So many examples today show Copiosis emerging from within capitalism. We’ll share more super-exciting examples soon. But today, we’re sharing a podcast episode featuring an economist who sees and describes exactly what we’re seeing: That humanity wants what Copiosis offers.
The Ezra Klein Podcast June 18th episode, titled, Welcome to the ‘Take This Job and Shove It’ Economy highlights shifts COVID-19 triggered in the economy, in workplaces and in employer-employee power dynamics. The featured guest, Economist Betsey Stevenson, describes how power shifted during COVID from employers to labor. Labor now, she says, chooses where they work.
Labor also now chooses what work they do. As a result, employers find fewer people for whom working low wages makes sense. So employers face labor shortages, which requires increasing wages.
The podcast notes describes Stevenson as a highly accomplished economist who served as the chief economist of Barack Obama’s Department of Labor. Later she worked on Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers. Today she’s a public policy and economics professor the University of Michigan. She also co-hosts the podcast “Think Like an Economist.”
Stevenson and show host Ezra Klein talk about a lot more. We love what they talk about. It all shows humanity preparing for Copiosis. Take a listen:
Forcing people into work is immoral
One exchange described in the podcast echoes what we’ve said since founding Copiosis. That is, compelling people to work, especially in terrible jobs, lacks sound morality. In that exchange, a student asks “is it really moral forcing people to work by threatening them with starvation?”
We agree and answer: it’s not moral.
Copiosis sets people free. It offers lucrative non-monetary incomes for nearly anything people do. That means, if a mother stays home and raises her kids (or someone else’s) she gets income. And, after doing so, she continues getting income which recognizes lasting benefit her contribution to those children creates.
Virtually anything someone does benefitting another generates non-monetary income. Caring for people, teaching, organizing, being an activist, running a hobby club, hosting informal social events or creating the Next Big Thing all benefits people. Starting and running a business, building homes or furniture, growing food…whatever benefits others, that act generates actor incomes. Many of those incomes continue long after the work gets done.
So rather than forcing people into work, Copiosis says: “do what you love, whatever it is. If it benefits others, you benefit for the rest of your life.” That’s what a moral economy sounds like.
No one need starve, be sick or live outdoors*
But Copiosis takes morality to whole other levels. By providing necessities to everyone at no cost to them, no one need lose their home, healthcare, starve or forego education. Of course, people providing these things benefit others. So Copiosis gives such people tremendous income for benefits they create.
Fewer people stressed, jealous, desperate, hungry, angry and bitter because they can’t afford what they need, creates peaceful societies. Not laws, police and punishment. Nearly all problems happen today because money stands between people and what they want. Copiosis takes money out of the question.
With money out of the question, many problems go away. Less stressed, worried, and anxious, people can relax. In relaxing, maybe they could walk parks more, enjoy families more, live more happily.
Stevenson shares examples today where the pandemic created exactly these experiences in people’s lives. Tasting that, people don’t want what they had. They want better. They don’t know it yet, but Copiosis offers them the better they want.
Copiosis creates win-win-wins for everyone. In this economy, people get all they want and need and producers making those thing get rich. The planet benefits too. How? Restorative and regenerative ideas, ways that return our ecology to what it once was, flow through people passionate about those ideas. Freed from earning a living, these people can act through those passions, implement those ideas an improve the world.
The result: a cleaner, more healthy planet for us all.
So much better coming in the future. So much happening now showing that future is coming. No wonder we’re so excited at Copiosis.
*unless they want to.
