This is an introduction to an idea - not a detailed epiphany with working examples, yet..
'Cash is King,'
Some optimist believe that cash will always have value, even as the tides of our political economic systems seem to be shifting towards digital currencies. Realist know that money itself only works when people believe in it, so we'll see. Beliefs shift throughout our lives, and it's not improbable that we'll collectively change our habits over time. I'll state my thesis with the basic premise, we should be voting with our dollars. I mean, really voting with our dollars instead of voting for politicians.
What I propose is that everyone with a political interest can draft their tax proposals and present them to the public. Their job would be to educate the public on why their specific idea deserves funding. When it comes time for everyone to pay their taxes, they will receive a list of proposals. The list of competing tax proposals would be implemented based on the funding each item can acquire. Everyone would have a specified percentage of their earnings to decide on what proposals to fund, a percentage amount based on age.
When tax proposals get funding, the impact of those ideas will provide a clue as to whether or not the funding should continue, which tax payers will determine themselves. Capitalism is supposed to improve society by giving service providers the incentive to do better. Maybe people will enjoy paying their taxes if they can get a detailed report of the impacts and goals they're paying into. Reviewing receipts is already a common practice in our society. Shouldn't it be pretty consistent to provide tax payers with information on where their money goes?
Do I recall something about No Taxation Without Representation?
One issue that comes to mind while thinking of this is the Citizen's United style corporate money in politics. It's hard for ideas to compete when large companies can pay exorbitant amounts of money to make sure their ideas are considered number one. Unfortunately, fake numbers and fake news stories do exist. There must be a way to culminate public opinion to a degree that is clear and apparent. The intent of small wealthy groups is limiting society when our collective voice isn’t heard.
If we cannot have an honest society, we cannot have a society at all.
Most of us are just working to survive, which is probably the most realistic conception of what it means to work anyway. Still, mighty empires are built earning residual income from fractional reserve loans. Conversely so many creative and wonderful people offer goods and services to express talents and satisfy needs. The one thing in common all of these different types of people share is a belief in money, whether it be the dollar bill or some other form of exchange.
So what is Democratic Capitalism because so called democracy is obviously threatened by more than just communism. More so than simply voting with our dollars, which requires consumer awareness and transparency, I suggest we use our money as a tool for democracy. I personally believe that taxpayers should be able to decide where their tax money goes. Let every politician get their chance in the spotlight and have the tax payers decide which ideas get funding.
At the end of the day it wouldn't matter who is President, because all politicians would basically be spokespeople for their ideas, and everyone would decide together. Imagine if 'executive orders' were made possible based on the amount of verified taxpayers who donated, validating the order. Implementing this strategy wouldn't really be that difficult with technology. We have a responsibility to consider the highest calling for our technologies. I say this as our world becomes further entrenched in profit motivated algorithms.
The future seems bleak at times, but in obserbing it we discover ways to create better possibilities. Creating a better world is as simple to me as answering this question: "In the so called winners circle what do people do?" Easy. In the Winner's Circle, I'd imagine people are investing in one another's talents and discovering new ways to win together. The thing about promoting common wealth is that nobody needs a lot of money to be a winner. Even a small strike of inspiration can grow into something phenomenal if you continue to feed it.
A lot can happen with a good idea, and anyone can have one, but if all of us put our two cents imagine what we can make together. I might be onto something coining the term, democratic capitalism, but really I don't think this will go anywhere unless some of you share your thoughts in the comments. Should we be fully aware of where our tax dollars go? Let me know why, or why not,
And Share Share Share. Thank you!
This Controversial Thoughts Post was written by Anthony DeLuca of AnthonyJosephDeLuca.com, and donated to be promoted on RhapsodicGlobal.org!