A sensible Letter

Just not happy that the misery is keep in the hands of the poor and disadvantaged – more than happy if the misery is spread around more.

Disposable income is talked of often mainly by those that have some, you don’t hear the lowly paid talking about that very much – they/ we have none.

IVV – Such a solution requires careful planning and a long transition but under such a system Even Bob Jones (so can everyone else) can have far more than he does now, poverty is no more, and neither are about 80% of crimes commited   

Richard – not once you come to the realization that money is essentially a barrier (or extra step in the process) to being able to get goods or services. I don’t mean to oversimplify this example but as it has just happened to me it is in some ways a good one. I have twenty pumpkins from a very productive patch of garden which is great. The problem is we will only use 2 or 3 at most leaving 17-18 pumpkins that will end up rotting. You may not have grown any but would welcome them. Under the current system because I need to pay for goods and services the system sort of says we should agree a price and I should then sell them to you. To pay for them you have to work and earn money.
There is an alternative in that I can just give them too you. After all you need (or want) them,  I don’t.
This can be applied to everything and if one can obtain anything (within reason.. nukes are still a no go) one needs,  simply because they have a need for it and the system (through things like automation and 3D printing) can provide it then no one needs to take anything from anyone by force. After all they can simply get what they need from the system. This frees people from the bonds of labour to earn money as required under the current system. The key is in understanding what is important to everyone and ensuring that society is structured in a way that enables this. As I said earlier it is a quantum shift from where we are now but one that is possible. very possible in fact. And such a shift would mean that people are freed from the system. It would be up to society through true democracy to determine what is important as far as the use of resources. It would also need to have as you eluded to earlier common law as the underlying basis where one is free to do as one pleases so long as they do not impact on anyone else. But this would be real freedom. If you think you are free now, do something as simple as stop paying your rates  and see what the system does….                 

Polishpride, the problem with your Utopia is that once everything is automated, how does society further progress? People would still need to come up with new innovative ideas, but why would they bother? What is the advantage to them? Knowledge would quickly be lost as there is no incentive to stay in education, so who would maintain the equipment?

I don’t have the answers, but I can tell you that, from 2min of thinking about it, your idea is even more flawed than the system we currently have.

More thoughts, if we didn’t have to work, would everyone move to the beaches? Wouldn’t that cause discontent umongst those that live in their nice quiet piece of the world? Where does new power come from as the population continues to grow? How do you automate agriculture?

Karlos – good question and a very valid one to ask. I need to be clear on this though, Its not Utopia  Things will still require human hands so to speak.  The problem is that it is hard to explain every facet of this on a blog. 
As far as how we continue to progress. There will still be problems to solve. So some will choose to work on those. Throughout history the greatest advances have been made not because of profit but because of the passion of the individual. examples of this are 
Leonardo Davincii
The Wright Brothers 
Nikolai Tesla
Viktor Schauberger
Madame Curie
Benjamin Franklin
Henry Ford
Alexander Graham Bell (although his was accidental)
Thomas Edison
Now imagine a world where everyone that is so inclined has the time to study and work on things they have a real passion for….
The advances in all reality would come very quickly. 
If you no longer had to work you wouldn’t sit on your but all day and do nothing… add to that  you have available any resources you need and the most valuable resource of all – time.
Knowledge would not be lost either especially not with he technology available today. Some might no longer be as important for society but it would never be lost. In fact people would be free to study that which interests them. They don’t have to study something they have little interest in in order to get a paying job as they do now. The information would also be freely available to anyone that wants it. Again imagine yourself in such a world, Is there nothing you are interested in and would like to learn more about and would do so if you had access to the information and the time to do it. People with the knowledge would also have more time and can pass it on to those interested. This world would still have Universities and Tech Institutes although they might operate differently.
On everyone moving to beaches  not everyone wants to move to or live near a beach but yes if there is over demand in an area this is something that society will have to work through. This is where ideas come from the people and are voted on through true democracy.
Society may decide those already living at a beach can remain  and because of demand a lot more will be built that people not living there can have access to as holiday accommodation.  Just an idea the point is society i.e. rhe people can work out the best solution. 
Where does New power come from – renewable sources solar, wind, hydro, geothermal (hopefully free energy tech as many are interested in this but require money and time and resources to develop it. In the new system resources would be freely available and people will have time. 
On how to automate agriculture -this can be done to some extent through hydroponics – Imagine a sustainably ( I hate that word) purpose built highrise or multiple buildings designed to maximise natural light and control temperatures then add robotics seeds, soil etc. That sakd with what I know about permaculture my personal view i you don’t automate it. But that is just my personal view and I imagine society may choose to. 
If it seems flawed remember I am trying to communicate an idea on a new world vi a blog. Chances are the answers have been thought of. The hardest one to solve was air travel that took six months and ws the final piece in the puzzle. But keep thinking about what you could do and how it would be to live in such a world and if you have any questions I’ll do my best to answer them. 
   
