Citizens Island , a new and unique treasure for every individual.

Posted on 21 November 2020 by Arjan

Imagine. A world consisting of billions of little Islands. Not like continents. But one island for every person.

One place entirely for one person. No power of government, mulitinationals, whatever. Every digital aspect of this person’s life on this island is personal and with free movement. Data can only being shared willfully.

Everything in your own control. Absolute and real freedom. An illusion? A utopia? Hardly. This freedom can be achieved fairly easily.

Self-determination. Back to the core of our existence.

By accepting cookies we give away ownership of our personal digital data not only to firms like Facebook, Google and Amazon, but also to smaller less known firms.

This won’t be necessary for long anymore.

Shortly you will be able to keep your data safe in a digital surrounding that is yours and yours only. Giving away data for free or against payment will be your own free choice.

The benefits of your data will no longe serve the interests of Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Jeff Bezos.

If you use Citizens Island it will be up to you to either cash your data or keep them private.

You could chose to make a passive income out of selling your data. Call it a Basic Income, if you like. At this moment the datamarket is the fastest growing market. Companies are interested in your data. But not only in your data.

Fair trading and sustainably operating companies are also desperate for a digital space to show (positive) reviews, that are honest and sincere, and obviously not paid for. They need reviews, given by local customers, that appreciate a fair way of trading. A Company Island within the world of Citizens Islands could be such a space.

When Citizens Islands is used broadly, this will change the landscape of commerce. Companies will adapt and treat you , their customer, as a “king”.

Is this all for free? Not entirely ofcourse, but we work on this at minimal costs. Anyway, those costs will be a fraction of the costs, charged for your bank account.

Plus a bank account will not enable you to generate a passive income and guard your data safely on your own Citizens Island, that is accessible on all your devices.

It is high time to take back control over our data and our lives.

We can achieve this via Citizens Island. Please see our website: www.citizensisland.com and give us your support.

Corona, its clearness and its attached lessons.

Posted on 5 April 2020 by Arjan

The first clarity that Corona shows is that we are vulnerable. In a number of case to vulnerable because people die from this disease.

There is no vaccin yet. As most vaccins it is only being developed when its there. So way to late [ Lesson.1 , Prepare as good as you can on matters that can occur. ]

If we think only about ourselves , which is being cultivated in the Western World , and if we do not fully comply in order to avoid infected and if we are infected going into isolation we have a huge problem. [ Lesson.2 , The individual is never more important that the group if we want to survive. ]

What is the best approach. Who can you trust The media? The politician?The experts? I thonk the last ones. The rest should just do everything to make things cear and get things done. So facilitate. [ Lesson.3 , Give the specialists space and force to act quickly and adequately. ]

The economic impact of a Lock Down and its consequences. It makes you realize what is really import and what you can do without. You consume only the most needed. That is mainly food and drinks. The rest is not that needed. Toilet paper? no need for it when you have a toilet shower. Also more hygienic. Lots of things you where thinking of buying you postpone. Or you realize there is actually no need for. It does not cost a thing to make walk. Talk to some other people. [ Lesson.4 , Importance of things are becoming clear. ]

The economic growth disappears behind the horizon. Companies are coming to a slow or even stop down. Some products and services are in a hard need , others less and some redundant. A nice opportunity to say goodbye to those. Also a shrink in the economy means a recovery and growth of our ecology.

Look for example to the clear waters of Venice at the moment. In this way the Agreement Of Paris is getting a chance. For sure there will be a decrease in CO2 and Nitrogen. [ Lesson.4 , Clarity of the things that are really important. ]

In times of drastic measures there hits for economical activities. Things are stopping and costs are being made. Wages need to be paid. Rents are owed. Activities need to be cancelled. Work needs to be done without getting income of it. On short the economical model is not in balance anymore. Financial support needs to be given. Questions is to whom and what. To companies or to people? [ Lesson.5 , What is fair and who deserves financial help. ]

