The Spiritual Economy

- by Steve Moyer -

Everyone has some idea of what the "spiritual economy" is before I even describe it. Many people think it is karma. Others think it is just sharing freely without any expectation of return, trusting the universe to provide.

The interesting thing is we all realize that the existing economy is lacking in spirituality. Some people try and justify it, yet in their hearts they know the truth; it falls far short of a spiritual ideal. Ideally, we probably wouldn't even need an accounting system. We would all share appropriately according to need and ability.

Some say that human nature changes slowly, if at all.

But perhaps we don't need to change human nature at all. Perhaps the existing economic system is itself trying to change human nature and all we need to do is create an economic system that is better matched.

What would such a system be like?

Well, it seems that our nature is abundant love and caring. What mother would not give her life for the life of her child? That's love and caring. That's abundance. Firemen, police, and soldiers are willing to "give all" for their families, friends and people they don't even know. We have abundance, we just have an economic system that creates scarcity.

Something like 90 percent of the assets are owned by 5 percent of the people. Why such disparity? Are these people really that concerned with their future well being? Perhaps, but perhaps the economic system allows and in fact encourages greed. It's not the quality of your relationships that counts, but the quantity of money you possess.

Yes, money is what matters and people come second. Profits for the corporation, rather than prosperity for the individual. That what the existing economic system preaches to us.

Isn't it natural for us to care for each other? Isn't there more joy in making someone else happy rather than piling up storehouses of wealth? Isn't this what Jesus talked about when he mentioned the "rewards in heaven?"

The concept of karma comes around again. So we shall call the "money" of the spiritual economy "karma credits." And just like in real life, each person's karma is individual and owned by them.

The spiritual economy is an economic system that does it all. Barter, currency, credit, stock exchange, and a relationship-building network. In some sense, it is the relationships we make that matter the most. This is the what we are remembered for, the things we have done for and with others. These are the stories that live on in the hearts and minds of our children; stories of courage, valor, caring and compassion.

How does it work?

Each participant in the Spiritual Economy has their own currency. They can create it at will, as much as they want, and give it to anyone, even to someone who does not participate. They give it through the World Wide Web, using a form that sends an email message to the recipient as well as a public domain archive. It is ironic that the Internet provides the means for us to create a spiritual economy and each have our own currency. The Internet is the triumph of materialism.

What can someone do with your credits once they receive them? They can trade them for goods or services with anyone who honors the credits. They can always go back to the person who gave them and ask for something in return. It could be services (time), or products (software, computers, tv's) or it could be someone else's credits.

This is where it gets interesting. You might "collect" credits from lots of different people so that you always have a place to stay when you are travelling around the world. You might just want someone's credits because you see that there are many other people who want that person's credits.

There is no obligation to honor the credits by doing anything or giving anything in return to them. It is all cooperation based, because that is the nature of humanity. We survive because of our cooperation; otherwise we would have blown ourselves off the face of Planet Earth long ago.

Rather than striving for wealth in terms of numbers, people will work for a good "credit rating." That means that you should try and get the good graces of many different people, especially those who have a high "integrity" rating. Whenever you rate someone on how satisfied you are with their credits, they get to rate your "rating" in terms of how fair they think it is. If you don't judge them, they can't judge you.

There is therefore an incentive not to judge, or at least not to judge badly, unless it is really necessary. If you continually judge people badly, people will not want to deal with you (just like in life).

The people who do well in the spiritual economy will be those who do lots of things for others and accept credits in return, then either trade the credits with others or simply hold them. When you hold someone else's credits, you are in demand and people will do things for you to get some of the others' credits.

Because it is computer-based you will be able to search for who holds whoever's credits you are looking for. It will be a good way for making "first contact" with someone you like. Acquire their credits from someone else and then make contact. Another reason why everyone needs an email address.

You can extend yourself credit by giving credits in exchange for something of value. You can use credits as currencies, either for yourself or others. You must maintain personal accountability for your credits, because if you issue too many, you currency will get inflated. (Nobody will want it.) It that case you will have to "earn back" your credits from whoever holds them in order to repair your credit. through right action.

