25 May 2014
I'm a proponent of long term and short term goals.  The long term goal is to change the status quo of humanity from depending on a 'necessary evil' to recognizing property rights (starting with self ownership), understanding what wealth really is, what liberty is all about, and what all three of these things have to do with life.  In addition it is imperative for people to understand one thing going into such a process:  Everyone's core of liberty is the same; the acquisition of that which sustains their lives; and the only thing that is different are the pursuits in which we do this and improve upon its quality.

 

First things first, we have to understand what liberty is.  Once again, liberty is about the acquisition of those goods, services, and ideas which sustain and or improve the quality of life.  What do these goods, services, and ideas do to sustain life?  All goods, services, and ideas satisfy one or more of the four basic necessities of life. These necessities are sustenance, shelter, security, and happiness.  The core of everyone's liberty is comprised of the first three and the differences on the outside of the core are how people choose to acquire those first three.  The real addition of style, flare, and uniqueness is attributed to each individuals separate pursuit of happiness.

 

It's pretty simple to understand liberty.  There really isn't that much to it.  It's the details that require a little more silent pondering to understand.  So let's start with wealth.  Wealth is divided up into two separate categories.  The first is real wealth and the second is artificial wealth.

 

Real wealth is any good, service, or idea that can be used/consumed to directly satisfy one or more of the four basics of life; sustenance, shelter, security, and happiness.  Anything capable of doing this is real wealth in the sense that it is necessary and capable of sustaining and or improving the quality of the individual's life.  Money is wealth too but it cannot directly satisfy any of the four basics; unless the sheer acquisition of it brings happiness.

 

Artificial wealth is any good or service that does not satisfy directly through use/consumption any of the four basics of life, but is only useful in the exchange for goods, services, and ideas that can.  Fiat currencies easily created that don't directly satisfy any of the basics are artificial wealth.  All artificial wealth is money and all real wealth has the potential to be money, pending the general sentiment of any community perception of a good or service's wide acceptance for other kinds of real wealth.

 

It is through the acquisition of wealth, first real and then over time artificial, that we sustained and improved the quality of our lives, of humanity.  Wealth is important and should never be dismissed as evil or filthy or anything derogatory; and that goes for money too!  Without it we wouldn't exist as we are today.  With this being understood it is also imperative that we understand where wealth comes from.  This is where so many people get lost, frustrated, and begin to think that wealth is finite!  I will prove that it doesn't have to be!

 

The idea of wealth is created first by the desire to satisfy one or more of the basics of life.  Secondly, wealth is produced by refining the three natural resources of all individuals.  Arguably these three natural resources are infinite pending the right refinement of them to create immortality.  (Bear with me and hopefully you'll understand as you read further along!)

 

These three natural resources are time, intellect, and labor.  We all have time and it could be infinite as we collectively learn more about the universe we are a part of.  Intellect, it is what we use before we engage in any actions.  Labor is all about putting into action the ideas we have to satisfy physically the basics of our lives.

 

When we refine these three resources we typically create something that is useful in satisfying one or more of our lives basic necessities.  When we perceive the concept to gather berries to eat we are creating an idea that is valuable.  In doing so, we have created wealth in the form of berries because the berries are useful in the satisfaction of our needs for sustenance.  In this process we have actually created two different kinds of wealth.  The first is the idea that can be shared with others and the second is the berries.

 

The idea can be traded for other information or it can be given away.  Either way the idea if exchanged or freely given away will promote the sustainability of other lives capable, but not certain, of producing additional ideas of wealth to trade; and of others' refinement of their natural resources into wealth to be traded or consumed.

 

Now if the berries are plentiful, the individual with the idea to collect the berries can collect additional berries to exchange with others for goods, services, and ideas deemed valuable for his maintenance and improvement of his life.  When the individual is currently satisfied he will have time to pursue other endeavors such as shelter, security, or happiness.  If those are satisfied currently and he is clever he may perceive that the berries are finite and should be monitored.  He may conceive that some new berry bushes ought to be planted and thus creates a farm.  (In the process he may have to figure out how to create new berry bushes and thus is innovative in creating additional ideas of wealth ultimately helping the humanity as a whole!)

 

The farm this individual creates is an evolution of the idea of harvesting berries.  This evolution is centered-around the individual's understanding that his future needs for sustenance will likely exist.  So he plants additional berry bushes each season.  By doing this the individual is freeing up additional time in the future that he can spend thinking of other ways to better sustain his life or improve its quality.  Again, if the individual is clever he may create so many berry bushes depending on the demand for his berries that he requires the basic labors of others.  He can create jobs that don't require the same level of intellect he needed to mastermind his farm.  And that helps others who may not be as innovative as he is!

