“Power to the people!”
For generations, this famous political slogan has been a rallying cry for democracy, social justice, popular sovereignty, and collective action. It has echoed through demonstrations, political campaigns, and movements demanding freedom and equality.
And now, with another election approaching in the United States, the struggle for political power continues. But will the people really get anymore power?
Politicians promise change, better lives, greater freedom, and more power to ordinary people.
But how much power do the people really have? And will ever get?
Presidents come and go. Governments change. Political parties replace one another, promising lower taxes, higher wages, cheaper gasoline, more jobs, and greater prosperity.
And sometimes they deliver on those promises. And sometimes not.
But one thing remains largely unchanged, regardless of who wins the election.
The monetary system
And as long as that system remains in place, the extraordinary concentration of economic power in the hands of a relatively small number of people and institutions remains largely untouched.
Who Really Holds the Power?
We like to believe that democracy means the people are in charge. That by electing representatives, we determine the direction of our civilization.
But consider this.
A relatively small number of individuals, corporations, financial institutions, and investment organizations control enormous amounts of wealth, land, infrastructure, and productive resources.
Through this control, they possess an extraordinary influence over the lives of billions of people. And nature itself.
They don’t necessarily need to become presidents or prime ministers. They don’t even need to agree with one another. Their economic power exists independently of whoever happens to occupy political office.
And the fascinating part is that this power doesn’t primarily depend on force.
It depends on the system itself, and humanity’s collective belief that we cannot live without it.
As long as most people believe that money is absolutely necessary for civilization to function, the monetary system will continue to perpetuate itself.
And those who control the greatest concentrations of monetary wealth and resources will continue to possess enormous power.
No matter who wins the next election.
No matter how many protests there are.
The Ultimate Trap
What makes the monetary system so extraordinarily effective is that it creates the very conditions that convince people of its necessity.
You need money to buy food. You need money to pay your rent or mortgage. You need money for electricity, water, transportation, healthcare, and almost everything else.
So naturally, you conclude that we need money to survive.
And within the system we have created, you are absolutely right.
You cannot simply decide tomorrow that money is unnecessary and stop paying your bills. Your landlord will still demand rent. Your bank will still expect mortgage payments. The supermarket will still expect money for your groceries.
This is what makes the monetary system such an ingenious, self-perpetuating mechanism.
We need money because the system requires money. And because we need money, we believe the system itself is necessary.
The system becomes its own proof of necessity.
And the trap extends far beyond everyday transactions.
Imagine deciding to become completely self-sufficient. You acquire a piece of land, build a modest home, grow your own food, generate your own electricity, and collect your own water.
You no longer need an employer. You hardly need to buy anything.
Yet you may still have to pay property taxes, permits, fees, and other legally required expenses.
Even though you provide for virtually all your physical needs, you will still be legally required to obtain money.
The monetary system is not merely embedded in our economy. It is embedded in our laws, regulations, institutions, and, perhaps most importantly, our minds.
We have created a civilization in which it can be extraordinarily difficult to live outside the monetary system, even when we have no practical need for most of its services.
And because virtually everyone must participate, virtually everyone helps perpetuate it.
Humanity has created the ultimate trap for itself.
The Illusion of Freedom
Most people want to be free.
And when politicians promise greater freedom, people listen.
Perhaps a new president promises cheaper gasoline. Another promises lower taxes. Someone else promises higher wages or more affordable housing.
These improvements might seem good and can certainly make people’s lives easier.
But do they fundamentally change the relationship between people and the monetary system?
Not really.
You might have a little more money left at the end of the month, but you still have to earn money to survive.
You still have to pay your bills. You still have to compete for income. You still have to fulfill your financial obligations.
You may have gained a little more freedom within the system, but you haven’t become free from the system itself.
And that raises a fundamental question.
How free are you when your ability to live depends on obtaining money from a system controlled disproportionately by others?
The truth is that the people have no power as long as we are trapped in the system of money.
A billionaire and a person struggling to pay rent may enjoy the same formal democratic rights, but their practical freedom to choose how to live is vastly different.
One can travel, create, explore, and pursue almost any interest without worrying about survival.
The other may spend most of their waking hours simply trying to earn enough money to remain housed and fed.
Is that really power to the people?
Or is it power to those who possess the money?
The Power of Belief
Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of this entire arrangement is that most people don’t even recognize it as an arrangement.
Money has become so thoroughly integrated into civilization that it appears to be part of reality itself.
People say they must earn a living.
Think about that expression.
Earn a living.
As though the right to live on this planet were something that had to be earned!
Yet the physical foundations of life have nothing to do with money.
Food grows from soil, water, sunlight, and biological processes.
Houses are built from materials, energy, knowledge, and human effort.
Electricity comes from physical energy sources.
Healthcare depends on knowledge, equipment, medicines, and people.
None of these things fundamentally requires money to exist.
Money is merely the mechanism humanity currently uses to organize much of their production, distribution, and access.
A Human Invention
And because we have organized civilization this way, we have come to believe that the mechanism itself is indispensable.
But it isn’t a law of nature.
It is a human invention.
And human inventions can be changed.
Power Without Domination
Now, I am not suggesting that every form of currency or exchange must necessarily disappear.
Perhaps people in a future civilization will still enjoy trading things. Perhaps some communities will use time credits or other voluntary systems for coordinating contributions and activities.
There is nothing inherently wrong with that, even though everything is freely available.
The crucial question is whether these arrangements allow some people to accumulate vast power over the lives of others.
Accumulated Wealth
In our present monetary system, accumulated wealth can be transformed into ownership of land, housing, industries, infrastructure, and essential resources.
Ownership can then generate additional wealth, which can purchase even more ownership.
And so the concentration of power continues.
