I am over it.
The COVID thing is done in my mind. There are plenty of medical solutions to this problem. Smart people are working on smart cures, smart ER docs are learning through feedback loops and are increasing the transparency of lessons learned. They are growing their informal international specialist networks. The healers of the world are popping up out of the blue to support those families who have been impacted by this virus.
My heart hurts from spending hours thinking of every single human that has been impacted by this virus. I did the best I could with what I have to help solve the problem, and many compassionate people all over the planet did the same. We have flattened, levelled, planked, jerry-rigged and crushed the curve and this will all be in the rear-view mirror soon.
Sure, there are the usual bad actors trying to cover up and censor solutions, deep seated problems and cures. There will be the inevitable push to a global digital currency. This will look like a good idea on the surface, history will not be kind to the movement. This system will track every purchase we make and ration out our yearly allowance of beer, just like the Chinese RMB and FEC system did in China in 1987. Yes, there is an all-out battle on free speech and censorship going on. Yes, the vast majority of the human population likely believes that it is actually possible to go to one website, fact check source or TV channel to get the truth about cures etc. I cannot help those people. You can’t learn the truth about what has been happening on this planet from an economic perspective over the past 2,000 years overnight.
The regional politicians in the two sub cultures I belong to in Canada and Costa Rica seem to be on it. I see an increase in collaboration, compassion and lessons learned. These are all leading indicators that we are on a positive trajectory for the current health crisis. Go TEAM HUMAN!
What is not on a positive trajectory is the e-CON-o-me
I have had a deep passion on this area for most of my life. Numbers are my thing. I was that dorky freckled red headed girl that begged for a cash register for my birthday before I started school. Oh man… was I stoked when I got it. My world opened up and my pink bedroom on 37 Hoeschen Crescent was now a store complete with price tags, monopoly money and paper bags. I quit my day job as an aspiring Kool-Aid stand entrepreneur the day I got my cash register. I put my aspiring career as a circus performer / cheerleader on hold and opened up my own “fantasy store” in my bedroom. No… not that kind of fantasy store… more of a household goods store. I kept the semi – passive income stream of being a “loan shark” to my older brothers. They were not great at saving. I was pretty good and I definitely charged them high interest rates ( i >= 10%).
No, I am not an Economics professor. I do not belong to any “elite academic club” nor institution. I am just a regular person who has had a burning passion deep insde for the past 5 years of finding humanitarian solutions to economic problems. I have self-funded a 5-year sabbatical to research this. This economic problem we have here is a dooozy.
It is as big of a problem as The Great Depression, World War I and World War II. If we do not solve this problem in a humane humanitarian way, I am deeply afraid it will be the start of World War 3 or worse, the end of the human species on this planet. Yep. Us humans are a flawed bunch and we have done such damage to our incredibly amazing ecosystem. Actually, did the humans do the damage or did the economic model do the damage? I could talk about that for a long time. Anyway…
Right now, we need both interim and long-term solution to these pressing economic problems. Here is my take.
In the short term we need a “modern debt jubilee”. In the long term we need Doughnut Economics
What is a modern debt jubilee? Let’s break this down into parts
Modern – Post COVID World. This is not the same as “new normal”, “safe” or totalitarianism. It is capitalism for the 99%
Debt – If I have to explain this, you are not paying attention. Ask your local hairdresser or friend wearing a tinfoil hat please.
Jubilee – a season of celebration
Professor Steve Keen has devoted years of his life on the question. Here is what he has to say about it.
Is this fair? Probably not.
Will it stop us from heading into a global depression? Probably.
Can I guarantee that? No.
Do I think it is the best chance we have? Yes.
I am 54 years old, own my own home and have worked very hard for 40 years. I have some sort of a retirement account. I am mainly solely responsible for getting myself in the somewhat privileged position I am in. Also, by chance, divine wisdom, luck, whatever you call it, I am also white, female and I was born in Canada. That gives me a huge advantage over 80% of the population. I could have been born in remote Africa and been a victim of child trafficking.
Many outstanding questions need answering such as these:
- What happens to those people who hold interest bearing investments that would in theory incur a loss?
- Would this encourage reckless behavior towards acquiring more (new) debt post jubilee?
- How would this impact physical assets? I don’t really know but it is a good question. The “savvy” real estate investor does not need 20 houses. The new born child in Africa needs food. Lots of work to do on that.
- How would this impact the big banks? I don’t know.. ask Iceland lol. If you don’t get the joke, you have not been paying attention.
- How would it impact the community banks? We walk over to them and give them a big hug and thank them for pushing through amidst a massive push toward centralization in the banking sector. We dedicate 2 years of our life and volunteer to build them up one by one.
- Will property rights be decimated and will property be given to the state? Absolutely not.
I am painfully aware of the amount of damage our current economic model has had on the planet. The amount of needles human and ecosystem suffering this has caused has been immeasurable. It breaks my heart. I am sure there is some Economics prof in some ivory tower somewhere or a Finance Minister that can justify the damage the existing economic model has done. I am almost positive that they have been paid more in the past week than I have in the past year.
The current Economic model lacks ethics and has an army of highly paid bankers, academics and in some cases military armies defending it.
Humans, this is our last chance. We need to unite on this one thing…. A modern debt jubilee. If we don’t well… kiss goodbye your freedom. Energetically support your name on the signature of the death certificate of 100s of people in Africa if you will. I will not be supporting that. We need to come together as one on this modern debt jubilee with passion, organization and skill. We need the eagles, condors and humans in general to unite on this.
Go team human!! ALL OF US.. the 99% of us who want to live in a better world.
MODERN DEBT JUBILEE…. GO!
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.
MBA, PMP, B.Comm (Honours in Computer Science)
Experienced Process Improvement & Project Manager focused on building a new paradigm for future generations and independent analyst on global economy. Canadian, living in Costa Rica.
Email: karenemckenna@protonmail.com
