Preface

As you read the pages ahead, you will encounter unfamiliar terms and concepts, some of which will likely seem counter-intuitive or contrary to assumptions that you have never had reason or occasion to question before. These kinds of assumptions exist in every culture. The author has avoided creation of unnecessary new words except to describe concepts for which no satisfactory words exist. Please be patient and read with an open mind. Some of what you read will likely resemble some familiar concepts but is fundamentally different in important ways. If you suspend any emotional responses that may arise out of habit or conditioning, you will encounter data that will make the reasoning and conclusions clear. In the course of this writing, all unfamiliar terms and concepts will be made clear and understandable. A glossary of new terms is included at the end.

We were brought up to believe that "money makes the world go 'round," that it is necessary, that everybody has to pay for everything. That is but an arbitrary cultural myth that is perpetuated to keep us all compliant in holding up the socio-economic pyramid that operates as an anything-but-democratic power structure to our detriment. In reality, money has no real value or function, other than to allow some people to control access of others to the necessities of life, thus enmeshing them in de-facto slavery.

At first, it is not easy, and may seem counter-intuitive to contemplate how things would function without a monetary system of some kind, for the same reason why it would have seemed counter-intuitive to a resident of the European Middle Ages to wrap their head around the concept of a society functioning democratically, with no kings, queens or other royalty. For most people it's all they have known. We've been trained to believe that it is the best and only possible way to do things, and that any other way is contrary to human nature and therefore unworkable. Certainly the Aztecs would have been dumbfounded by the idea of discontinuing human sacrifice. Many cultures have found the concept of gender equality to be hard to process, including the U.S. where women didn't have the right to vote until relatively recently and it was a bitter bone of contention since a lot of people had grown up with the belief that women were inherently incapable of rational or intelligent thought and decision-making. Yet those paradigm shifts were necessary and came about. This one is no different.

The facts are out there to be seen. The dots are on the table. A lot of people are sensing and seeing it on some level. Due to darker aspects of our nature and the psycho-social manipulations discussed later in this writing, we are more apt to look for whom to blame rather than to examine and question the bigger picture, the operating principles of the paradigm that's running, and whether it is working well or poorly. Most people haven't really researched, observed, and studied this situation in depth. Many people are programmed from birth to unquestioningly believe that:

A) Their country is the best place on earth and the best of all possible worlds, B) Capitalism, Democracy and Freedom are all more or less the same thing, C) Anything that isn't Capitalism is therefore Communism or Dictatorship and therefore evil, D) Anybody can make it, so if you aren't making it, it's because there's something wrong with you, E) Any socio-economic system that's radically different from this one is inherently against human nature and therefore can't work, F) We can make things better by working within the system, and G) Don't even think about trying to change it in any fundamental way because it can't be done.

As long as we fail to question such assumptions, we are disempowered and controlled.

In the Appendix at the back of this book, you will find short stories and graphics with data analysis which will clarify the data and flesh out the concepts for people who will find it difficult to process the very idea. In our current culture, this task is kind of like teaching someone how to ski, when you have to instruct them to lean downhill, not uphill, when the student's brain is screaming "but if I lean downhill, I'll fall!" When the opposite is true.

Different people process data in different ways. The data-analysis section of the Appendix is for those among us who are more analytical-minded and want to see the data behind the concepts and conclusions of this book. The short-story dramatizations are for those among us who are more intuitive or experiental-oriented.

The author lived in actual human paradigms similar to the type that will replace the current paradigm: on Kibbutz, with a semi-nomadic culture called Kasachi and a few other situations. The new Paradigm introduced here is possible and it does work, much better than the prevailing dominant one does. That is how one is able to state with certainty that the new paradigm is not only viable but imperative if we value democracy and a free society. Also, the evidence is overwhelming and conclusive that the current paradigm does not work, and for that matter that any strongly hierarchical social paradigm will inevitably reinforce and magnify the most destructive aspects of human nature while suppressing the most positive aspects. This is demonstrated in science.

PART 1: DIAGNOSIS