Rob Wijnberg: Lonely Planet
Planeet Aarde is gelegen in een van de meest verlaten uithoeken van de Melkweg. Aardbewoners staan bekend als gastvrij, behalve voor onbekenden. Lees daarom deze reisgids nog voor vertrek zorgvuldig door.
Reistijd. Tussen de twee en vier miljoen lichtjaren. Hou rekening met een jetlag.
Klimaat. De beste tijd om naar Aarde te gaan is tussen 2011 en 2100. Daarna breekt het tropenseizoen aan.
Valuta. De belangrijkste munteenheid op Aarde is de schulden, een fictieve muntsoort waarmee aardbewoners hun niet-bestaande welvaart op peil houden. De schulden is het enige betaalmiddel in het universum dat wordt bijgedrukt als er te veel van is.
Geografie. Aardbewoners hebben hun planeet lukraak onderverdeeld in 196 landen. Vrij reizen is toegestaan, tenzij je arm, hongerig of op de vlucht bent.
Politiek. Er zijn twee politieke stromingen op Aarde: links en rechts. Links knuffelt terroristen, rechts kweekt terroristen. Terroristen zelf zijn eenzame gekken die hun realiteitsbesef kwijt zijn.
Religie. Er zijn twee religieuze stromingen op Aarde: islam en anti-islam. Islamieten geloven dat alle mensen gelijkwaardig zijn, behalve homo’s, vrouwen en niet-moslims. Anti-islamieten geloven dat alle mensen gelijkwaardig zijn, wat hen superieur maakt.
Bezienswaardigheden. Aardbewoners stonden bekend om hun culturele tradities, totdat uitgerekend de multiculturalisten de cultuur om zeep hielpen. Het laatste restje werd wegbezuinigd om banken te redden. Enige overgebleven attractie is het Nationaal Historisch Museum in Nederland, met als pronkstuk: een maquette van het Nationaal Historisch Museum.
Media. De meeste aardbewoners halen hun informatie van het zogenoemde ‘internet’. Het internet is een verzamelplaats voor bloggers, die stukjes schrijven over wat ze die dag in de krant hebben gelezen. In de krant staan de volgende dag stukjes over wat er allemaal op het internet is gezegd. Daarnaast verschijnen er op Aarde jaarlijks zo’n duizend boeken over hoe het internet ontlezing veroorzaakt.
Hotspots. Griekenland is nu the place to be vanwege de prijzen. Verwacht wel een hoge creditcardrekening bij thuiskomst. Amerika zou vandaag dichtgaan, maar blijft tot het einde van het hoogseizoen open (check openingstijden op usdebtclock.org). Wie België nog wil zien, moet opschieten.
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Dit had niet uitgesproken mogen worden: ‘Westen schuldig aan honger Afrika’
Somalische kinderen bij een distributiecentrum in Mogadishu. Foto AFP
De banken die in de crisis dreigden om te vallen, ontvingen miljarden euro’s aan belastinggeld. Maar nu er elke dag tienduizenden mensen verhongeren in de Hoorn van Afrika, houden rijke landen de hand op de knip. Ondertussen drijven Westerse grootspeculanten de voedselprijzen op.
Dat is de strekking van een toespraak van Jean Ziegler, een voormalig VN-rapporteur die zich inzet voor het ‘recht op voedsel’. De Zwitser had het Salzburg Festival moeten openen, een prominent evenement in de geboortestad van Mozart, met klassieke muziek en drama, dat gesponsord en bezocht wordt door vermogenden, grootbankiers en bestuursvoorzitters.
Ziegler werd echter op het laatste moment geschrapt als openingsspreker. Volgens de organisatoren omdat hij in het verleden betrokken was bij een ‘mensenrechtenprijs’ van de Libische leider Moammar Gaddafi. Maar Ziegler vermoedt dat de sponsoren Credit Suisse en Nestlé er geen trek in hadden om op hun eigen feestje de hongersnood in de schoenen geschoven te krijgen.Dat is de strekking van een toespraak van Jean Ziegler, een voormalig VN-rapporteur die zich inzet voor het ‘recht op voedsel’. De Zwitser had het Salzburg Festival moeten openen, een prominent evenement in de geboortestad van Mozart, met klassieke muziek en drama, dat gesponsord en bezocht wordt door vermogenden, grootbankiers en bestuursvoorzitters.
‘Kannibalistische wereldorde’
Of de voedselactivist gelijk heeft, is aan het publiek. Zeker is dat hij een beter gevoel heeft voor publiciteit dan de mensen die zijn toespraak geschrapt hebben: iedereen wil nu die verboden tekst lezen. En horen, want Ziegler heeft hem op YouTube ingesproken.
