A few aspects of the AEM's Egalitarian society may give the impression that certain groups of people
have something to be seriously concerned about (e.g. the wealthy,
and those workers in industries that will cease or be reduced),
particularly during the installation period, but we
would like to assure you all that there is nothing to fear. The
AEM tries to be accommodating, as you will see when we discuss what we intend to do in
relation to each of these groups of people.
The main reason why the installation of
this new constitution will be relatively painless for everybody
is because the AEM focuses upon stopping the reproduction of social
problems rather than attempting to punish the citizens, workers, victims, or the beneficiaries of
social changes or social problems
(including elitism) created
by the contemporary constitution and society.
However, what you all must realise is that
the AEM wants Egalitarianism to spread, and to spread as fast
as possible, but it won't spread very far if we give our existing
elites (and their families) a hard time, or leave those reliable
and hard working people whose industries have been dropped or
reduced, out of work or socially disadvantaged. The AEM intends
to showcase Australia to the world, and how we are seen to handle
these issues by international observers will provide a big boost
to our very peaceful campaign of spreading Egalitarianism beyond
Australia.
Note: the
information below is set against our tentative plan for the
installation of the AEM's Egalitarian Constitution, which allows
the citizens of Australia the opportunity to jump off
Egalitarianism in 5 years and again in 15 years after it has been
introduced. There will be other opportunities after this to change
back to capitalism (or to try something else), but after 15 years
we will consider that Egalitarianism is here to stay, and its
installation will proceed to the next level. See our 'What
the AEM is Tentatively Asking the Australian People to Agree to'
web page for details.
The Elite
One group of people who will
be particularly happy about this policy are the wealthy. That
is, we do not intend to take away the wealth of wealthy people,
or anybody else. The AEM has no axe to grind, and has no intention
of punishing those people who have done what is sensible to do,
and what they are encouraged and supposed to do as part of the
process of being considered a success within the context of the
democratic-capitalist society. We will always assume (whether it
be true or not) that you have worked extremely hard and long for
much of your life, to get what you have (even if you tell us
otherwise). Therefore, the AEM
would be unnecessarily malicious to take your wealth away, and
to allow all your hard work to amount to nothing. Further, the
AEM's Egalitarian government doesn't actually need to take your wealth away from you because,
other than the property you possess, all your wealth is held
within the
federal treasury, where the state can use it to finance
projects, just as commercial banks currently do.
While the AEM strongly objects to
inheritance, it also realises that the children of elite citizens
have also become accustomed to living within an elite environment
and, until the AEM showed up, had every expectation of continuing
to. For this reason, we allow elite citizens to pass on a limited
inheritance to any children or grandchildren, who are over the age
of 3 years old when the AEM takes government.
However, while we won't take your wealth
away from you, generating such high incomes will no longer be possible. Also, because all businesses and companies will be run by
the state, and because all the profits from these companies will
go to the state, the AEM and the current owners of companies
have several options they can take when sorting out these
takeovers (See the section, 'Citizens who own
Companies [and Businesses]', further down this page).
People who are Currently Receiving a High Wage
People who are currently receiving a high
wage may continue to receive a scaled down, but higher wage than
other workers. However, this cannot be guaranteed for everybody
who currently receives a higher wage as certain high paying jobs
will no longer be required within the AEM's Egalitarian society.
Also, higher wages are less likely to be maintained when we
develop an oversupply of willing people (brought about by changing to
Egalitarianism) who are willing to do these high paying jobs for
equal wages. Further, continuing to receive a higher wage is
unlikely when people change jobs.
All Australian Citizens with
Possessions
The money that you have saved in your bank accounts will continue
to be yours, but it will now be held within the state's bank. Any
possessions you own (not including businesses) will
continue to be yours unless you choose to sell up to the
state.
You can also choose to recoup your money
for any items that you have partly paid off at the time when the
AEM wins government, or you can continue to pay them off. In the
Egalitarian society, most re-usable items are rented, but if you
choose to keep what you own or are paying off, you will not be
required to also pay rent on these items. However, if you choose
to sell your items back to the state or claim back your investment,
you will now start paying rent on these items, if you still wish
to enjoy them.
