Monopoly on Poverty

Money is the story we tell ourselves to try release potential. The ideological conflict of the last century between Capitalism and Communism was as much about the flow of information as it was about inherent moral goals. Capitalism filters decisions out. Communism centralised decisions. When the world is changing rapidly, money allows decisions about allocating resources to change rapidly as supply and demand changes.

Supply and Demand fails to carry information rapidly, i.e. the market fails, when barriers prevent the free flow of information. At one end, it is why Competition Commissions break up Monopolies. These laws are called 'Anti-Trust' because the price no longer accurately reflects the overall cumulative decisions of everybody. Monopolies have barriers that have gone beyond rewarding them for creativity, and instead allow them to extract wealth. Barriers that don't support a win-win cooperative economy.

The same concept should apply at the other end. When certain groups of people have a monopoly on poverty. Poverty prevents full participation in the economy. It has barriers that prevent people from leaving. It prevents competition from those who don't have the resources to survive. It prevents competition from those who don't have a buffer to experiment. 

Two of the factors that make the US economy as innovative as it is, are its lenient attitude toward Bankruptcy and the wealth it has already created. If you know failure won't destroy you, and you know you can have periods without income because you are building something with a long term perspective, it is far easier to be creative. First rule, survive. Then you can create.

An Unconditional Basic Income is the missing horn of Anti-Trust law. No individual can have sufficient knowledge to understand what we all do together. We all do better when we are all decision makers. When we are all empowered.

Money is blood that connects us. A language we all share even with people with very different aims and belief. If we stop its flow to all the parts of the body, they fall off, and we all suffer. 

Missing Horn