 

This is how we came to be where we are today technologically and prosperity wise.  We enjoy a quality of life that has been built upon the successful refinement of our ancestors' natural resources.  These exponentially increasing products of the refinement of our time, intellects, and labors created wealth; the wealth we need to sustain and improve the quality of our lives and of humanity!  It is capitalism by means of producing that which is necessary to sustain and improve the quality of life beyond that which we only need today.  It is looking to the future and taking risks for potential profits which will result in more than the sustenance of life.  It results in the improvement of life's quality!

 

So in time bartering with just any kind of real wealth for real wealth became a hassle.  Someone had the idea to trade something that would be more widely accepted because of its usefulness.  Wheat, whiskey, and tobacco are all examples of goods that have a fair sustainability and are very versatile and desirable in their consumption; and make for great forms of money.  This is aided by the fact that these things are relatively easy to make and easily regulated by market forces through both their rates of creation and consumption; through supply and demand!

 

Ultimately precious metals, such as gold, which are long lasting, more finite, and highly desirable due to various aesthetic reasons and modern technological reasons, became money.  This is where wealth comes from and it is something we need to continue to sustain and improve the quality of life today.  So liberty is all about the acquisition of wealth to both sustain and improve the quality of life; ultimately to pursue happiness as we each perceive it.

 

However, this brings up some unfortunate ideas about certain means of acquisition.  "Liberty for all" is an idea that we strive to ensure through rule of law.  Sadly, it is folly to encourage specific behavior by coercive means, by threats of violence for noncompliance.  Many people believe that setting people free against their will is necessary; to force people into freedom because it is "for their own good!"

 

Such logic is folly at best and at worst designed to initiate hatred and resistance; likely for the purpose of crafting a conflict so another entity can intervene and claim leadership and authority by acting the part of a peacemaker.  The truth is that we all have the ability to make choices.  Sometimes these are done well and others times…not so much.

 

To lay out an argument for why something should be done a specific way or should not be done a specific way is to use reason in place of coercion.  While reasoning with others it is inevitable that some may take offense where none is intended.  The worst that should ever happen when using reason is the possible result of injury to pride.  That is to be much celebrated over the likely result of coercion where physical harm or death is the result.

 

Those later results are what laying out logically thought out arguments tries to avoid as much as possible.  The skilled critically thinking individual knows that the more minds there exist the greater the potential for problem solving ideas there is; thus reasoning with others is far preferable than the law of nature, 'Might makes right' or survival of the physically fittest.

 

Since more minds allowed to exist free of unwarranted coercion have the potential to foster more innovative ideas than the minds of dead people or just individuals fearing violence, pain, suffering, and despair at the hands of others seeking to acquire real wealth, humanity is offered a greater chance to survive that which it doesn't understand; to survive nature on earth and beyond it.  And here it is where we come to recognize one persistent idea that is seemingly synonymous with those who seek authority over others.

 

The pie of finite wealth is one that is baked in an oven of heated coercion and ignorance; either intentional or innocent ignorance but ignorance just the same. As everyone is gifted with three natural resources, everyone has the potential to create wealth of some kind.  How adept each individual is at doing so is dependent on how well they learn to think critically.  Should we ever come across an idea that is similar to the food replicators in the Star Trek universe then we might be able to free up so much time spent in acquiring sustenance that the minds those pursuing such can be focused on other endeavors that can yield greater advances in the evolution of humanity's quality of life.

 

To expand on this idea consider the remarkable super human feats of many popular comic book heroes and villains.  We all know who Superman is.  He is incredibly strong and fast.  He could easily do the work of an entire mail sorting room for a company such as Amazon.  While he would undoubtedly put a lot of people out of work, he would save the company a tremendous amount of money pending his negotiated terms of service.  That has the potential to lower the prices of goods sold on by Amazon.

 

The great superhuman villains could use their abilities to create wealth to trade with humans and profit greatly from it.  While it is undoubtedly easier to just smash a few humans and take their stuff it creates unnecessary struggle through eventual resistance.

 

For the average human seeking to take instead of make the choice may seem less clear.  In reality it can be just as clear if the time is taken to understand it.  So do we have to make others bleed for their mistakes or convince them that they are making mistakes?

 

Unfortunately because of free will and the instinct to protect pride both may be necessary pending the actions of each individual interaction.  Here it is necessary to perceive a way to the individual through logic first and then action second.  How quickly this must be done will be dependent again on each individual situation; thus the idea of nonaggression is perfect for this challenge.  If violent hostilities, intellectual or physical, are initiated against an individual outside the realm of self defense then retaliation is acceptable up to and including the consideration of the aggressor's right to life being forfeit.

 

That's very harsh but the universal practice of nonaggression, akin to that of carrying arms, is and will continue to undoubtedly be the cause of occasional loss of life, and is much to be regretted.  On the other hand, this custom renders altercations and quarrels of very rare occurrence, for people are naturally careful what they say and do when another may find their right to life forfeit.

 

-JLD

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