{"id":22385,"date":"2012-10-29T12:00:19","date_gmt":"2012-10-29T12:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=22385"},"modified":"2012-10-24T15:29:54","modified_gmt":"2012-10-24T14:29:54","slug":"beyond-occupy-a-campaign-to-decentralize-wealth-and-its-associated-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2012\/10\/beyond-occupy-a-campaign-to-decentralize-wealth-and-its-associated-power\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond Occupy: A Campaign to Decentralize Wealth and Its Associated Power"},"content":{"rendered":"

September 17th<\/sup> [2012] was the one-year anniversary of the first Occupy Wall Street protest, which was held in Zuccotti Park in the financial district of New York City.\u00a0 The Occupy movement grew out of the natural rage people felt about the massive transfer of wealth from the public sector to certain people in the private sector during the bailout of the financial industry.\u00a0 The polling at the time of the bailout showed that the vast majority of Americans opposed it, yet those with influence went ahead with it anyway.\u00a0 The EU and the US continue today to use public money to support and protect private finance.<\/p>\n

The economy is continuing to go from bad to worse for most people in the world, and headlines say that analysts \u201coffer grim assessments of the economy\u2019s future.\u201d\u00a0 More and more people are without the basics in life, like a safe place to live, food to eat, utilities, and health care.\u00a0 There will be a point where people say that enough is enough, and will act if they have a positive place to direct their energy.<\/p>\n

According to the Pew Research Center, polling now on the Occupy movement suggests that the American public agrees with its views but not with its approach.\u00a0 This article suggests a different way forward that focuses on taking positive steps to raise economic well being for society generally, by decentralizing wealth and the political influence that goes along with it.<\/p>\n

Occupy uses the slogan \u201cthe only solution is world revolution.\u201d\u00a0 While clearly systemic change is needed, their approach needs tweaking.\u00a0 What are needed for the Occupy impetus to turn into something really meaningful and effective are a clear goal, positive rather than negative energy, and additional tactics.<\/p>\n

Mind the Gap – The Need for a Clear Goal<\/strong><\/p>\n

Capitalism is not \u201cthe name of the problem,\u201d as Occupy suggests.\u00a0 In fact, the problem is too few capitalists, not too many.\u00a0 Capitalists are those who have assets, and everyone in the world needs assets.\u00a0 Rather than the 10% of the people who, according to the United Nations, own 85% percent of the world\u2019s wealth, or \u201ccapital assets,\u201d we need a much more decentralized capital asset profile.\u00a0 To spread the wealth around, the goal should be for many, many more people to have assets – and the way to accomplish this is for people to have an ownership interest in their work, to keep production of basic goods much closer to home, to have a society which does not commercialize public functions, and to place social limits on the unethical accumulation of wealth.<\/p>\n

Concentrated asset ownership is bad for human society as a whole.\u00a0 Surprisingly, though, another Pew Research Center poll shows that there is no consensus in the US that the country is divided into the \u201chaves\u201d and the \u201chave-nots.\u201d\u00a0 The socio-economic division in the US and the world as a whole is perhaps more usefully seen as between the solely-self-interested, and the mutual-interested.\u00a0 The people who society needs most to be concerned about are those who, when their self-interest conflicts with the common or mutual interest, refuse to be public-minded and yield to the common good.\u00a0 Science calls them \u201cfree riders.\u201d\u00a0 As such, the \u201cgap\u201d that needs to be minded is not so much between the haves and the have-nots, but rather between those who operate only in their unyielding self-interest and the public minded.<\/p>\n

Pre-Accumulation Decentralization<\/strong><\/p>\n

Furthermore, the goal should be to decentralize wealth before it is accumulated, rather than after.\u00a0 It is more effective to do so – people don\u2019t much like having their \u201chard-earned money\u201d appropriated by a government.\u00a0\u00a0 Allowing people to keep money they ethically make is a powerful incentive, which was Adam Smith\u2019s big breakthrough in thinking.\u00a0 That is why it makes sense to regulate and incentivize how people accumulate wealth, rather than to tax it after it is accumulated.\u00a0 Whether wealth is spread around before or after it is already in the hands of individuals is the difference between \u201cmutualism\u201d or “sustainable capitalism” and socialism, and it is an important distinction if we want to successfully decentralize the wealth around the world.<\/p>\n

