Doing Things Locally

Heretical Ideas

Posted by David Richins

sheepYesterday was my 33rd birthday. It gave me an opportunity to reflect on my life thus far. As I was thinking, I realized something about myself.

I’m idealistic.

I’ve always known that I was idealistic, but now I’m really grasping the extent of it, and I’m realizing that my idealism has been the source of a lot of inner conflict.

The conflict comes from the stubborn belief that I can and should try to change other people’s views and behaviors. And I’ve been unsuccessful at doing so.

More than five years ago, I started writing articles and making videos about my opinions. Some of what I have produced has been appreciated by others, but the only person that I’ve really been able to persuade is my wife. So I would say that my effort to persuade has been a complete failure. However, I can say that over the last five years, I have achieved greater clarity when it comes to my own thoughts.

I can appreciate that I could be wrong, and that other people have valid ideas too. But as time has gone by, I’ve become more entrenched in my own ideas. That has caused me to feel very isolated, because there aren’t really any groups or ideologies that I want to align myself with.

The heart of the conflict is that deep down, I’ve wanted to be appreciated for sharing unpopular ideas.

I’m not trying to drum up sympathy, or wallow in self-pity. Somehow it just feels better to be completely honest with myself.

So what ideas am I talking about? Well, I could list many, but here are a few that I’ve been thinking a lot about lately.

1. Money should not be a life necessity.

Money is a social institution. To work for money means that one person has to be subject to another person. I think that everyone should have the tools and means to be independent.

2. Everyone should own capital.

A corollary to #1. Before the industrial revolution, if you owned land it was possible to be almost completely self-sufficient. The land was capital. Capital refers to assets that have the potential to produce a return. Instead of working for money, we should be applying our capital to good use and living off the return.

3. We should help everyone obtain capital through entrepreneurship.

Since we’ve squandered our inheritance, we have to earn it back somehow. The opportunity to own capital isn’t going to come from the corporate world or through wealth redistribution. We have to create the opportunities from scratch. We need to band together and help each other succeed as entrepreneurs.

4. You should never let your money work for you, unless you are unable to work. You should work alongside your money.

To expect a financial return on an investment means that you intend to take from the system without contributing. That won’t get us anywhere. We must avoid anything resembling speculation and invest for the dividends, not capital gains.

5. All debt is bad.

Let’s not beat around the bush. Debt is slavery. Perhaps some debt is unavoidable, but it should be avoided whenever possible. And it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have a Jubilee every seven years to cancel existing debts.

6. Equity is the only type of business financing we should use. Alignment should be the goal.

Equity means ownership of productive assets. That’s capital. Ownership is the only structure that can truly create alignment – a condition in which all the parties involved are working toward the same goal. But ownership doesn’t guarantee alignment – just look at the modern corporate structure with detached shareholders.

7. It’s wrong to be either liberal or conservative. We must be both.

This one almost always meets resistance.

The core value of liberalism is compassion, or the divine right of each individual. The core value of conservatism is karma, or the law of the harvest. The two values are at odds with each other, but both are necessary and must function together.

Well, I think that’s enough for now.

Puzzling Over the Kibbutz Conundrum

Link shared by David Richins

One of the economist’s early insights was that joining a kibbutz was a sensible choice even for self-interested individuals—especially the pioneering settlers, for whom the Promised Land was full of unknowns. By banding together with others who pledged mutual support in both good times and bad, kibbutzniks created a form of insurance. Adverse selection, a threat to insurance pools because people who know they’re at high risk are more likely to join, wasn’t a problem then. Most arrivals were much like Abramitzky’s grandparents: not only motivated by ideology, but also too young for anyone to know whether their ability to contribute to the kibbutz was likely to outweigh their needs.

Subsequent generations were a different story. The ideological zeal of people born into a kibbutz was weaker, so practical considerations took over. Kibbutzim saw some attrition, with high-ability individuals more likely to leave. Even so, brain drain would be worse, Abramitzky says, if kibbutzim didn’t make it so costly to exit. No ownership of private property means that “you can take your brain with you, but you can’t take your house or your share of the kibbutz swimming pool.” …

After the financial crisis of the 1980s, however, when kibbutzim found themselves in deep debt, the original model faltered. Kibbutz Negba, for example, went through a 15-year period without a single new member. To cope, many kibbutzim eventually moved away from full equal sharing to something closer to capitalism and taxation. Under the most prevalent model today, members’ salaries are based on what similar jobs would pay on the open market—managers earn more than laborers, for example—with a chunk of income above a certain level going into the common pool. “It’s more equal than the city, but less equal than it used to be,” Abramitzky explains. As a result of similar reforms, Kibbutz Negba nearly doubled its membership.

Read the full article here ->

What does it take for artists to start their own business?

Link shared by David Richins

We believe that we are not on this earth for a long time, so let’s do something valuable with our lives. We believe strongly in community and using local people to put their items in our store–there’s so much talent out there!! Our items are unique (a lot of them are handmade) and reflect local culture and the environment as much as possible. We [also] believe in recycling old items and making them beautiful again. We scour the local auctions and yard sales and pick up furniture or any unique items to put in our store–but we refinish all the furniture first. [We sell] nothing you can go and buy at the local Target or Walmart!!!

Mass production and mass marketing are not for us–although we do advertise. Slow down and look at your own backyard–there is a treasure trove of wonders in the neighborhood and the people around you!! Get out from behind the TV and the computer!! You have to believe in yourself, your workers and your product and you have to stick to that!! And forget about making a lot of money right away–it takes time to make an ideal work. Money should not be a motivating factor in this process. Of course you need to make money to succeed–but it will come. Also–we greatly believe in kindness and goodness–we always treat our customers and vendors with respect and kindness–and we get it in return. In fact we treat EVERYONE this way!!

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The Ascendancy of Passion over Reason

Quote shared by David Richins

“…the more numerous an assembly may be…the greater is known to be the ascendancy of passion over reason…In the ancient republics, where the whole body of people assembled in person, a single orator, or an artful statesman, was generally seen to rule with complete a sway as if a sceptre had been placed in his single hand. On the same principle, the more multitudinous a representative assembly may be rendered, the more it will partake of the infirmities incident to collective meetings of the people. Ignorance will be the dupe of cunning, and passion the slave of sophistry and declamation…The countenance of the government may become more democratic, but the soul that animates it will be more oligarchic.”

~Federalist #58

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