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As long as the causes of the world’s greed for raw materials do not disappear, the war will continue or escalate.

There is a war for raw materials in the Donbas, but
what are these raw materials so urgently needed for?

Manifesto for ending the war

1. Where is our journey going?
(If we survive that long)

Figure 1: GDP developments over the next four years
Source: International Monetary Fund

With the help of lending rates, the financial system sucks the economy dry and forces it to grow. The chart shows the demand of the financial system for the next four years. The economy must and will grow by 25 % by 2027. This is what the financial system wants. The financial system will not care about protests by activists. The banks are merely the physical facilities and infrastructure necessary to run the financial system.

The economy, in turn, is forced to produce more and more to meet the demands of the financial system. These goods have to be sold, and therefore the economy puts psychological pressure on people by using personalised advertising, sensory overload, discount campaigns that people cannot resist. Moreover, the economy criminally allows products to break before their actual lifespan is over.

The financial system is thus grossly negligent in risking climate change, species extinction, ruthless exploitation of natural resources and an increase in inequality. It is equally negligent to speculate with large amounts of money and thus endanger the existence of many people. The financial system has no material value, it is a purely symbolic quantity with which attempts are made to represent the value of goods. One could simply make this symbolic quantity disappear without this having a negative impact on the real value of goods.

2. What is easyer to be decoupled?
Resource consumption from growth

or the financial system from the economy?

Decoupling growth from resource consumption, as proposed by the World Economic Forum, is difficult to achieve in practice and may even be impossible, given the limited resources and stress limits of our planet. A better option is the “absolute reduction” of resource consumption, where the absolute consumption of resources and emissions decreases while economic growth remains moderate or even stagnant. However, this requires a profound change in the way we produce, consume and live, and a shift away from a fixation on economic growth as the ultimate goal.

As long as the economy is coupled to the financial system, there can be no absolute reduction because the financial system does not allow this. Only after the financial system is decoupled from the economy is the reduction of resource consumption possible, because then the economy is no longer forced to grow. Today, with the internet, we have tools at our disposal to transmit people’s needs directly to the economy. This would mean that only what is really needed would be produced, and that is much less than today. The market with the financial system is therefore no longer necessary. The market is not able to distribute goods fairly anyway. We see this in the increasing inequality.

3. Will the economy continue
to produce after decoupling?

Human history lasted about 3 million years. The most important difference between humans and animals is the characteristic of voluntary work. Humans have been able to survive until today mainly because of this characteristic. Bartering, the precursor of today’s financial system, began about 10,000 years ago. This led to rapid technical and scientific development.

Figure 2: Human development

In the meantime, we have reached the ignition point. This is not identical, of course, but it is comparable to the flash point of paper: certain types of paper ignite by themselves at Fahrenheit 451. Without announcing it long beforehand. It is scientifically proven that we will destroy our livelihoods if we do not stop this development quickly. Separating the economy from the financial system and eliminating the already immaterial financial system could once again lead to a balanced way of life for humankind that treats nature’s treasures with care. Of course, in doing so, we would maintain the current state of science and technology. No one would have to return to primitive society.

Would the economy continue to produce if people were not forced to work by being deprived of money?

Of course, the economy would continue to produce, but it would only produce what people really need. It no longer produces things that are produced today just to generate growth. Of course we would continue to work. As mentioned above, independent work is a characteristic only given to humans. In 99.5% of human history, we have worked voluntarily. After all, 40 per cent of the work done, mainly care activities such as caring for relatives or raising our children, is not paid anyway but is done anyway, mostly with a lot of love. The whole of civil society functions without payment.

4. How does decoupling take place?

Figure 3: Result of the German Bundestag election 2021

If we want to initiate transformation effectively, then something has to be done that pleases the majority of voters. At the moment, that is prosperity and the consumption that goes with it. You cannot convince the majority of voters with restrictions on prosperity. But there is something with which we could realise the decoupling of the economy from the financial system. A financial advantage would be something that would trump prosperity. Especially if prosperity does not suffer. Global debt relief would be an option. Every family of four in Germany alone carries 120,000 euros in national debt. In addition, there are consumer loans for cars and much more, often in considerable amounts.

Freedom from financial debt is a need that lies dormant in every human being. Since biblical times, mankind has dreamed of a Jubilee. One would only have to awaken this need, make it erupt. Just as one awakened the need to travel on cruise ships or the need to buy an SUV. What would happen then? At first glance, it seems like it would be unfair. Unfair to those who have been frugal and have not incurred debt. Unfair to the creditors who would miss out on interest and repayments. Since it would probably be impossible to untangle all debt relationships, the only option would be the complete abolition of money.

Then everyone would get everything for free. The creditor would also get everything for free, as would the billionaire and the homeless person. So there would be no discrimination at all. Neither the creditor nor the billionaire would still need their money because they would get everything they need for free. But why on earth is that possible? Quite simply. Because we can work voluntarily. And just as our ancestors survived tens of thousands of years ago, just as we care for our families and friends, we will continue to care for the continuation of humanity.

A global referendum to cancel all debt would not even cost much, word of mouth would probably be enough.

This is what a ballot paper could look like.

It could become reality as early as 2025.
All the conditions are there.

If we don’t act now, it will be too late. Protests will not stop the financial system.

FAQ

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