Skeptic Project

I don't get it.

I want to be safe on a plane but I don't want a TSA guy touching my penis.

OK, that's disingenuous of me to say, because I don't really believe the new TSA procedures make us that much safer, and I guess I wouldn't mind a TSA guy touching my penis if he was hot. Ideally I'd like to have a drink with him first though.

All government information should be transparent, all personal information protected.

That's what I'm getting.

Holy shit, GEI, that site is even loonier than the Zeitgeist Movement.

"Since money is digital, and no longer physical like gold or silver, it means it requires no labor, no energy and no materials to produce; you can produce an unlimited amount of digital money for free"

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What a stupid site.

I don't care. The contact information for the site is a damn hotmail address. Give me a break, dude.

You're not helping your case.

Matt, if you really want to debate the merits of the ideas in that plan we can open up a thread and debate it like men.

I'm throwing down: that plan delivers what an RBE promises without all the woo.

It is not welfare. The dividend is paid to you so that you never need welfare. Unlike welfare, the $20k divided is paid to you regardless of your income. And it is your rightful compensation for your ownership share of the planet. If you believe in modern property rights, you have to believe in the planet being part owned by everyone, otherwise you cannot establish rightful ownership of anything.

When you own a productive asset and that asset pays you a dividend, that dividend is not welfare. It is unearned income just like any other form of unearned income (stock dividend, rent, interest, etc.)

Communism does not recognize private property. It is the exact opposite of communism. You sound like someone who does not have his labels straight. :)

But I don't see the new age connection

You are correct. The planet owes me nothing. Ownership has to do with an obligation between me and you and the rest of the world. It is not about an obligation between me and the planet.

All of our production comes from use of the planet. But if you do not have rightful ownership of the resources you are using, you do not have rightful ownership of what you produced from it.

If you bought a bike from someone who stole that bike, you are not the rightful owner. Your transaction may have been legit, but it is voided because the person who sold it to you did not have legitimate ownership. That is how property rights work.

So following that logic, everything everyone produces today is from resources that at some point was acquired illegitimately. You cannot establish legitimate ownership for anyone for any part of the planet. Because at some point that land was acquired illegitimately.

The only rational resolution to that is to make everyone part owner of the planet. And as part owner, you are entitled to part of the profits it produces. The dividend is your ownership compensation.

GEI, your logic is flawed because you'd have to purchase the land from the original landowners first. Which means you'd need real money.

@The Real Roxette
It does not ban interest on loans. It offers zero interest credit only on investment grade loans (mortgages and credit to people/business who have the cash flow to repay). All other credit would most likely command an interest rate.

@DisordeR
The plan does not advocate fake money. And how do you establish who the original owner of anything was? That's the problem with property rights. You cannot. So the only practical resolution is to make everyone part owner in the planet's resources.

@Matt
Show me what you think is woo! There is nothing woo about having you spend our taxes instead of the government, or about our current automation capabilities or about putting an end to charging a fortune for something that costs as much to produce as an email or about having a transparent society.

Matt, you are getting a bad deal in our current system. If you had a good lawyer, he or she would tell you that. There is nothing goofy about defending your legitimate right as a human being on this planet.