Acute need is never within companies. That are only entities on paper with machines and their personnel. The last are people who really feel and observe. That in basis also the only group which should get acute help should be given. The best way to do that is to provide them with a Basic Income. At least for the period the crisis lasts. Companies are a sponge to absorb money and keep it for themselves. The drip down effect does not really work. Its is a fairytale told to and believed by most politicians. So give it directly to the people who feel the pain really. Let on advice from and with experts a new model function. Al least for the time being of the crisis. [ Lesson.6 , What is the best and simplest way of giving aid. ]

In situations like these also nice and explorative things happen with the use of new technologies. Working at home is in many situation working very good. The manager is getting a little nervous as he can see and feel that there is no real need for him. Schoolbuildings are empty. But teachers are not sitting still and are giving their lessons and instruction via internet. In many cases this works fine. A continuation of this saves classrooms. [ Lesson.7 , We are finding out that things can be done differently and better. ]

For our freedom it is not nice to get in this crisis situation. But it leads to some wise lessons. Those lessons we can than use to expand our freedom and realize again what is really important.

Borstlap and his advice.

Posted on 11 February 2020 by Arjan

And what are they talking about. So it concerns labour and the way in which we can arrange it economically and in a stable or consistent way. There have been written lots of articles about this report and that can be done easily. It concerns labour and our relations with it.

You can read the report , in Dutch by the way, on: https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/rapporten/2020/01/23/rapport-in-wat-voor-land-willen-wij-werken

It are quite a few pages and one thing shows. The faith , or religion you might say , in labour is at the centre. Apparently the happiness of peoples life consist of working. Without a job humans are lost. In order to please everybody with that we are doing anything and everything.

All kind of coherent measures which should be implemented in the coming years. A basic job. Stimulating fixed contracts. Flexible work should last shorter. The necessity for it should be made clear. A personal development budget everybody should get from their birth.

All kinds of measures that are very hard to implement. Even more harder to control. That all from a false perspective.

Labour is not at the centre of human wellbeing. For that feeling of wellbeing he should do something. No hunger and thirst , a roof above your head , helping other people and do nice social activities together however is key. If those nice social activities are covering more time than helping each other its even better.

From where the mindset comes that a job makes one happy is a mysterie to me. How many nice jobs are there even? There are lots of so called bullshit jobs. Who determines what is nice? The government or the companies who are going to create the jobs.

There is work that is not being done? If that work is that important you hould just give a good salary. Than it will be done and in no time. If the work was really life fulfilling it would have been done. Give people time , space and freedom and a lot of problems will solve themselves.

If you are forcing and regulating things problems will just occur. The same goes for basic job versus basic income. The first is creating problems and the second is solving them all.

The magnetic attraction of prosperity, and how to reverse the flow of migration.

Posted on 22 February 2019 by Arjan

A pretentious title. I am aware of that. The western world is for most people in the world the place to be with regards to prosperity. A place to whom they are drawn to in order to experience a good human existence.

Question should than be: Is this really the case? Whats is the prosperity there. Mostly it is an economic prosperity. So money. Better facilities. It looks like that.

But it is not directly available for a refugee. You have to comply to rules. You can go into illegality. Work in anyway you can find and send money home. It is a way to find improvement in life. But in illegality you are in most cases close or in the crime scene as well. Not something I would call real prosperity.

Prosperity also means that have you no or almost no real worries. That you can be in the neighborhood of your family. Being there where your social ties started and grew. Having the possibility to build a reasonable existence. Doing things you like and in which you can help others also. Giving respect and getting recognition. That is the kind of prosperity we should be seeking.

Not the prosperity of a big house , a car , another car , a vacation , another vacation. Materials things will never be enough to fill the greedy caterpillar. There will not become a beautiful butterfly from that but a never satisfied and consuming dragon.

That this dragon is working on eating our world is a different story. I would like to talk about that beautiful butterfly. Can we bring that beautiful butterfly into the light? And while we are doing that halting the flow of migration and maybe turn that around?

