The Biological Economy or Where has all the money gone?

If we could find the right metaphor, the right way to understand the economy, then we would all agree, we would know what to do. It is our relationship with the earth, what we plant, what we reap, and how we live healthy and live free as a civilization. You and I are the cells of a living organism, the human species. We rely upon the earth, but we also rely upon each other.

The problem with the economy is that there is a world wide recession. A recession is when the economy is going into shock; it turns cold, clammy and loses consciousness. Shock occurs when there is not enough blood reaching the cells and tissues of the body. Blood is money; money is the blood of the economy. Money is the transfer system that replaces bartering; it allows us to get what we need to survive. The US treasury serves a similar function as the spleen. The spleen produces hemoglobin and stores the excess; the US treasury prints money. There is a shortage of money out there. Where is the money? Why isn’t it circulating? Can we spend money into the economy, get the economy flowing, and then tax it out before inflation becomes a problem?

Money is just like blood, money flows throughout the economic organism. But they flow for different reasons; reasons that we need to pay close attention to. Money flow obeys the laws of Need and Greed. The healthy economy has both in well balanced amounts. Need and greed are why we find jobs, work hard, and think up ways to improve the economy…

The paradigm that the federal government has to balance its budget, and eventually pay off the debt, is faulty. Can you guess why? It’s not because they have superior fire power. The federal government, specifically Congress, has the constitutional authority to print money. You and I have to balance our budgets; state and local governments have to balance theirs. But the Constitutional responsibility to coin money and set its value is subject to a more abstract balance. The inflation rate must always be kept low enough that life savings of workers must not be wiped out. Simultaneously, there must be enough money flowing in the economy to sustain low unemployment. In the same way that your spleen produces and regulates the amount of hemoglobin in your bloodstream, so too must the US Treasury regulate the amount of money in the economy.

What do we have in common with cells of an organism? Cells serve some greater purpose to the whole organism of which they are apart; they manufacture proteins, provide protection, and other stuff. These same cells rely upon the blood stream which provides nutrients, oxygen, and removes waste products. In the same way, each of us serves some greater purpose to the whole of the economy. But we also rely upon

Let’s treat the economy like an electrical circuit. For some strange reason, the dollars that start out in our wallets - flow; it flows back to the banks and to the IRS. It flows to and from businesses and corporations. It also flows from those who are poor accumulators of wealth to those persons/organizations/banks/governments who are excellent accumulators. When banks are the primary suppliers of money by providing loans, they generally get back all of the money plus interest (except for what is lost). I don't think it makes sense to give the banks money because it shorts the circuit.

If the economy is like the human body, what do you do when blood is not reaching some part of the body? Either you clear the blockage, or that part of the body will die. If it's the brain, it's called a stroke, etc. The economy is the same way. If money is not being spent into the economy, then where is it? Is economic fear causing people not to spend? Are we all just nervous nannies creating our own financial problems? In the body, the spleen creates red blood cells and stores excess. Does this remind you of anything? US Treasury printing money? Banking system?

Socialism is a philosophical doctrine that seeks to (1) control the means of production and (2) create an egalitarian society where everybody is equal (even if their not). I’m not advocating control or egalitarianism. I’m also not advocating pure capitalism a.k.a. Laissez Faire economics. But wouldn’t it be better to use elements of both philosophies to create a self regulating economic system that can keep all of its elements, all of its “cells” alive and healthy? It is usually the callous, cold hearted economic Darwinists who are too comfortable with their own financial blessing who would say: if those lazy bums can’t make it on their own, then maybe they should fail and be out on the streets!! Ha ha ha, that means more money for me!!!! But this is where EVERYBODY gets confused.

Using the biological metaphor as a map to a more stable, yet highly adaptable, economy, the goal is to create financial health and abundance not just for most talented, not just for the most blessed, but for everyone. DON’T YOU LIBERALS AND CONSERVATITIVES slip back into your preconceived notions, your stale nineteenth century thinking that creeps out of its coffin like some undead Karl Marx or Herbert Hoover. Go bury your old socialism and incorrect beliefs about capitalism in the cemetery where they belong!!!!

Follow the money, see where it goes. Like hemoglobin that passes through the blood vessels carrying oxygen or co2. From your wallet to the store or the government, it moves like fluids in a circulatory system. Follow the money, as if it were passing through veins or capillaries that can shrink or expand to sustain the whole economic organism. Where there is health, then every cell, every member of the economic system serves its function and enjoys the fruits labor. Those who cannot contribute enough will experience some of the stresses, but they should not be dismissed, they should not be destroyed. We cannot dig a big hole and throw grandma in it because she can’t work. But is it too much to ask everyone who can contribute to give an honest days work? And what about those who want to enhance their skills, who want to go to school and serve the economic organism in some greater way? Kudos to them and kudos to the American people who see the need for educational funding.

We are already an economic organism. Much of what is needed has already been put into place. One of the biggest problems right now is the intense stress of keeping one’s job without enough ability to make the world economy better.

My point is that you cannot blindly leap towards the extremes of either socialism or Wall Street greed without becoming the virus, the very cancer that eats away and eventually kills the organism called the economy.