Nieuwssite DeWereldMorgen.be heeft de toespraak in het Nederlands vertaald. Ziegler had het “geweten” van zijn toehoorders willen “ontwaken”, de zogenaamde “meesters van de kannibalistische wereldorde” die hij verantwoordelijk houdt voor de “dagelijkse slachtpartij van de honger”.
Budget Wereldvoedselprogramma gehalveerd
Het Wereldvoedselprogramma van de VN dat de voedselnoodhulp moet verzorgen, vroeg op 1 juli een bijzondere bijdrage van 180 miljoen euro aan de VN-lidstaten. “Er werd slechts 62 miljoen euro gestort”, weet Ziegler. “Het normale budget van het Wereldvoedselprogramma bedroeg in 2008 zes miljard dollar. In 2011 is dat gezakt tot 2,8 miljard dollar.”
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The Venus Project
The term and meaning of a Resource-Based Economy was originated by Jacque Fresco. 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 utilize 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.
Consider the following examples: At the beginning of World War II the US had a mere 600 or so first-class fighting aircraft. We rapidly overcame this short supply by turning out more than 90,000 planes a year. The question at the start of World War II was: Do we have enough funds to produce the required implements of war? The answer was no, we did not have enough money, nor did we have enough gold; but we did have more than enough resources. It was the available resources that enabled the US to achieve the high production and efficiency required to win the war. Unfortunately this is only considered in times of war.
In a resource-based economy all of the world's resources are held as the common heritage of all of Earth's people, thus eventually outgrowing the need for the artificial boundaries that separate people. This is the unifying imperative.
We must emphasize that this approach to global governance has nothing whatever in common with the present aims of an elite to form a world government with themselves and large corporations at the helm, and the vast majority of the world's population subservient to them. Our vision of globalization empowers each and every person on the planet to be the best they can be, not to live in abject subjugation to a corporate governing body.
Our proposals would not only add to the well being of people, but they would also provide the necessary information that would enable them to participate in any area of their competence. The measure of success would be based on the fulfilment of one's individual pursuits rather than the acquisition of wealth, property and power.
At present, we have enough material resources to provide a very high standard of living for all of Earth's inhabitants. Only when population exceeds the carrying capacity of the land do many problems such as greed, crime and violence emerge. By overcoming scarcity, most of the crimes and even the prisons of today's society would no longer be necessary.
A resource-based economy would make it possible to use technology to overcome scarce resources by applying renewable sources of energy, computerizing and automating manufacturing and inventory, designing safe energy-efficient cities and advanced transportation systems, providing universal health care and more relevant education, and most of all by generating a new incentive system based on human and environmental concern.
Many people believe that there is too much technology in the world today, and that technology is the major cause of our environmental pollution. This is not the case. It is the abuse and misuse of technology that should be our major concern. In a more humane civilization, instead of machines displacing people they would shorten the workday, increase the availability of goods and services, and lengthen vacation time. If we utilize new technology to raise the standard of living for all people, then the infusion of machine technology would no longer be a threat.
A resource-based world economy would also involve all-out efforts to develop new, clean, and renewable sources of energy: geothermal; controlled fusion; solar; photovoltaic; wind, wave, and tidal power; and even fuel from the oceans. We would eventually be able to have energy in unlimited quantity that could propel civilization for thousands of years. A resource-based economy must also be committed to the redesign of our cities, transportation systems, and industrial plants, allowing them to be energy efficient, clean, and conveniently serve the needs of all people.
What else would a resource-based economy mean? Technology intelligently and efficiently applied, conserves energy, reduces waste, and provides more leisure time. With automated inventory on a global scale, we can maintain a balance between production and distribution. Only nutritious and healthy food would be available and planned obsolescence would be unnecessary and non-existent in a resource-based economy.
As we outgrow the need for professions based on the monetary system, for instance lawyers, bankers, insurance agents, marketing and advertising personnel, salespersons, and stockbrokers, a considerable amount of waste will be eliminated. Considerable amounts of energy would also be saved by eliminating the duplication of competitive products such as tools, eating utensils, pots, pans and vacuum cleaners. Choice is good. But instead of hundreds of different manufacturing plants and all the paperwork and personnel required to turn out similar products, only a few of the highest quality would be needed to serve the entire population. Our only shortage is the lack of creative thought and intelligence in ourselves and our elected leaders to solve these problems. The most valuable, untapped resource today is human ingenuity.
With the elimination of debt, the fear of losing one's job will no longer be a threat. This assurance, combined with education on how to relate to one another in a much more meaningful way, could considerably reduce both mental and physical stress and leave us free to explore and develop our abilities.
If the thought of eliminating money still troubles you, consider this: If a group of people with gold, diamonds and money were stranded on an island that had no resources such as food, clean air and water, their wealth would be irrelevant to their survival. It is only when resources are scarce that money can be used to control their distribution. One could not, for example, sell the air we breathe or water abundantly flowing down from a mountain stream. Although air and water are valuable, in abundance they cannot be sold.