I think it is possible. There is already a huge gap between rich and poor. A way to diminish that gap is a Basic Income. You share some of the wealth and pull up the poor to a higher level. They are than able to develop themselves in a human way in the place and country where they where born and grew up. Starting initiatives and or companies that will be an added value to that region. Creating prosperity in an own and just way. In consideration with their own culture.

The local government needs to make just and good regulations. Local companies should get more space than the multinational. You should be thinking on an other way of taking taxes. The use of patentrights should be different. Making products should be according open-source. Trade agreements should be fair and more free. There should be implemented a real fair trade , fair profit and fair use system.

If that has been taken care of you can provide the basic income. This should be done by the budget holder. So in The Netherlands it should be the government in the Hague. Not the provences. Not the parishes. It could be moving to Europe. Or even de UN and than probably the IMF.

My idea would be to deploy it to the IMF controlled by the UN for this. If we are doing this we could create a bottom up approach. Rank the countries form poor to rich. Start with the poorest country or countries. In affordability also the best approach. For how it works also. Possible improvement can be taken into account in proceeding to the next countries. In this way people can find their happiness in their own country. Without antics in having to flee and making illegitimate money and sending it home. Prostitution in the broadest sense so to speak.

Most people do not see any other way to survive. Therefore we can not even blame them. We condemn them as searchers for luck and criminals. But we are creating this world in full awareness. Then we look at each other , avoid each other and let it happen. As long as we are doing fine nothing else matters.

At the moment we create and make barriers and borders in order to shield our not shared prosperity. There will be more than a whole lot of people there shortly which you can not really stop. It will escalate into violence. We should let go of the egoism in the neo-liberal and western worlds mindset.

But if we think in reverse and create a social and humane magnetic force as an opposite. Giving the poorest countries and than the less poor a basic income we would create it. Which way will we go as humanity than.

Take a while to think about this. It will not be easy but there are many good advantages coming out of this. A world on which Thomas Moore would have been jealous.

Its time for the move to a better world.

Basic Income , it’s affordability.

Posted on 14 November 2018 by Arjan

Yes. The affordability word. The first question that you get. From politicians, sceptics , doubters and also the proponents.

It looks like the economy question is again the most important one. In our current system we can not manage things without making debts by the way. The debts are huge. Specially in some countries. So why do we now get this question.

On some websites you can find spreadsheets , calculating tools in order to find out what is all possible. You can play with that. What I would like to do is give some guidelines. Point where we have to take money and where to give. Point out a few hurdles we have to step over.

First making one thing clear. Basic Income should be the income you can spend. If you are single or a couple the money you can spend should be inline. This makes it necessary that we have to cut it into two pieces. A part Basic Income and a part Housing Fee.

Lets take the following as an example. We provide a Basic Income of € 600,00 and a Housing Fee of € 600,00. For a single it makes a total income of € 1200,00 ( BI:€600,00 & HF:€ 600,00 ). For a couple it makes a total income of € 1800,00 (BI: 2 x €600,00 & HF: € 600). So per person in a couple € 900,00. For a triple situation it would go to € 800,00 per person.The Housing Fee should be in line with costs of having a reasonable place to live.The Basic Income should be in line with costs that need to be covered to have a basis for a reasonable life. So not just barely getting by but being able to have a social life as well.Also I am assuming that basic healthcare will be free. Preferably centrally organized by the government. The market economy is not at its place in health programs.

If we have agreed on the right amounts we can go the next step. The next step is the funding of it.

As the government has to pay for it the taxpayers are next. At this point it would be wise to think about fairness. Should we tax income , capital , transactions and in which balance. People and companies. There is a big gap between rich and poor. Read for example Capital in the 21st Century from David Piketty. Where will be the most money and gains be established. Profits at companies and investors most likely. Its should be fair and therefore also taxed in such a way that it is fair.