Post-accumulation decentralization or redistribution of assets is the current strategy of socialism, and some tax schemes under capitalism.\u00a0 There are a variety of taxation systems, such as graduated, regressive, etc.\u00a0 The original idea behind taxation is that citizens mutually contribute some of their assets to a \u201cgovernment\u201d to support public services that are used by all.\u00a0 Public services or functions include things like fire and police, healthcare, education, and environmental protection.\u00a0 When wealth is held in the hands of the few, they pay most of the taxes, and the model of taxation as a form of mutuality fails.\u00a0 Taxation as mutual contribution rather than wealth redistribution works better when the wealth is spread around and almost all the people contribute to the community pot to support common, public benefit.<\/p>\n

Distant Ownership, Distant Production<\/strong><\/p>\n

Diffuse or decentralized asset ownership can be accomplished by owning your own work and your own home, among other approaches that will be discussed in more detail below.<\/p>\n

Not that long ago people used to own their own businesses rather than work as employees for others.\u00a0 Families would run a neighborhood bakery, a coffee shop or restaurant, a grocery store, a car repair shop.\u00a0 And goods were produced locally or regionally, rather than being shipped in from far away.\u00a0 These days, people spend their money at businesses which are owned by distant and extremely wealthy owners like Starbucks and Wal-Mart, and the manufacture or creation of basic goods is no longer in close proximity.\u00a0 93% of people are now \u201cemployees.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buy Local, Buy Worker-Owned<\/strong><\/p>\n

Contrary to the current thought that also started with Adam Smith in 1776, human beings actually are not a commodity known as “labor\u201d – they are living, breathing people.\u00a0 To decentralize wealth, those who are currently employees of commercial enterprises should be converted to having an ownership interest in their work.\u00a0 And we need people to start new, worker-owned businesses based on local and regional production.\u00a0 Converting “employees” of commercial enterprises to owners, through cooperatives, stock ownership, or partnerships, will eliminate the current norm that permits only a fraction of the value created by a human being’s work to be returned to him\/her through a wage – while an “owner” takes the marginal value for him\/herself.\u00a0 What is best for human society as a whole is for every human being to get the whole value of the work they do.<\/p>\n

This will be a revolutionary change that will dramatically decentralize wealth.\u00a0 It may also run contrary to the vested interests of the private-sector labor movement (and, obviously, management), the leaders of which have enormous political power.\u00a0 I can\u2019t say labor will like this proposal, but I believe it to be the best way to improve economic well being across the board.<\/p>\n

A Second Industrial Revolution?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Not only is worker-ownership key to decentralization of wealth – along with this goes the concept that basic goods should be produced locally and regionally rather than in a centralized fashion as is the norm today.\u00a0 Commonly seen in many parts of the world in the “buy local” campaigns for fruits and vegetables, decentralized production of basic goods can be usefully expanded to the manufacture of textiles, apparel, footwear, furniture, steel and iron, basic electronics, ecoplastics (an environmental substitute for the plastics and chemical industry), toys and games, energy, and other basic commodities.\u00a0 We need a second industrial revolution, with the focus on decentralized manufacture and creation of goods.\u00a0 The Industrial Revolution in the 1700s in England and then across Europe created a great deal of wealth because manufacturing is a powerful engine of prosperity.\u00a0 Local or regional, worker-owned industries can produce goods for regional consumption, avoiding the need to ship things across the world and providing a diffuse engine of prosperity.\u00a0 The decentralization of the production of basic goods in the world will benefit the environment, broad-based economic development, and security.<\/p>\n

Not All Money is Accumulated Equally<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another factor in the decentralization of wealth is the need to create written and unwritten social rules that shun the unethical accumulation of wealth.\u00a0 Making money isn\u2019t inherently bad, but there are those who acquire their assets by walking all over the interests of others.\u00a0 But since not all wealth is accumulated unethically, the discussion needs to be more nuanced than just to suggest that anyone with money is evil.<\/p>\n

If you make your money without hurting anyone else\u2019s fundamental interests, why should society care? Tactically-speaking, it is better to split the wealthiest between those who act ethically and those who do not, rather than labeling all wealthy people as capitalist pigs.\u00a0 The goal should be to decentralize wealth, not to eliminate it altogether.<\/p>\n