You will "sign" an agreement on the WWW when you join, specifying that you "understand and accept" that the credits have no inherent value and that you cannot force anyone to do anything for you. The Spiritual Economy operates outside the legal system of all governments and relies on individual integrity for its success. It operates on cooperation of free people.

There will be "spiritual economy angels" who go around and do things for people who they see are doing lots of good things for others. The Spiritual Economy gives people a way of getting the recognition they deserve and a way of fulfilling their karma and resolving personal issues they have with others. People will have an incentive to "work it out" because it reflects poorly on both the giver and the receiver if there is no satisfaction in the relationship. Trust and "right action" are reinforced and dishonesty and greed are discouraged.

It's so beautiful. The Spiritual Economy enhances cooperation, sharing, trust, faith in yourself and others, and personal responsibility. Everything is in the open so it makes it honest and clear who is doing what for whom.

Those of us who are old enough will remember when the U.S. had money that was backed by silver. The notes were called "Silver Certificates" and stated on the front of each bill "One Dollar in silver payable to the bearer on demand." Now our money is not backed by any physical substance, only the faith in our government. It is better to have faith in people than in government; government rise and fall but people and the love they share last forever.

We don't need government to have money; we can have our own money. The ninth amendment of the Constitution, part of the "Bill of Rights" declares that "The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." Simple and elegant. We have always had the right to have our own currency. Now, with the help of computers and the Internet, we can actually make that right meaningful.

Steve Moyer --- space@azstarnet.com

A comparison of the existing MONEY system and the Spiritual Economy.

SPIRITUAL ECONOMY ----- MONEY SYSTEM

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Love-based - Fear-based

Enlightened altruism - Ignorant greed

Abundance - Scarcity

Bottom-up (people first) - Top-down (governments)

Resolves personal problems - Creates personal problems

Openness - Secrecy

Honesty - Dishonesty

Trust - Dis-trust

Honor - Dis-honor

Freedom - Bondage

Individual Responsibility - Insurance (FDIC)

Identity - Anonymous

Builds positive relationships -Destroys positive relationships

Personal - Impersonal

Credit -Debt

Quality matters - Quantity matters

The Spiritual Economy is copyrighted (c) 1995, 1996 by Steven Moyer.

Abundance Economics

by Flemming Funch, 26 November 1994.

I strongly believe, or desire at least, that we in the not too distant future will see a viable society based on economics of abundance.

That is, enough of the members of society will assume a whole-systems view, realize that there really is an abundance of resources and start cooperating in utilizing them best.

The current society is based for a great deal on scarcity. The idea that there isn't enough of everything is widespread and gets promoted incessantly in the mass media.

Current economics is based mostly on exchanging scarcities. That is, if you OWN something that is scarce and that others want, then you can hoard it and make it available a little at a time to others, for a fee.

The majority of the population live in the state of mind of perpetual scarcity. There doesn't quite seem to be enough of everything. You HAVE to work hard to keep up with all the things you HAVE to have, and there always seems to be more that is needed.

But really, if I look around me, I don't see scarcity. The nature of this planet is abundant with life and resources. There are plenty of people around who can contribute work. There is plenty of technology to make things easier.

So, how come that I, like most people, feel that I don't really own all that wealth, that it all belongs to somebody else, including my belongings bought on credit, and my work which I owe to an employer, and my money which I owe to the IRS.

I really don't believe that at all. I think the scarcity idea is fake and that society would work drastically different if enough people see though it and base their actions on abundance. I think scarcity is artificially created and maintained.

I suppose that abundance economics would include giving one's ideas and actions freely, because one feels like it, because one sees the need for it, and because one understands that when you contribute to the whole, we all benefit.

The Internet is a good example of some of the principles of giving freely and of abundance. So many resources here are given freely, without expecting anything directly in return. So many people are willing to help each other, even though they don't really have to and they don't get "paid" for it.

I think there are many times more power in actions that are done freely, because one sees a need for improvement, than in actions that are done reluctantly, because one is forced by lack.

- Flemming - email ffunch@newciv.org

--- NEWS FLASH ---

The NEW ECONOMY

The Path to the NEW ECONOMY or Planetary Oblivion

Economics based upon fair trade will function as commonwealths, with individuals working together for the common welfare. In the New Economy each person or citizen is honored in a value to value exchange.