If there is a silver lining tothe current coronavirus pandemic, it is that it has exposed fundamentalweaknesses in the current capitalist free-market economic system that most ofus have taken for granted our entire lives. People in low-wage service jobs, food-serviceworkers, education support personnel, private tutors and instructors and otherswith jobs that frequently bring them into contact with the general public havebeen hit especially hard as restaurants, lounges, schools and even librarieshave been shut down for the duration.

It has gotten to the point thateven politically and fiscally conservative leaders, who typically expect mostof the people they claim to represent to fend for themselves, are actuallyproposing massive programs of direct financial aid. The Trump Administrationand Republican lawmakers have been working on a $2 trillion dollar stimulus package that for once, doesnt consist strictlyof bailouts for big business and industry (although that is certainly part ofit).

Other governments around theworld are following suit in one way or another. For example, the U.K. government recently announced that it will be paying 80 percent ofworker salaries up to 2500 per month($2900 USD) for 12 weeks, while offering tax breaks and interest-free loans forbusinesses. Across the Channel, France is preparing to nationalize several industries while suspendingtax, rent, and utility payments for small companies.

The problem is that we, as aglobal society with a tightly interconnected economic system, are enteringuncharted territory. That economic system is largely based on two fundamentalthings:

If there was ever a time to thinkoutside the box, it is now. Governments immediate solution is to throw moneyat the problem in one way or another cash payments, low interest rates,subsidized loans or grants, etc. In the short term, this is indeed necessaryfor the majority of people who have been left behind by capitalisms uncheckedexpansion over the past four decades, as well as small businesses andentrepreneurs who lack the resources of global corporations to weather suchstorms.

Such actions, howeverwell-intentioned, essentially treat the symptoms while ignoring the underlyingdisease. Biologically, coronavirus is most dangerous to those who have otherhealth problems, such as compromised immune function. Economically, it appearsto have a similar effect on unhealthy financial systems.

Would the type of socialismpromulgated by Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders save us? For awhile, itcould but like government stimulus programs, it would be a stopgap solution.The problem here is that socialism is not always conducive to the type ofinnovations that can benefit society and help us leap forward.

The idea that people shouldreceive free anything including housing, food, health care and education isanathema to those who espouse unbridled, free market capitalism. Yet, lack ofthese basic survival needs, or even the threat of losing them, is at the rootof virtually every problem society suffers today. People can live without jetskis or the latest and greatest smart phones. They cannot live without food,clean water, shelter and medical care when needed. Without some degree ofeducation, they cannot truly be productive members of society. Yet, the currentcapitalist system demands that all of these things be commodified and makeprofits for someone. Meanwhile, those who provide housing, food and health careare under pressure themselves, having to pay for labor, raw materials, taxesand legal costs.

To suggest that all of thesethings should be free may evoke hard resistance from supporters of the freemarket capitalist system, yet the poverty that results from a lack of basicneeds creates crime, disease (mental and physical), environmental degradationand more adding hugely to the cost of running a society. Perversely, themoney that is spent addressing these problems is considered part of a nationsGross Domestic Product (GDP). Ergo, someone who contracts cancer from livingnear a factory producing toxic waste actually contributes to the GDP when they(or someone else) pays for their treatment. Law enforcement officers who mustgo after criminals become part of the GDP as well when they receive theirpaychecks. Couples who divorce over economic issues contribute to the GDP whenthey hire lawyers and pay court fees.

These are hardly ways to makesociety and the world a better place. Is there a better way? Some visionariesbelieve so and are working to bring it about.

These visionaries recognize thata major part of the problem with our current capitalist system is notcapitalism itself, but rather the way the exchange of goods and services arefacilitated i.e., money, or currency. Whether it is tangible cash, an amountrecorded in a bank ledger or other account, or invested in securities, moneycan be transferred easily. That is a definite advantage, but there aredownsides; money can be lost, stolen, taxed away (directly and indirectly),devalued and manipulated, and withheld when someone is prevented from earningor receiving it as is happening today as a result of the coronaviruspandemic. The consequences can be devastating.

The idea of barter comes to manypeoples minds, but there are reasons that money has largely replaced thetrading of livestock, handicrafts, produce, etc. Unless people have manydifferent skills and abilities in the production of things that others need, orare able to offer a wide range of services, the barter system is unlikely tosolve the problems of poverty and inequality. Barter also involves materialthings that can be lost, stolen or destroyed (and even taxed, as many have discovered).