What is considered to be \u201cunethical\u201d accumulation of wealth should be broadly defined to include anything that has “external costs\u201d – external costs being defined as anything which interferes with the satisfaction of fundamental human needs of others.\u00a0 Some examples of unethical accumulation of assets are tobacco and soda – people who accumulate their assets by creating and selling a product which harms people are acting unethically.\u00a0 Tobacco is carcinogenic and addictive.\u00a0 Soda has high fructose corn syrup, caffeine, and carbonation – the phosphorus in which is not meant to be ingested by the human body and makes the gut unable to absorb calcium.\u00a0 Another example of unethical accumulation is making your money through the work of \u201cemployees.\u201d The production of anything that damages the environment has external costs and constitutes an unethical accumulation of wealth.\u00a0 There are many products and services which have external costs under our current socio-economic system.<\/p>\n

A definition of unethical accumulation should include profiting from the performance of public functions like police and fire, education, healthcare, and military.<\/p>\n

Non-commercial Performance of Public Functions<\/strong><\/p>\n

A critical aspect to the decentralization of wealth is whether the performance of public functions includes a \u201cprofit,\u201d which makes them too expensive to afford on a society-wide basis and dramatically lowers levels of public well being.\u00a0 It used to be in the US that public functions were performed on a noncommercial basis, largely by governments.\u00a0 For example, hospitals and health insurance companies used to be not-for-profit corporations.\u00a0 Today still, public functions like police and fire are noncommercial.<\/p>\n

The Reagan and Thatcher years brought a doctrine of “privatization” that changed the face of society in a profound way.\u00a0 Not only were commercial activities to be performed by for-profit entities, but noncommercial activities were as well.\u00a0 Examples include privatizing schools, police, fire, military services, healthcare, and other basic public functions.\u00a0 Privatization as a social operating concept is now so deeply entrenched in the US that popular discussion paints any activity that is performed without a profit incentive as “socialism,” despite the fact that public functions have been performed efficiently without a profit incentive for years in a “capitalistic” society.\u00a0 The axis of discussion turned for political purposes on whether functions are performed by government or by \u201cthe private sector,\u201d when in fact, the proper axis should be whether the activities are performed on a for-profit or not-for-profit basis – regardless of whether they are governmental or non-governmental.<\/p>\n

One of the places where this concept is seen most glaringly is in military contracting and foreign aid programs.\u00a0 For-profit corporations, like Dick Cheney\u2019s Halliburton, are making gobs of money off of government contracts to perform public functions on a commercial basis, like preparing meals for the military or managing foreign aid programs.\u00a0 The US federal budget would be much smaller if \u201cprofit\u201d were eliminated from the performance of public functions, and eliminating profit from healthcare in the US would make it affordable for all.\u00a0\u00a0 There is a strong presence of unyielding self-interest in the commercialization of public functions currently, and the issue should be re-framed to create a social expectation that basic public functions are performed without profit by either governments or non-profit organizations.<\/p>\n

How do for-profit and not-for-profit corporations differ in the US?\u00a0 Non-profit business doesn\u2019t pay tax to governments like other business because they are performing a public function.\u00a0 People get paid a salary to work for the organization rather than taking the \u201cprofit\u201d out of the business and paying it to the \u201cowners.\u201d\u00a0 The tax code limits nonprofit salaries to those which are \u201creasonable,\u201d a question of fact for a judge.\u00a0 Nonprofit salaries of USD$500,000 per year have been upheld as reasonable.<\/p>\n

It begs the question, what is the role of government?\u00a0 It should be to help its citizens to satisfy their fundamental human needs.\u00a0 If not this, then why do they exist?\u00a0 People should expect governments to help individuals to be self-sufficient when they need it.\u00a0 Government should not favor some citizens over others in its policies and should be expected to treat all people in a similar fashion without favoring those with exceptional wealth.<\/p>\n

In sum, a clear goal, which Occupy was criticized for lacking, is foundational to a strong and effective social change movement.\u00a0 Pre-accumulation decentralization of wealth is one such clear goal.\u00a0 In addition, the movement can benefit from transforming its negative approach to a positive one and adding to its tactics.<\/p>\n

The Need for a Positive Approach <\/strong><\/p>\n

Successful social change movements are based on a positive rather than on a negative energy.\u00a0 From a tactical perspective, it is much more productive to be \u201cfor\u201d what you want rather than \u201cagainst\u201d what you don\u2019t like.<\/p>\n

