Dual Currency

This post presents Dual Currency as a means to bridge the gap between the ideals of Capitalism and Communism.

Capitalism is fuelled by competition. It contributes greatly to increasing frontiers of art, science & technology more than does Communism.  It contributes to advances in health sciences that saves thousands of lives on the one hand, to weapons of mass destruction that could snuff out millions of lives in an instant on the other hand.  The fruits of these "advancements" - monetary gains - lies in the most part with a small percentage of the population who are "worth" billions of dollars while a larger percentage of the population suffer from poverty, hunger and even starvation.  In between, the majority of the population support this system as it offers them an opportunity to dream of becoming rich - and some do.  Capitalism is more natural than Communism as Capitalism is the civilized form of the evolutionary "Survival of the fittest".

Communism is driven by an altruistic ideology: From each according to their ability and to each according to their need.  It is a noble idea that has largely failed. Even at the peak of communism those with greater ability were given much more than those who were in need.  It is an unnatural system that cannot be sustained in a democracy and has to be dictated by an authoritative regime to a point where Communism is associated more with authoritarianism than its altruistic ideal of "from each according to his ability and to each according to his need".

Is it possible to encourage Capitalistic competition while supporting those in need as espoused by Communism within a democratic system?  The answer is yes.  Even in the capitalistic system people are not just self centered.  People are also philanthropic.  Billionaires give millions of dollars to their favourite charities feeling pleased with themselves as indeed do average people giving small change to a homeless person.  The common problem with both Capitalism and Communism is the single currency that both those who are able and those who are in need have to compete for.

The answer is a dual currency:  One currency that is reserved for those who are in need and unable to compete and another currency for those who are able to compete.  One currency for the very basics of human life protected from competition; and another currency that is reserved for advancement beyond the basics, powered by competition.  These currencies, albeit of the same denomination can be distinguished from each other by colour, texture, form or by some other physical attribute(s). These currencies should be insulated from each other for the most part while being exchangeable at well thought of and defined points. The two currencies should have separate purposes, usage and governance as described below.

Purpose:

Each of these currencies have a purpose.  For simplicity let's call the first currency the "Staple Currency" and the second the "Advanced Currency" where Currency could be Dollar, Euro or any other currency.

The purpose of the Staple Currency is to ensure every citizen has the health, food, clothing & shelter enough to uplift each individual to go beyond "How can I feed & shelter myself and my family tomorrow" to "How can I and my family move ahead in life tomorrow?"

The purpose of the Advanced Currency is to enable every citizen to move forward, those who today are affluent and others freed by the Staple Currency so they do not have to think about "How can I feed & shelter myself and my family tomorrow" to advance themselves, their families and their society to higher points, competing with each other to excel and achieve to the highest of their potential.

Usage

The Staple Currency is not earned but is granted to every citizen from the wealthiest to the poorest equally.  Thus the wealthiest person in a country is not denied anything that the poorest is granted. The Staple Currency guarantees every individual a platform from which they can seek employment or self-employment (entrepreneurship) to gain Advanced Dollars. If an individual does not need this currency granted to them they can donate it or return it so it can be used by someone who is in need of the basics.  This currency cannot be used to generate income such as interest in a bank.

The Advanced Currency on the other hand is only earned and can be used in every way the currency is used today, except it cannot be used to purchase commodities reserved for the staple currency.  Unlike the Staple Currency it can be put in the bank to gain interest, used to buy stocks or bonds, used to buy luxury items (items not reserved for the staple currency), etc.

For purposes of simplicity we will refer to this currency as the Dollar in the rest of this post.  The same would apply to any other currency whether Euro, Yen, Rupee, or any other currency.

Insulation:

The two currencies should be insulated from each other by law.  Cheap, healthy grains such as brown rice, oats, natural cow/goat milk, lowest priced cuts of meat, cheap mass produced clothing should be purchasable only using the unearned "Staple Dollar" given to every citizen from the poorest to the wealthiest.  The wealthy cannot purchase any more of these staple items than the poorest because they only have the same amount of staple dollars that are not convertible with the Advanced Dollars they possess.

On the other hand the Staple Dollar cannot be used to generate income or to purchase items not reserved for the Staple Dollar (to protect the Staple Dollar from misuse).

Conversion between Staple and Advanced currencies:

There are circumstances where exchanges between Staple and Advanced currencies/goods are necessary.  For example a farmer producing an abundance of staple crop or dairy products cannot be paid exclusively in staple currency.  This is one example where an exchange between Staple Currency/Products and Advanced Currency makes sense.  There are many, many more that cannot be covered within this post.

Conclusion:

Communism has largely failed while Capitalism is under stress as evidenced by the "Occupy" movements.  Dual currency may be the answer allowing the ideals of both Capitalism and Communism to thrive in a Democracy.

Comments

[Redterrorthegame]

The third way is national socialism, it got a bad wrap because a few Jew got killed but otherwise it would sell like hot-cakes.