giuwLu uy ureaiung me nnR Detween worK ana income.

giuwLu uy ureaiung me nnR Detween worK ana income.

In our last Op-Ed Demaris seemed to imply that our only choices are between today’s capitalism, and yesterday’s communist economies of Eastern Europe. She reminded us of the environmental nightmares we saw there. Perhaps, now, she will note their abysmal lack of individual freedom. But Demaris failed to respond to the possibility, which I had put forward, of feeling our way toward economic practices not yet known or practiced in the modem world. We have the power to make profound changes which could both remove the environmental danger and strengthen our democracy. All we need to achieve this Sane Economy is the will.

Individual liberties depend upon the degree to which a democracy really is by and for the people. Today corporate power diminishes our democracy. Government seems to be serving mainly corporate interests. By ending profits, Saneism breaks the throttle-hold corporations have on our press, our legislators and our laws. In the Sane Economy we would all have a more or less equal claim on wealth, power and political influence.

When I give talks on Saneism I ask the audience how they would change their lives if they could depend upon a “Citizens Income.” People seldom express a wish to just sleep or lie on the beach. What people seem to dream of is the work they love, rather than the work they do. Their fantasies often relate to human need. “I would help to protect indigenous peoples.” “I would study the problem of hunger throughout the world. In Saneism this same problem-solving impulse would lead many to initiate watch-dog and information-gathering services which will stimulate a more accurate press, a more responsive legislature and a more informed citizenry.

We can thank capitalism for the sophisticated technology we now possess. This technology replaces labor. As the robotics revolution continues, fewer and fewer hands will be needed. This should mean freer and freer people, and in Saneism it would.

Certain kinds of work must still be done, and not all work is lovable. Disasters like 9/11 and Katrina, however, teach us that people love to step in when help is urgently sought even at great hardship and risk to themselves. Saneism will generate many ways to let us know where our work is most critically needed.

I have friends who wish they could move to Rappahannock County. “But,” they ask, “how would I support myself?” In the early 1970s our small commune was deluged with letters from people who longed to join us. “How can I come when I have three kids to get through college.” We do not realize how much the need to support ourselves and our families clips our wings, entrapping many in jobs they hate.

The guaranteed income of Saneism brings with it the freedom to choose our work and to live where and how we please. It gives us freedom to follow our own life rhythms; to study, travel, play; to pursue adventure, sports or a spiritual path. It gives us freedom to live in harmony with nature and in tune with our ethical values.

The one liberty we lose under Saneism is the freedom to amass unlimited wealth. I honestly don’t think I ever had much chance of becoming a multi-millionaire. Do you? The loss of what, for most of us, is a rather illusionary freedom brings with it several welcome new freedoms: freedom from poverty or the fear of poverty, freedom from a culture of smothering materialism, freedom from the endless clamor and deceit of advertising, freedom from resentment at those who have staggeringly more wealth than we do, freedom from guilt at our own affluence compared to the many who are struggling to survive.

Even if today’s capitalism were not endangering us I would happily forgo the freedom to work for money or to seek a fortune in exchange for the rainbow of new freedoms I would realize in the Sane Economy and for the opportunity it would give to each of us to realize our unique abilities preferences and visions.