AUGUST 11, 2023 OPINION SCOOP STEVENS Groundcover contributor In 1913, the U.S. Congress renounced its responsibility to “coin money and regulate its value” with the Federal Reserve Act, which led to the USA becoming a warfare-welfare state. John F. Kennedy attempted to change this state of affairs by reestablishing lawful currency. Unfortunately he was assassinated for his efforts on this, among other issues. Now, the only way to restore American civilization is to follow the principles of economic justice found in Thomas Paine’s “Agrarian Justice.” In “Agrarian Justice,” Paine said the life of a Native American was a holiday compared to the poor in Europe. Christendom’s civilization had provided a good life for some and a wretched existence for others. What caused these disparities of wealth? The modern nation state came into existence after Western Christendom’s Civil War (1618-1648, also known as the Thirty Years War)) and the Peace of Westphalia. This new type of centralization of power and the exploitative economic system that grew out of it produced great disparities of wealth that still plague the world today. The way forward is to decentralize power and empower communities and individuals to have more control over their economic destiny. One of the causes of the Great Depression was workers not having the purchasing power to stimulate economic activity and keep the economy flowing. Therefore the key to having a healthy economy is to make sure that people have money to purchase goods and services. This can be done with a guaranteed consumer income that would benefit low income families and individuals. This will GROUNDCOVER NEWS Why we need guaranteed consumer income empower them to participate more in the economy as consumers and will ensure that there is enough economic activity in case the free market fails to provide it. The funding for a Guaranteed Consumer Income would come from the nonprofit sector. The Johnson Amendment (1954) instituted the nonprofit corporation as a tax shelter for the wealthy. To enjoy this tax exempt privilege a public good must be provided. A truly justice-oriented public good would be the Guaranteed Consumer Income. 7 Barometers of misery — disregarding poverty is perilous, not just callous The canaries in the coal mines of our society are economically disadvantaged people. Their afflictions often do not come from a direct economic catastrophe such as job loss. It’s more a function of living on the fringes, teetering on the edge of sufficiency, being vulnerable to change and distress. Whatever bad thing is coming, they suffer from it first. Left unaddressed, it works its way up the economic ladder. We see it in drug abuse. The crack addiction epidemics of the 1970s were left unchecked, especially in urban areas. They developed into wide-ranging cocaine addictions that plagued the entire country. The opioid addictions of pain-riddled manual laborers in the late 1990s were stoked by the pharmaceutical industries, abetted by doctors, and ignored by our heroin and opioid analgesics then expanded in the 2000s to the more affluent, starting with those who had been prescribed oxycodone following injuries or surgeries. We see it in the housing crisis. The SUSAN BECKETT Publisher emeritus heavily-lobbied and swayed government officials. Addiction treatment, methadone clinics and needle-exchange programs were largely rejected, leading to increased dysfunction and the spread of AIDS and hepatitis. Addiction to the opioid offshoots of shortage of affordable housing was felt first in the 1990s by those who lived in the decaying housing projects that were neither maintained nor replaced with other housing stock. It got worse as rust belt cities faltered and reduced services to the outlying areas inhabited by their less-affluent laborers. Without nearby jobs or public transportation, those who couldn’t move to a more advantageous area fell out of the workforce. Their underfunded schools, populated by students from stressed families, failed. Builders reveled in profits from building giant houses. Today, even well-established people with substantial salaries are struggling to pay rent or enter the housing market. Similar scenarios play out in the prevalence of mental health disorders, economic deterioration, and the societal impacts of privatization. We are seeing it unfold now as robots and artificial intelligence replace workers. It started in factories, is happening now in restaurants and grocery stores, and is encroaching on law, accounting and journalism. We would be wise to pay close attention to what is happening in our economically disadvantaged neighborhoods. Compassion and prudence dictate intercession at the start of crises, developing effective ways to address them and curtailing the misery of all.
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