Imagine an alternative:

Such innovations are alreadyunderway, and have been for some time. They are being made possible by rapidadvances in communications technology. And now that growing numbers of workingpeople have suddenly found themselves with a great amount of downtime, theyare starting to reach out to neighbors and their local communities, where suchinnovations usually get started because no amount of technology can replacethe human factor.

That human factor particularlyin the light of multiple (and even conflicting) points of view is where greatideas come from.

Dr. Albert Einstein reportedlysaid, Imagination is more important than Knowledge. In light of Dr. AbrahamMaslows famous Hierarchy of Needs (a review and explanation for theuninitiated is available here), imaginewhat humans might achieve if they were liberated from the need to earn aliving, but were still expected and motivated to strive for more by simplymaking choices and acting in ways that serve the greater good.

We all see it happening now, withthe popularity of humanely raised eggs, poultry and meat, recycling andrepurposing, reducing ones ecological footprint, roadside miniature lendinglibraries, community tool and vehicle share programs and more. In Portland,Oregon, homeowners are being offered incentives to provide shelters for homeless people on their property.Some small businesses specialize in the manufacture of new products fromexisting and/or previously used components. Entrepreneurial individuals are creating solutions for environmental problems.

Admittedly, so-called Utopian societies have failed in the past. Asfloundering and corrupt as American capitalism has gotten over the past fourdecades, it has not yet become the total and abject failure that was the lateU.S.S.R.s Socialist Workers State. Western capitalism is nonetheless a verylarge, unwieldy vessel sailing at a high rate of speed one that needs tochange its course fairly soon, if it is to survive.

As the Captain Edward Smith ofthe R.M.S. Titanic discovered too late, such sudden course changes aredifficult at best.

Perhaps what needs to be changedis not so much the system itself, but rather the means of exchange. Such changeneeds to be carried out in such a way that nobody goes homeless, hungry,without medical and dental care, and has access to education in any field. Atthe same time, the new system must encourage industry and innovation whilerespecting private property rights. Nothing would be confiscatory orredistributive, nor would taxes be assessed.

It sounds almost like BernieSanders Meets Ayn Rand. This has been one of the primary issues in recentelections: do we want or need the State to own and operate everything,distributing to each according to their needs while taxing from each,according to their abilities? Or do we want to do away with government andregulation altogether, and allow individuals and organizations to become aswealthy and powerful as possible, regardless of any harm in done the process?

What if a society could have thebest of both? What if one fed the other? What if, through Bernie-stylesocialist programs, more people were unleashed from having to have jobssimply to pay the bills in order to survive, and instead were free to pursuetheir passions, such as science, research, technology, engineering andinvention as well culture, humanities and the arts? Can one imagine the newRenaissance that might come about?

Such a system has the potential of generating wealth and well-being in aprivate, free-market system beyond Rands wildest dreams.

You dont have to look very far back in history to find examples. Would theworld have had the genius of Leonardo da Vinci without the patronage of theMedicis? Would we have heard the music of Franz Josef Haydn without PrinceEsterhazy?

Now, multiply those two examples by a few billion.

Would everyone throw themselvesinto their passions? No. Many may not even know what their passions are. Forthem, there are educational opportunities (which would bring their ownrewards), or they may decide to sit on the beach all day and as long as theydo no harm, thats fine. If they ever want something more, theyll find ways tomake the world a better place.

If not at least they wont go hungry and homeless. But really, earning thatsomething more would not be difficult under such a system. In fact, it wouldbe more difficult not to contribute in some way.

If the 1933 Harold Arlen YipHarburg song Paper Moon comesto mind, youre not alone. Indeed, some skepticism is warranted. Nonetheless,two communities, one in California and the other in Oregon, have been testingout such a comprehensive economic system, with considerable success. A devotedgroup in Portland has been considering such a system for at least four years,and it has generated significant attention around the world.

This groups website recentlycame online, where one can go to learn more about this alternative economicsystem in which there are no losers, and winners victories do not come at theexpense of someone else. Under such a system, disparities of wealth willcertainly still exist, but the kind of grinding poverty that causes hunger,disease, crime and other problems will not. Meanwhile, the barriers to peoplewho want to accumulate more will have been largely erased; there will truly beequal access to opportunity and tools to improve ones material lot in life forthose who choose to do so. Greed will still exist, but it will be harnessed and channeled intopositive outcomes for everyone.

Now that so many of us are underlockdown or quarantine and are starting to clearly see the problems that existin the current system, it is as good a time as ever to consider alternatives.

Learn more here.

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Can The Coronavirus Potentially Lead To A More Humane And Effective Form Of Capitalism? - The Ring of Fire Network - The Ring of Fire Network