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                          Little Free Press
                                   
           2714 1st Avenue S., Minneapolis, MN  55408  USA
 #52       Reprinting Permissible       "food for thought since 1969"
                               F R E E


                         UTOPIA NOW POSSIBLE

     A  revolutionary  breakthrough  in  employee  motivation  may  be
forthcoming by  making jobs  so attractive,  interesting and enjoyable
that employees  will work  without pay.    These  volunteers  will  be
attracted by  good working  conditions,  the  latest  in  fine  tools,
machines and  technology, such  as;   robots, computers  and satellite
communication systems.   Volunteerism  would eliminate  the  "monetary
cost" of  production which  in turn  would  permit  all  products  and
services to  be distributed  free of  charge, thus  allowing people to
work without  pay and  enabling  industry  to  provide  the  marvelous
technologies and tools.  Work would then become a privilege instead of
a duty.
     This  Priceless   Economic  System   would  cause  the  following
departments to become unnecessary:
1.   Payroll
2.   Sales
3.   Advertising
4.   Credit
5.   Banking
6.   Insurance
7.   Legal & Tax
8.   Much Accounting
9.   Much Administration
     This would  make tremendous  savings in  resources and energy and
free more than 16 million people for useful work.
     People leaving  these unnecessary  jobs could  volunteer for  any
jobs they  liked and  receive free  on-the-job training  and begin  to
learn and produce immediately.
     Volunteers take  more responsibility to do better work and create
better working  environments  for  themselves.    Instead  of  working
because one  "had to"  and hating  it, people  would work because they
desired to.   Then  employees could  enjoy their work in creative ways
without pressure to make profits.
      People  who own  the raw  materials would  then have no need for
money because  everything would be free for everyone.  Their employees
would be  distributing their raw materials free of charge as would all
employees in industry and on farms.
     Stockholders would  have no  need for  money nor  any reason  for
worries about inflation, depression or stockmarket-ulcers.
     Because everything  would be  free there  would be  no reason  to
steal.    94%  of the  people in  prison  and  jails1  are  there  for
stealing.   Priceless economics would end 94% of the need for:
1.   4,052 jails and prisons
2.   630,000 lawyers and judges
3.   1,267,000 guards and police
4.   412,000 prisoners
     Thus giving  us 2,170,460  more people to help with the essential
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1 Statistical  Abstract of  the US.  1985; American  Prisons &  Jails,
1980, Vol.3; Handbook of Labor Statistics, 1983, Dept of Labor.


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work.
     There would  no longer  be a  reason to  starve  or  revolt  when
everything is  free.   Malnutrition would  become a  thing of the past
when land is used to feed people instead of for "cash crops."
     Because there  would no  longer be  a "profit"  in starting wars,
there wouldn't be a need for defense or military, thus releasing:
1.  223.3 billion dollars worth of resources each year.
2.   4.1 million  active military personnel, direct-hire civilians and
defense related workers.
     When the  unnecessary departments  are discontinued we could stop
producing the  supplies these  departments had  been consuming,  i.e.,
this would lower the demand for:
1.  office buildings
2.  office machines
3.  supplies
4.  furniture
5.  fixtures
6.  electricity
7.  fuel, etc.
     This would save millions of human work-hours and billions of tons
of raw materials.
     Savings in  check-out clerks,  cashiers and  cash registers alone
would be fantastic.
     With no  monetary cost  for labor, rent, energy and machines, all
factory waste  materials could be reclaimed, processed and recycled --
instead of  polluting the  environment.   With free labor, the farmers
would all be able to practice organic farming methods and produce more
nutritious food and halt their pollution.
     There would  be no  inducement to  rush  new  products  into  the
market.   They could  be thoroughly tested to get all the bugs out and
be sure they were safe and that their wastes could be reclaimed.
     With priceless  economics there  wouldn't be a reason for special
interest groups  to suppress  cheaper energy  sources, more  efficient
production and  distribution methods  and machines  which used less or
cheaper fuels.
     With priceless  economics there wouldn't be a profit in designing
planned obsolescence and planned deterioration into products.  Instead
products would be designed for utility, long life, efficiency, beauty,
safety and be trouble-free and easy to repair with universal parts.
     Work would  take on  a new  meaning.   It would become an art and
employees would all become artists doing creative things to make their
products or services better and the process more enjoyable.
     People would no longer resist automation and robots because these
machines would  be employed to do the dangerous and boring work.  This
would further reduce human working hours.
     We may  discover the fact that we have very little or no need for
government, thereby  saving most  of the nearly trillion dollar budget
and freeing  14.8 million  more people  for essential  work.   The few
useful services which government now performs are:
1.  postal service
2.  fire departments
3.  sewer and water
4.  highways
5.  forestry
6.  parks, etc.
     These  departments   could  function   more  efficiently  without
bureaucratic   and   political   interference   and   without   budget
limitations.
     People would no longer have:
1.  money worries