Citizens Who Own Their Homes
If you (of the existing population)
happen to own (or partly own) your home when the AEM takes government,
it's remains all yours to own or to continue paying off, and you do not pay rent, for as
long as you continue to (partly)own it, until you die. You can sell your
home to the state at any time, but we don't recommend this within the first 15 years, unless it is
more practical for you to do
so, because it will be worth less than half of what you paid for
it within the Egalitarian society. While there
is not meant to be any economic advantage to be gained by selling
or not selling earlier or later, you may live to regret selling up in
5 or 15
years time, if the country is silly enough to revert back to
democratic-capitalism. You should be aware that renting
and buying a home in the AEM's Egalitarian society will be much cheaper than buying
or renting a home in the contemporary capitalist
society.
If and when you do decide to sell your
homes to the state, you will be required to pay rent for the
residences you occupy from then on. This rent will be automatically deducted from
your pays. You will not be required to move out of the homes you have
sold to the state unless you choose to.
Australian Citizens who Currently Own (or Partly Own) Companies
(or Businesses)
Australian citizens who own, or partly own companies within and
outside of Australia can choose from two options in relation
to how the state will take over the management of these companies
(although the AEM is prepared to consider other
options).
- To make life easier for the new
Egalitarian government, the AEM would prefer that the owners
and part owners of Australian-owned companies sell their
companies (or their shares) to the state for its current
market value.
and
- Owners and part owners can also choose
to hold onto their investments, but one will be unable to earn
an income from the surplus that these companies generate. This
surplus now goes to the state, as does the cost of running the
company. The object of this strategy (for the owner of the
business) is to take advantage of the possible or predicted
fall of Egalitarianism. That is, holding onto one's ownership
or part ownership of a company will leave one in a prime
position to recommence one's economic plunder should
democratic-capitalism be returned in 5 or 15 years time. And
if your competitors have sold up already, one could even
corner the market for some time, in a time of boom. However,
when Egalitarianism is re-elected after the first 15 years,
the state will automatically buy your business for the same
price that you were originally offered.
We do not offer this deal to the owners
of companies that are in industries that are about to be made
redundant, although you will be fairly compensated for any usable
assets the company holds. For those who own companies in industries that are
about to be reduced, you will be offered a reduced price for your
company plus be fairly compensated for any usable assets.
The value of the ownership or part ownership of
companies (but not the companies themselves) can be included
within the limited inheritance of one's children or grandchildren
who are born before the AEM forms government.
Those Workers
Caught in our Occupational Upheavals
Even though some industries
are going to be reduced or made redundant, if you are one of those
workers who become temporarily displaced (vocationally), and if
you have not yet being relocated within the workforce, you can
look forward to being on full pay until we do find something
appropriate for you.
Addicts to Substances
It is impossible for black markets
to exist within the AEM's Egalitarian society because money cannot be transferred from one person to another. Currently, there
are perhaps millions of Australian addicts, who have only the
black market to rely upon. The AEM realises that addiction is a
social problem, unlike our contemporary political policies which
point the blame at the individual, the addict, the victim.
Currently, in spite of the hardships we enforce upon our
addicts, we continue to create more addicts, because by blaming
the individual, we are not changing what our society is doing to
create new addicts. We are literally ignoring the social
processes that lead to yet another person becoming addicted.
Part of the process of stopping the continuing development of
new addicts is to treat addiction as the social and medical
problem that it, and then to take responsibility for it and the
victims of it. As such, The AEM's Egalitarian state will sell addictive
substances to existing
addicts as medicines, which, like other medicines, are not to be
shared with anybody else. You will require a subscription from a
doctor, and you will purchase them from the chemist. All such
additive substance will be affordable.
People Involved in Black-Markets and Organised Crime
If you
are a part of a black-market or any other form of organised crime,
the AEM bares you no malice. It could be argued that you have a right to exist
within any materially stratified society, rather than to accept
being materially and socially disadvantaged for invalid reasons.
Any wealth you have accumulated is yours to keep, and if you have
enough, a sizable percentage of it is yours to pass on to your
children, as with other elites.
Anybody Else
There are no doubt
many other people who may suspect that they are about to loose
something by going into Egalitarianism, but before you assume it
to be so, it is worth contacting the AEM, or having your
representative contact the AEM to find out for sure. The chances
are that it is not true, and we don't mind signing statements (at
this time) confirming that you will not loose what you think you
might, and we will of course regard such enquiries as highly
confidential (even though we may discuss such agreements with the
public, without revealing your identity, so that other people with
similar concerns can also breath easily).
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