Lets give an example. On income in first instance. How much money do people really need. Is that € 10.000.000 or is that € 1.000.000 per year. I think it is fair to have a maximum. In Holland we have the Balkenende Norm. Its currently € 187.000 ( 130% of the salary of a minister ). In my perception and I could manage with that amount. So lets make a kind ceiling with a progressive way of taxes so that you can earn a lot but most will taxes at flexible rate. The more income the more tax. For the people who are thinking why Basic Income for the rich. The Basic Income they are receiving will be taken back in this way.

Second example. Profit on the market exchange are huge and investmentfunds and banks are profiting. It also gives the financial world the opportunity to realize profits without participating in the real economy. The reason why banks where realized in the first place. Just tax every transaction and use the money for the fairness of basic income.

Third example. Taxes should be paid. Company profit should not go via tax free haven’s. Like what they are doing right now. Fiscal paradises should be dismantled. Preferably so that every country get a fair part of the profits that has been made. In this time of technology we are able to monitor what they are selling and where. Tax them for every product sold per country. Than every country get their share. In case they don’t accept they will loose their permit to sell.

There are many more. From the perspective of money there really is enough. Its only a smart re-shuffle.

So new cards please.

Social Justice.

Posted on 9 November 2018 by Arjan

There is a new revolution on its way. This is always the case if there is a big gap between a few rich and many poor. Look at the French revolution. Where the King and noblemen could do what they like. At some point enough is enough and people will open their eyes and unite. Unite , and if needs be fight , in order to get a fair share of what the world has to offer.

At that time things where maybe a little simpler than now a days. The information and news that we are receiving currently is huge. Not only books , as in the old days , but also television and internet with its social media. Its enormous and the world is much more diverse. Whom can I believe? Are the politicians telling the truth? What is fake news? Are the neo-liberals right? Is profit the only thing to consider? Ego the only thing to work at?

Yes , we are heaving more wealth nowadays that in the time of the French revolution. But the gap between rich and poor are still huge. The uncertainty of having work is growing. The multinationals are getting more and more flexibility in that perspective. Slavery is around the corner. AI is going to help them more and more. Wages for labour are under pressure. All for the profits of the rich. Even the taxes can be easily avoided.

In the last decades you can see that the politicians have assisted them by adjusting regulations in their favor. Flex contracts , payroll constructions , easier ways to fire and more. Are the politicians not representing the people?

If we need to be flexible there should be social responsibility by the companies. The politicians could create flexibility but they should never forget that social justice is the most important value.

If you keep this in mind and focus on that you could create freedom for everyone. Basic income does have that value and more.

Its really time that the politicians show vision. If not they will become obsolete. No one will vote and they loose their mandate.

Basic Income

Posted on 31 October 2015 by Arjan

Looking at the world it seems that all the companies in the world are trying to maximize their profits. One way of achieving is to do the same work but with less people.

If they are doing this in a smart way , like f.e. with automization , it not so that employees need to work harder to get things done.

But if that is the case the productivity of these employees will suffer on the (mid) long term. There is a limit on workload and stress that people can handle. If you go beyond that the mind and body will say stop and regaining your health will take time.

If however companies are doing it in a smart like with automization there is another perspective I would like to mention. Because automization is in principle nothing else than that we are trying to let (all) the work being done by machines. They do the work and we get the free time to play and do what we like.

This might be an utopia for a lot of people but it should be a goal for the world.

But in order to arrange this the profits that are made should be re-aligned.

Re-aligned to all the people that are playing because machines do their work.

The way to do this would a Basic Income for everyone and without any condition.

Without any condition? Yes.

But than nobody does anything anymore? No , people always want to do something. But now they have the choice and that makes a world of difference.

Than can go out work to earn extra money to buy a boat or a second house. But they can also make the choice to do a study. Take the role of caregiver for a relative. You name it.

There is one distinctive difference with the current situation. It is the choice of the people and not of the companies or the capital. It will change the world from driven by economics and the companies behind it into world where the people make the choices and the rest has to follow.

If f.e. companies are creating products wich are not in line with what the people want or are correct they will hardly get a chance to exist.

( to be continued )

The Social Human Movement

Category Archives: Basic Income

Basic Income , it’s affordability.