There are positive ways to align our economic activities with our natural environment, and then there are negative ways. A sales tax is one of the negative ways — it reduces consumption in ways that do not create new financial equity. Once Considered Unthinkable, U.S. Sales Tax Gets Fresh Look
Emissions trading will also turn out to be a negative way. It will inspire a whole generation of wonderful people interested in sustainability to become financially dependent on big corporations instead of creating products and services that serve a diversified customer base. It will assert corporate control over this generation of innovation just like, for example, the low income housing tax credit did to a generation of community developers and housing activists. In addition, using corporations, it will create a framework and infrastructure to tax for resource use. How many steps will it be before communities, households and individuals are being taxed for resource use? Want to have a child? How about you pay a tax representing the present value of their future oxygen use. The derivatives market will never be the same.
Of course, we could create positive incentive systems with things like transparency of government money, participatory budgeting, community venture funds (here also) and insisting that government contracting be transparent and competitive and government financial functions be done only by government employees.
If we did those things, however, then everyone could see the opportunities to create living and financial equity in places and the world’s largest financial interests would find it difficult to direct who got the equity centrally.
What is fascinating about the whole situation is that the world’s largest financial institutions would have a bigger pot of gold if we allowed the conversation to become open and transparent — that is how much wealth could be created. Right now we are not watching a recession or depression, rather a strangulation from central control.
So if the problem = the opportunity, how do we transform financial and economic strangulation? Of course, it can be done.
In September, at Financial Permaculture 2009 in Hohenwald, Tennessee, we are going focus more attention on how to map your local financial ecosystem so that we bring transparency and shift things in a wealth creating, decentralizing, out of control manner no matter what.
This is going to be a life changing time. You can learn more and register here
