The problem with using my blog is it kind of opens me up. It contains all my personal beliefs, some of which are undoubtedly controversial. At heart, I have known for a long time, I am something of a revolutionary and rebel. Not that anyone would necessary know these days. The name of the blog is no accident. I desperately want a revolution to happen and like most revolutions. I am suggesting a dramatic change to the status quo. I am no fan of the capitalist system. Sure there is no doubt, the modern world is only where it is today because of this dreaded system based on the greed and the pursuit of money. But the cost. OMG, the cost to the natural environment and previous cultures based on co-operation and looking out for your fellow man. This goes completely by the wayside. It is replaced with jealousy and the drive to have more and more money. If you are a business, it is all about the bottom line. How to increase profits and be even more successful. Competition becomes more and more ruthless. In extreme, it becomes downright nasty. Any sense of sharing or cooperation are replaced with distrust and a sense of faking being nice until you make it. Once you have made it. Then you can do whatever you like.
In a place like Indonesia, big business is all about destroying rain forests and converting them into a source of income. Palm oil plantations and increasing forest fires become the norm. You end up replacing the perfection of nature with all of its wonderful diversity of species with something much less appealing. That is if you not so much into making lots of money.
To be fair, what Indonesia is doing to its natural rain forests is the same thing that has already been done in more developed countries such as New Zealand. Land is converted to farming to secure an income and improve the countries GDP by exporting the products that come from farming and other business/industrial endeavours. Indonesia is only playing catch up and there is a lot of rain forest remaining to convert.
It is very easy for someone like be to be sad, disappointed and even angry with the level of destruction going on in rain forests like this right now. I feel it is not right and something needs to be done urgently. But am I prepared to petition my government to pay Indonesia ongoing royalties to preserve its rain forests for future generations. Actually I am, but I do nor believe for one second this petition would stand any degree of success. I would be in Gaga land. All governments in the OECD like New Zealand, Australia, UK, European Union and the US etc have their own issues to sort out first. All OECD governments are elected democratically. To get elected, you need to be able to prove you can keep to a balanced budget. Deficits are o.k., but a surplus is better. And a deficit needs to be paid back with ongoing interest. There is only one way for modern governments to survive the next election cycle. The must have a strong economy and this means strong GDP growth.
Keeping to a balanced budget these days in stagnant global GDP growth is becoming an impossible task due to the increasing costs in health, education and paying government pensions to increasing number of people who have retired and are living much longer. This is all thanks to relatively recent advances in modern medicine. Then there is paying for weather related disasters and in a country like New Zealand. Natural earthquakes in the major category. There is a bottom line and this bottom line is being fiscally responsible. With all these mounting costs and expenses...There is no spare government money to pay for preserving rain forests in developing countries such as Indonesia, parts of Africa and Brazil.
Instead, we will encourage these developing countries, with large rain forests to immediately stop any more rain forest destruction with a sense of moral responsibility. If you think about such arrogance from countries in the OECD. It is kind of rich considering the facts. We have destroyed our own rainforests to become wealthy nations. We now have a problem with other countries that are following in our destructive wake? It all smells like blatant hypocrisy to me.
There is only one logical way to over come such arrogance. This logical way involves using our current way ward capitalist system - at its worst extreme of unfairness. Just like the US and other OECD countries like the US, UK, Japan and European Union (and China) can cheat and print money to exit out of a monetary crisis - so can the United Nations use QE, to cheat our way out of an environmental crisis.
The United Nations is an international body, well aware of what needs to be done to preserve rainforests and endangered species. You simply pay countries like Indonesia and Brazil a generous royalty. With this royalty, there is an incentive to protect natural rain forests for future generations. After all, it is in the best interests of every countries economy and sense of ongoing natural well being.
The revolution I am talking about is breathtakingly simple. In essence there is no need to change from the status quo where central banks print money; to solve a financial crisis associated with the Great Recession.
The only slight tweak is to allow another central bank capable of QE. This central bank is managed by the United Nations. Unlike other central banks, this bank has only one mandate. To help protect and conserve the natural environment and natural ecosystems for the entire planet. This includes endangered species like the Sumatra tiger and rare birds like the hornbill.
You know what I am saying. We all agree it is in everyone best interests to have a global universal reserve currency. The brand new global reserve currency is required to pay for what does need to be done on the planet. And rather urgently. This new currency should be called the UN. The $UN will be managed under the auspices of a global international body that we already have. (Ie the United Nations)
All that is needed for this to occur is a tad of common sense. We all need to have faith in our more inspired leaders to do the right thing in this increasingly technological and modern world. We need to have faith our inspired leaders of the UN will always have the best interests of this wonderful rare planet called Earth. A planet blessed with the full diversity of many different species and life forms. A rare planet of breathtaking natural beauty that is truely awesome.
We owe it to future generations to get our act together to help protect this awesomeness. There is not a moment to waste for this modern revolution to start. Money is not the root of all evil. It is the love of money - over what is more important. It goes without saying. You only get one chance at changing governments priorities at this relative late stage - before the dark side of blatant stupidity of greed and selfishness takes over. The manifestation of such stupidity is becoming all too obvious for anyone with a decent heart. At the end of the day, we are all on this incredible journey together. We all need to work as a combined team to succeed. We need an enhanced sense of pride associated with what it really means to be a good human citizen in these fast changing times. Where almost anything is possible thanks to the wonders of human ingenuity associated with modern technology.