What if humanity designed a civilization where that mechanism no longer existed?
Where nobody could accumulate control over the resources necessary for everyone else’s survival?
Where the purpose of organizing resources was to satisfy human needs and preserve the natural world, rather than to continually expand financial wealth?
This is the foundation of the global resource-based economy I envision.
A civilization based on stewardship rather than exclusive ownership, cooperation rather than compulsory competition, and access rather than purchasing power.
A world in which resources are managed intelligently for the benefit of humanity and the rest of nature.
A world where people can contribute according to their interests and abilities without having to earn the right to exist.
And most importantly, a world where nobody can use accumulated monetary wealth to exercise extraordinary power over billions of other people. Because wealth in that system cannot be accumulated with only a few people. Both because all resources are distributed according to need instead of purchasing power, and because “wealth” has a completely different meaning. Instead of personal accumulation of material wealth it can mean a wealth of time, resources and experiences for everyone.
The Real Meaning of Power to the People
The transformation I envision is not about taking power away from one wealthy group and handing it to another.
Nor is it about replacing elected governments with some new authority controlling everything.
That would simply recreate the same fundamental problem under a different name.
It is about distributing the ability to participate in civilization so broadly that nobody needs to possess disproportionate power over anybody else.
Imagine a World
Imagine a world where access to food, housing, healthcare, education, transportation, energy, and the other necessities of life is no longer dependent on your financial circumstances.
Where people can participate directly in decisions affecting their communities.
Where knowledge, technology, automation, and intelligent resource management are used to improve life for everyone.
Where nobody needs to become a billionaire to enjoy freedom, security, and opportunity.
And where the extraordinary resources of this planet are understood as a shared foundation of life rather than commodities to be accumulated and controlled.
Such a civilization would still need coordination, agreements, responsibilities, and ways to resolve disagreements.
But it would no longer need to organize human survival around the accumulation and circulation of money.
And perhaps most importantly, it would no longer need to concentrate economic power in a few hands.
The Revolution of Understanding
Of course, such a transformation cannot happen simply because someone declares the monetary system obsolete.
People have real obligations today. They need to pay their bills, feed their families, and maintain their homes.
The trap is real because we have made it real.
But its necessity is not permanent.
And that is why I believe the most important transformation must begin with understanding.
Understanding that money is not a natural resource.
Understanding that ownership is a human arrangement, not an immutable law of the universe.
Understanding that humanity already possesses extraordinary knowledge, technology, productive capacity, and the ability to cooperate on a global scale.
And understanding that the purpose of civilization should be to support life, and not to perpetuate an economic mechanism.
As this understanding spreads, practical alternatives can begin to develop. Communities can experiment with shared resources, voluntary stewardship, cooperative production, and new ways of organizing access to what people need.
Gradually, the necessity of money could diminish as these alternatives become more capable of meeting human needs.
The monetary system would not need to be overthrown by force.
It could eventually become obsolete because humanity had learned to organize civilization in a better way.
Elections
And that brings me back to the approaching elections.
People will vote. Politicians will win and lose. Promises will be made, and some will be fulfilled. Others not.
The monetary machinery will most likely continue trundling along.
Meanwhile, here I am, sitting on the sidelines, writing articles and stories, trying to give that enormous machinery a little kick in the chin.
Perhaps it doesn’t even notice.
The Machine
But I am not really trying to fight the machinery.
I am trying to help people recognize that it is a machine humanity created, and that humanity is perfectly capable of creating something different.
Because genuine power to the people is not about giving people a little more purchasing power, or allowing them to choose who supposedly operates the monetary machinery.
In fact, choosing who operates that machinery is hardly an option at all. Politicians may believe they are operating it, and the people who elect them may believe so too. But the real operator is largely invisible.
It is our collective belief in the necessity of the monetary machine itself.
Those who possess the greatest concentrations of wealth and power within the system may understand how to use it to their advantage. But that doesn’t necessarily make them evil or part of some grand conspiracy. They are just as conditioned by the monetary mindset as everyone else. They too have grown up believing that this is simply how civilization works.
And so they do what seems natural and necessary to protect their wealth, their interests, and the system that sustains them.
The extraordinary irony is that even those who appear to control the monetary machinery are themselves controlled by the belief that the machinery must continue running.
And as long as that belief prevails, the machinery will keep running, regardless of who wins the next election.
Genuine power is about creating a civilization in which nobody needs monetary power over anybody else.
And this is exactly what we did
We gradually replaced the monetary system with a global resource-based economy, where the resources of our planet are managed through stewardship and cooperation rather than ownership and monetary exchange.
We stopped organizing civilization around the accumulation of wealth and began organizing it around the needs of humanity and the natural world.
And something extraordinary happened.
The enormous concentration of economic power that had dominated human civilization for centuries simply lost its foundation. Nobody could accumulate billions and use that wealth to control the resources upon which others depended.
People no longer have to earn the right to live. They are free to contribute, create, explore, learn, and enjoy life without the constant pressure of financial obligations.
Of course, civilization still needs coordination, decisions, and responsibilities. But these are no longer dictated by the need to generate profits or protect accumulated monetary wealth.
And perhaps the greatest revelation was that nobody had actually lost anything essential when the monetary system disappeared.
The land was still there. The food was still growing. The buildings, technology, knowledge, and resources were still available.
Only the artificial barriers that had prevented humanity from sharing them intelligently had been removed.
We had finally understood that power was never something that needed to be concentrated in the hands of a few.
And for the first time in human history, power to the people was no longer a political slogan.
It is now a reality.
And our new friend the bewildered billionaire Benjamin Michaels is starting to get used to it as well. And we thank him for stopping a despot we shouldn’t have awakened from trying to ruin everything.