Money is only important in a society when certain resources for survival must be rationed and the people accept money as an exchange medium for the scarce resources. Money is a social convention, an agreement if you will. It is neither a natural resource nor does it represent one. It is not necessary for survival unless we have been conditioned to accept it as such.
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 utilize 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.
Consider the following examples: At the beginning of World War II the US had a mere 600 or so first-class fighting aircraft. We rapidly overcame this short supply by turning out more than 90,000 planes a year. The question at the start of World War II was: Do we have enough funds to produce the required implements of war? The answer was no, we did not have enough money, nor did we have enough gold; but we did have more than enough resources. It was the available resources that enabled the US to achieve the high production and efficiency required to win the war. Unfortunately this is only considered in times of war.
In a resource-based economy all of the world's resources are held as the common heritage of all of Earth's people, thus eventually outgrowing the need for the artificial boundaries that separate people. This is the unifying imperative.
We must emphasize that this approach to global governance has nothing whatever in common with the present aims of an elite to form a world government with themselves and large corporations at the helm, and the vast majority of the world's population subservient to them. Our vision of globalization empowers each and every person on the planet to be the best they can be, not to live in abject subjugation to a corporate governing body.
Our proposals would not only add to the well being of people, but they would also provide the necessary information that would enable them to participate in any area of their competence. The measure of success would be based on the fulfilment of one's individual pursuits rather than the acquisition of wealth, property and power.
At present, we have enough material resources to provide a very high standard of living for all of Earth's inhabitants. Only when population exceeds the carrying capacity of the land do many problems such as greed, crime and violence emerge. By overcoming scarcity, most of the crimes and even the prisons of today's society would no longer be necessary.
A resource-based economy would make it possible to use technology to overcome scarce resources by applying renewable sources of energy, computerizing and automating manufacturing and inventory, designing safe energy-efficient cities and advanced transportation systems, providing universal health care and more relevant education, and most of all by generating a new incentive system based on human and environmental concern.
Many people believe that there is too much technology in the world today, and that technology is the major cause of our environmental pollution. This is not the case. It is the abuse and misuse of technology that should be our major concern. In a more humane civilization, instead of machines displacing people they would shorten the workday, increase the availability of goods and services, and lengthen vacation time. If we utilize new technology to raise the standard of living for all people, then the infusion of machine technology would no longer be a threat.
A resource-based world economy would also involve all-out efforts to develop new, clean, and renewable sources of energy: geothermal; controlled fusion; solar; photovoltaic; wind, wave, and tidal power; and even fuel from the oceans. We would eventually be able to have energy in unlimited quantity that could propel civilization for thousands of years. A resource-based economy must also be committed to the redesign of our cities, transportation systems, and industrial plants, allowing them to be energy efficient, clean, and conveniently serve the needs of all people.
What else would a resource-based economy mean? Technology intelligently and efficiently applied, conserves energy, reduces waste, and provides more leisure time. With automated inventory on a global scale, we can maintain a balance between production and distribution. Only nutritious and healthy food would be available and planned obsolescence would be unnecessary and non-existent in a resource-based economy.
As we outgrow the need for professions based on the monetary system, for instance lawyers, bankers, insurance agents, marketing and advertising personnel, salespersons, and stockbrokers, a considerable amount of waste will be eliminated. Considerable amounts of energy would also be saved by eliminating the duplication of competitive products such as tools, eating utensils, pots, pans and vacuum cleaners. Choice is good. But instead of hundreds of different manufacturing plants and all the paperwork and personnel required to turn out similar products, only a few of the highest quality would be needed to serve the entire population. Our only shortage is the lack of creative thought and intelligence in ourselves and our elected leaders to solve these problems. The most valuable, untapped resource today is human ingenuity.
With the elimination of debt, the fear of losing one's job will no longer be a threat. This assurance, combined with education on how to relate to one another in a much more meaningful way, could considerably reduce both mental and physical stress and leave us free to explore and develop our abilities.
If the thought of eliminating money still troubles you, consider this: If a group of people with gold, diamonds and money were stranded on an island that had no resources such as food, clean air and water, their wealth would be irrelevant to their survival. It is only when resources are scarce that money can be used to control their distribution. One could not, for example, sell the air we breathe or water abundantly flowing down from a mountain stream. Although air and water are valuable, in abundance they cannot be sold.
Money is only important in a society when certain resources for survival must be rationed and the people accept money as an exchange medium for the scarce resources. Money is a social convention, an agreement if you will. It is neither a natural resource nor does it represent one. It is not necessary for survival unless we have been conditioned to accept it as such.