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2.  credit problems
3.  rent or mortgage payments
4.  unemployment
5.  taxes
6.  recessions
     There would be no need for TV commercials and war fear-mongering.
This will reduce stress and restore hope and confidence.   There would
be an  abundance of  good food for everyone and much more free time to
enjoy ones family and friends.  Happy people get along better.  People
could then  cooperate instead  of compete  and create  a synergy which
would yield more health, creativity, efficiency and happiness.
     There would  no longer  be a reason to create make-work projects.
There is plenty of important work which needs to be done.
     Without the  stresses of  the Profit  System people  could  enjoy
working with  the neat  fantastic tools,  machines and computers which
industry provides.   Work  would then become a place that people could
go to  enjoy themselves,  to gain  satisfaction in  creating beautiful
products or  services and  enjoy the camaraderie that would be shared.
Work could become our most treasured recreation.
     We have what it takes to produce abundance:
1.  resources2
2.  labor
3.  skills
4.  machines
5.  factories
6.  land3
     With an  abundance of top quality products which were free, there
would be  no reason  to take too much.  Too much, is a burden and free
things are not status symbols.
     Competing companies  could then  cooperate to  produce  the  best
products  they   could  mutually  design  --  cooperation  being  more
efficient than competition.
     The "Law  of Supply  and Demand"  would function more efficiently
when we  work to  fill the  demand, rather  than attempt to create the
demand.
     This Motivation  Revolution would work best on a world-wide scale
because ALL  the world's  people would be far better off with this new
system.   Underdeveloped nations could then develop as quickly as they
desired, with free guidance from advanced nations if they wished it.
     If we  are able  to increase  the life of durable goods (cars for
example) to  only twice  their present  useful life,  that alone would
reduce the  consumption of  resources for  durable goods  by  50%  and
reduce working hours for their production by half.
     When the  38 million  people now  engaged in  the above mentioned
non-essential jobs;  enter  essential  employment  they  will  greatly
reduce the  working hours for everyone -- or, they will greatly expand
certain fields,  such as;  research and  development,  reclamation  of
factory waste  products,  cleaning  up  the  environment,  working  on
organic farms,  the space  program and/or  -- they  may prefer to slow
down the  pace of  all work  to have  more time  to enjoy  the journey
through life.
     Priceless economics  would create an almost Utopian atmosphere by
eliminating 7 of the world`s greatest problems:
1.  war
2.  pollution
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2 Buckminister Fuller's "World Game" findings.
3 There are 7.28 acres of food-growable land per person in the world.
FAO Production Yearbook, 1981, Vol. 35, By Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations.

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3.  starvation
4.  stealing
5.  taxes
6.  money worries
7.  government
     "Giving"  produces  better  feelings  than  "selling."    Getting
something for "free" produces better feelings than parting with money.
(Who can  resist a Giver?)  Being part of the work force which creates
this near  Utopia would be an Honor.  Thus, we would pass something on
to our  children and  grandchildren that  future generations  would be
grateful for  and remember  us by,  instead of the wars, pollution and
starvation that  our parents  left for us.  Some say that people don't
deserve Utopia, but if people create it -- they will deserve it!

              TO END WARS & POLLUTION AND BEGIN UTOPIA:
     First--I think  our job  right now is to get the word out and get
everyone talking and arguing about the Priceless Economic System.
     Second--I think  after everyone  understands Priceless  Economics
they can  set a  date to  all stop  taking pay  and begin  giving  all
products and services free of charge.

     "Progress is  a matter  of trying new ideas.  For example, try --
not beating your head against a brick wall, for a change.  See how you
like that."

7/20/85                                          Ernest Mann

Statement of Purpose:
     The Little  Free Press  is dedicated  to the  idea that  we solve
problems by  first finding  the primary  cause of the problem and then
focus on  making changes in their area of "cause", instead of fiddling
with layer  upon layer  of laws  aimed at slowing-down the destruction
(symptoms) i.e.,  finding and  replacing the destructive motive with a
life supportive motive.
     To encourage  the discovery  and use  of one's  individual  POWER
rather than giving it to a leader.
     Perhaps the  essence of  the LFP  focus is  in the area of  total
freedom and access to abundance for each individual.
     We might  call this  UTOPIA.  "What the mind can conceive, it can
create."

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NO COPYRIGHT
     If you  can relate  to these  ideas, please  make copies  of this
issue and pass them around.

About the author:
     The author  was in  business in  Minneapolis for  22 years.    He
gained enough  knowledge in  economics to  retire at  the age of 42 in
1969.   Since then  he has  had the  space to observe economics from a
different perspective  and the time to travel, read, observe, discuss,
think, evaluate  and form  his  own  conclusions  about  the  economic
system,  life   and  individual  freedom  which  he  presents  in  his
newsletter, the Little Free Press.  He distributes this free of charge
(except for postage).
 
 
 