      

Karlos
Until someone invents and automated street cleaner someone will probably still have to do this. But with robotics and self drive vehicle technology that has already been developed the technology is probably there to build an automated street cleaner. 
Who would distribute the food/technology to from farm/production line to households? I’m speculating but design comes into play such as building food production centres next to or near supermarkets. People still go to the Supermarket but there could be far greater use of self checkout which is used to automatically order items that need to be restocked. As for things that can’t be grown in a hydroponic highrise such as beef, lamb chicken etc. you still have to transport it and process it. Can some of this be automated? Probably.
On transportation much the same way they do now initially. But then money is not a barrier to widening roads, building tunnels, even adding bullet trains Unless or until jobs can be automated someone still has to do them. I imagine if the focus was on getting the job done well but quickly rther than standing around because you are paid by the hour then roadaing would be built a lot faster but thats where things such as time banking can come into play.    The environment is a pretty easy one to deal with – many environmental problems especially around waste are as a result of companies trying to save money. I’d need more specifics as to which green problems though – 1080, climate change, cleaning up water ways, coal mining all very easy to fix.  -    
As for mining of minerals that is one for society to decide on. We are lucky in that we are a primary product exporter so even if the rest of the world didn’t change we would still be able to trade for goods and raw materials.    

In the example I am giving nothing is owned by the state. It is owned instead by the people. I get your example but it only applies in the world of commerce. In a world where commerce is no longer needed and a world based on true democracy people MUST use judgement and make choices also.    

Steve actually I work with technology. In fact I have spent 17 years working on systems many of which make people redundant. As I have said about 3 times now please make no mistake this is not a Utopian society, it is not Nirvana. There will still be jobs to do Jobs that require skills and human hands. This does not take away from the society having a driver to eliminate these where possible. Under such a system many roles would become obsolete. This could very well free up many in society to become skilled in other areas such as technology and automation or perhaps robotics. Many of the limitations that exist will also get more attention and may very well be resolved. A number of scenarios are possible people may initially only need to work 20 hours instead of 40. People required to fix things when they break may be sent an IM  notification to there phone notifying them there is a problem that they need to go in and tend to.      Your example with the combine harvester is a good example of technology reducing the number of people required to do a particular task. Add to this that in such a system there is no longer a need for planned obselecence and machinery, equipment gadgets can be designed to last. Yes things will still break and still need to be repaired, its a fact of life. This is not the jetsons nor is it everyone lying around on sun loungers all day while everything is automated. No food won’t magically appear on the table, just like now you will still have to cook it. 
Everything does not have to have a cost it does under the current system but it certainly does not have to be that way at least not in a monetary sense. Intellectually property is an example of something that is required because of a world that is driven on money and the need to make a profit. It is no longer required in a society where the goal is ensuring people can have easy access to the things they want and need based on the resources available. 
You mention that some things require more effort than others hence the reason we pay different amounts. This is not strictly true My job for example requires very little effort and I am paid stupid mount of money for what I do. A construction worker or almost any trade requires more effort than what I do on a day to day basis yet they are paid less. Is that fair? perhaps, perhaps not. Take a step back though what is the one thing that all tasks require apart from effort…… Time. This is where you need to give people an incentive and there are methods for that such as time banking that can be used to recognize peoples  effort. This can be used to give priority access to things or access to air travel or whatever. The key is that the recognition is there because these people have taken time out from what society deems as important – being free and spending time with friends and family- to keep society working and they are rewarded  for this and rightly so. 
What you will have in such a society is more free time, more access to goods and services. What you won’t have is people working 8-10 hour days because they are paid for the hours they work. The focus shifts to getting the job done but still done well. You also won’t have many of the crimes that exist today as their is no longer a financial driver for people to commit them. You even eliminate the most insidious ones such as human trafficking, the sex slave trade and child pornography, things which are unfortunately products of a for profit monetary system.
Steve what stops all menial tasks being automated now today – is it money???? – if so that is no longer a problem for a new system.
Hell if an entire Hydro dam can be automated (and yes they still require maintenance) Many other operations could also be automated. Benmore Dam before automation had about 450 workers. Post automation how many guys are required to maintain it when things fail……?