizens of the county as a whole.
Today money is not intrinsically limited; the ISSUER cannot run out of its money. The ‘authority’ creates, ’owns’ and issues the currency – and ‘continues’ the ability to decide what is money and what is not.
And as said before, because it is the owner of the currency, any exchange it does with money it results to be a BARTER; it is an ‘equal engagement’ between the authority and the public sector.
It’s a BOND that explicitly expresses the willingness of the authority to build on the work (the labor) of the people, who then confidently and with commitment renew their bond with the authority.
The ‘equal exchange’ of money for goods and labor requires true co-operation as it is needed to keep the economy working – “Let the King serve the people!”
Any national currency that is ‘fiat’ can be redeemed in the form of ‘tax credit’
There are three major offices, which are:
1. ensure fair access to scarce resources,
2. create jobs with adequate pay,
3. allow young and old people to live with dignity.
A healthy ‘modern’ economy provides the facilities and services that a effective, democratic society must have – money is a means toward these ends – we the people ought to pursue this idea and goal ourselves.
The ‘GOVERNMENT’ is committed to create and provide the right monetary system for the benefit of the country, and allow citizens to set in motion a sustainable development of their available public and private resources.
* Tax, taxo, taxāre; (Latin); (v.) to estimate, value. Labour in ancient Egyptian is a synonym for taxes.
** Moneta (Latin); (n, v.) money, coinage. Moneo, monēre (Latin); (v.) to warn, remind; ad-monēre (n.) warning. The roman goddess Juno Moneta’s name (Greek goddess Mnemosyne) derives likely from the Greek “moneres” meaning alone, unique (an epithet that every mother has).
Not Gold But Money 