True democratic wealth is time: everybody has 24 hours of it a day.
The
significant social inequality of the day is that some peoples time is not exchangeable for
much value, while other peoples time is very much in demand and
exchangeable at a high rate.
I simplify somewhat, for a person
can sometimes exert control over their exchange rate by means of how much effort they put in;
but even at maximum effort there is still a large disparity between the exchangeable values of the time of different people, or in different locations.
In
the corrupt imperial west there is a notion that 8 hours of effort per
day should be exchangeable for necessities of life (and some
discretionary comforts) but the opportunity to make this exchange is not
granted equally to all people (and nor is the standard of life).
In
the name of social conscience and humanity, this inequality is often
reasonably addressed by moving a surfeit of value from those who found
favourable exchange, to those who who found a poor rate of exchange.
Yet
paradoxically, the extreme inequality of those who found no exchange is
addressed by an attempt to provide the value of life necessities with
no exchange required.
This does not introduce equality but
instead introduces further inequality for in transferring the surfeit of
value to those who find no exchange, it leaves them with a surfeit of
time. It reduces them to the status of beggar and provides no way to contribute.
It would be more
equitable to provide opportunity of exchange to those who found no
exchange, making all equal contributors to society from the universal and collective
wealth of time, and condemning none to the status of beggar.
TLDR:
Or in other words, why in the UK when taxes are going up, and public
works are going down, why, are we paying people to do nothing?
It
is no socialist triumph to lose the working class and gain another idle
class (however unwilling).
Let the time of each be valued equally - sufficient for life, and
let all contribute.
And here's hoping for a shorter working day for all,
enough time for dancing and singing.