The peace symbol during the 60\u2019s was a clear, simple symbol of a positive goal, one that anyone could recognize instantly.\u00a0 Massive cultural change occurred across the world as a result of the positive efforts made during this period.\u00a0 Clearly what is needed again is a cultural revolution across the world to change systemic aspects of human society, but an \u201canti\u201d revolution isn\u2019t going to produce the desired result.\u00a0 I urge people to focus their energy on what they would like the end result to look like.<\/p>\n

Social Change Tactics 2.0 – The Power of Money<\/strong><\/p>\n

The cultural revolution that took place across the world in the 1960s changed the relationship between state and society by being able to limit government militarism as never before.\u00a0 There is again a profound desire across the world for social change, and it is time again for a major shift – where those who are the state do the bidding of general society rather than the other way around.<\/p>\n

The protests that worked so well to turn the tide in the Vietnam era don\u2019t work as well now because states have learned how to counteract them effectively, and we need to go to social change tactics 2.0.\u00a0 The rollout of massive counterforce, where those in authority essentially go on a war-footing, has intimidated most citizens into not turning out for public demonstrations.\u00a0 During this year\u2019s May Day protests in Oakland, for example, the \u201cpublic safety\u201d turnout was staggering.\u00a0 One could have imagined there had been a national emergency of epic proportions, from the looks of the mobilization.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not to stay that public marches are completely useless, just that they should be limited to short durations during daylight hours and perhaps use flash-mobs.\u00a0 The most important social change tool should be how people spend their money.\u00a0 Using the power of money will bring about the desired social change – not exactly a boycott, which urges the withdrawal of consumer spending, but rather a redirection of consumer spending to businesses that are worker-owned and producing their goods locally and regionally.<\/p>\n

Use the power of money.\u00a0 Boycotts have been pivotal social change tactics in many actions, including getting out from under apartheid in South Africa and the civil rights movement in the US.\u00a0 The most significant social action people who care about decentralizing wealth can take is to spend your money at businesses which are worker-owned, and producing locally and regionally.\u00a0 Every day we wake up and give our money to corporations that centralize asset ownership.\u00a0 Re-directing how we spend our money can powerfully bring out the needed social change, and no one has to risk being beaten with a police baton.<\/p>\n

Decision-making in the world today is concentrated in the hands of a few who make choices that affect the vast majority.\u00a0 It is critical to general human well being that people participate in the decisions that affect their lives, and that their fundamental human needs be satisfied.\u00a0 Even a “majority rule” model –\u00a0 – where 50% of the population is said to “vote” – leaves half the population with unmet concerns or basic needs.\u00a0 100% of the people in the world matter.\u00a0 The way to decentralize political participation is by going around elected officials and voting with your money.<\/p>\n

While the old adage was Vote with your Feet, we can now add to that, Vote with Your Money.<\/p>\n

Reduce the Influence of International Commercial Finance<\/strong><\/p>\n

A final note is that it is really important to reduce the disproportionate influence of international finance in human society by depositing your money in not-for-profit banks and expecting capital for public functions to be provided on a noncommercial basis.\u00a0 These huge international banks \u2013 nine of which hold the vast majority of the individual deposits of the world\u2019s population – do seem to be running the world, and it is not good for human society for money to be concentrated in a few commercial banks.<\/p>\n

A Cultural Revolution or \u201cGlobal Spring\u201d – Toward Mutualism or Sustainable Capitalism<\/strong><\/p>\n

The energy behind the Arab Spring, Occupy, and many other social change movements like the \u201cbuy local\u201d campaigns and environmental awareness-raising could be combined into a Global Spring movement to raise levels of wellbeing in human society across the world.\u00a0 This is what \u201cmutualism\u201d or \u201csustainable capitalism\u201d is – decentralized wealth and decentralization of the political influence that goes with it.<\/p>\n

______________________<\/p>\n

Elizabeth Barrett is a public international lawyer and mediator based in San Francisco.\u00a0 You can find her online at theglobalspring.org.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

September 17th [2012] was the one-year anniversary of the first Occupy Wall Street protest, which was held in Zuccotti Park in the financial district of New York City. The Occupy movement grew out of the natural rage people felt about the massive transfer of wealth from the public sector to certain people in the private sector during the bailout of the financial industry. The goal should be to decentralize wealth before it is accumulated, rather than after. Contrary to the current thought that also started with Adam Smith in 1776, human beings actually are not a commodity known as “labor\u201d – they are living, breathing people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-in-focus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22385\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}