Evolution and the debt crisis; Is it time to adapt?

(FWC press release for UK and Irish media, June 2012)

How are we going to resolve the global debt crisis and restore economic stability and growth? It seems like everyone has an opinion on this question, but so far, no-one has been able to offer a credible, universally-accepted solution to put our financial 'humpty-dumpty' back together again. We have the world's best minds working on the problem, yet the only solution they have come up with so far is to just print more money - and you don't need a degree in economics to know how unsustainable or even perilous an idea that is.

Maybe the reason we can't find a solution is that we’re just not asking the right questions. So says Colin Turner, founder of The Free World Charter, an online philanthropic group, who believes that the solutions to our economic problems require an entirely different approach – and what you'd least expect!

Colin explains:
“We are constantly seeking economic stability and growth, but have we ever stopped to think that maybe this just isn't feasible any more? Besides, isn’t the ecological cost of living ultimately more important than the economic one? I think it's high time for us humans to start asking ourselves some tough, basic questions. For example, what do we, as a species, want? What do we, as biological organisms, need? If we answer these questions honestly, you’ll find that most people agree on the same basic answer: We want to live happy, healthy and fulfilling lives in a world that is fair and sustainable for our children to enjoy. It sounds simple, but the truth is, our own economic system is actually now standing in the way of this. We are systematically harming our planet and each other in an evermore difficult pursuit of profit. Money now creates far more problems than it solves, and has become a virus on our species, determined to perpetuate itself at the expense of our survival and progress.

“I believe it is time for humanity to evolve; to rise above the limits of money, trade and borders. We have the technology now to create a super-efficient hi-tech and abundant society, with all of us working together, connected, for each other, if we choose it.

“It's time for the next chapter in human existence. It’s time to make everything free!”

The Free World Charter (FWC) is a set of ten principles that define the parameters of just such a new, advanced society that is centered in nature, uses no money, trade or borders, and declares the freedom of Earth and all its natural resources as the birthright of every living thing.

The FWC introduction video entitled Let's make everything free has gone viral on the Internet, and has been translated into 22 languages. The associated website has so far collected signatories from 24,000 people from all over the world, and is growing rapidly.

Colin continues,
“Making everything free sounds outrageous, but really it’s the only sane, logical way to proceed. What we are doing now is outrageous. Just stop and think about our world today: Because of money, we have wars, poverty, greed, corruption, inequality and injustice; our air, rivers, lands and seas are poisoned; we can't afford good healthcare or schools. Most of us in the developed world are hard-pressed to make ends meet, we work in jobs that we hate or don't get paid enough for, or we are unemployed, homeless and on the periphery of society.

“While life may be difficult for us in the developed world, remember, it is literally impossible for many millions of people every year in developing nations. We have 30,000 children dying every day in the world from hunger and diseases, even though we have the food and the cures to prevent it! How on Earth did we come to accept this as normal? Our beautiful, unique world has become an acutely hostile place to live.”

Colin also highlights the effects of profiteering on the environment:
“Manufacturing companies need a constant turnover of products in order to be profitable. It just doesn't make financial sense to build products to last. It is better for business to keep producing disposable or sub-standard goods, despite the pollution and waste of natural resources which this causes. Many companies spend millions on advertising every year 'creating a market' for unnecessary products to justify manufacturing for profit. This is not just polluting and wasteful, but has also created a culture of consumerism and a dangerous illusion of 'limitless' growth - an illusion that is slowly, yet literally, poisoning us.”

According to Colin, even these important ideological and ethical questions over our use of money are still only half the story:

“There is a much deeper, underlying cause of our economic problems that is never going to be solved: We are running out of jobs! Human beings are being rendered more and more obsolete in the workplace. Our increasing global unemployment has nothing to do with incompetent governments, bad planning or bad law. It is merely the ascent of technology, and it's going to continuously increase. With the gradual demise of human manufacturing from the 1970s onward, people were always able to find new jobs in the service sector. Now, machines are taking those jobs as well.

“Technological unemployment is the root cause of our financial meltdown and gargantuan public debts. It is also the biggest contributing factor to the likes of the 'Arab Spring', the Egyptian and Libyan uprisings, the impending Syrian disaster and The Occupy Movement. These are not localized, religious or cultural issues; This is mass unemployment, caused ultimately by technology. Common people have little or no money because of this.

“Now in addition to that, by the year 2050, we expect the world population to be around 10 billion people. There is simply no way there will be enough jobs to sustain everyone economically in a monetary future!

“We must remember that our current systems of monetary, social, ideological and border divisions are completely imaginary. They only exist in our minds, not in reality, and are clearly not working now for us or our planet. The FWC principles would dissolve these imaginary barriers with just a few basic observations of mutual respect for each other and our planetary home. Once we free ourselves of these limits, the true potential of humanity to cooperate and innovate can be realised.”

Colin concludes,
“The surprising thing is that adopting the charter and creating a truly free world is relatively easy once we take the leap! We tend to forget that we humans are a social species. We want to live together. We want to work together. We want to help each other. All we have to do is to declare to ourselves and each other that all of humanity - and indeed all species - are one family, one community, working together for the combined common good...and dependent on each other for survival and well-being. We need to see the world as one home, for one tribe: All of life itself.

“There is no debt crisis. Money is fiction. The world in which we live has changed dramatically, but we aren't adapting. It's time now for us to evolve.”

This press release can be downloaded from:
http://www.freeworldcharter.org/files/Evolution_and_the_debt_crisis.pdf

NOTES TO EDITORS

The Free World Charter was founded in 2011 by Dublin-born web designer and musician Colin Turner. Colin, a 43-year old freelance designer and former entrepreneur, set up the site in 2011, inspired by other similar online movements like The Zeitgeist Movement and The Venus Project. His six-minute video Let's make everything free – an introduction to The Free World Charter has received almost 250,000 views on Youtube and has so far been translated, narrated and subtitled in 22 languages. To read the Charter’s ten principles, or for more information, please visit www.freeworldcharter.org, email admin@freeworldcharter.org. Images and other source content are also available at: www.freeworldcharter.org/files.