In the previous post- I highlighted some pointers on the economics and functioning of money.

For us humans, money as the currency has become the only and lowest common denominator to success.

Everyone is after money, either by hook or by crook. Entire lives are devoted to earning more and more…money. Kids are raised and trained such that they become more and more capable of earning… money later in their lives.

Money is also a funny currency- those who have more, they get more and those who don’t have much, they have a marginal chance of being any better off in a lifetime.

The truth is- being human has little to do with money. Sure enough, it can enable a livable life, but it has little to do with being human.

A daily wage manual labourer (at the bottom of the proverbial money tree)- always ready to help others, compassionate and enabling to others- has not a chance in hell to be any better-off in life. Actually, to the society, he is a failure in life. In contrast, another person with considerable riches but with no empathy and who uses any means to get money, who does not make any considerable difference/contribution to the society, is a success in the eyes of the society. What’s more, money begets money- and it keeps on working harder for this rich guy as compared to the ‘poor’ guy.

Who is more successful? Who is more human? Which behavior should be rewarded more by the society?

The “money-only” system is not about being human. BUT society should be about being human- therefore commerce should be humane and economics of wealth should have a currency that addresses this.

So here’s the thought-

What if  all of this changed? What if alongside money, we had another currency?

Note the word- ‘alongside’. Money is integral. It can’t be removed. But surely, there can be another layer alongside Money as currency.

The “Karma Currency”.

This is how it could work:

We start an alternate currency system: The Karma Currency.

This is the currency that you earn as a reward of doing social good/contribution to the society.

Then this is institutionalized. This needs to be led by governments and policy making institutions. 30-50 acts of Contributions towards society are identified- and Karma Credits are assigned to each of these tasks.

Every act of social good/every contribution to the society will earn you Karma Currency. This would be deposited in a centralized repository- the Karma Reserve Bank- and you could use it (say, just like a credit card) in many commercial use cases. The more good you do, the more are your chances of earning!

You can use Karma currency to top up while buying a house, getting yourself or your kids admitted to schools/colleges, medical bills, etc.

Karma currency will not be an abstract thought. Its success would depend on the fact that it could supplement/top-up your money currency. By doing so, it will become practical and tangibly useful to all.

What could these acts be?

(not so )Random acts of kindness: Donating blood, community service, admitting someone to hospital, building something for the common good (contriuting to school/hostpital), giving time to local community (volunteering for local school service), volunteer work for NGOs, and other such acts.

Those acts that can be unambiguously documented and credits be given, are the prime suspects. Some of this already happens- donating blood, for example, makes you liable to get an equitable amount of blood yourself.

Religion, for ages, has propagated this (all religions). Do good- and in return you go to heaven, not and you go to hell. In Hinduism- this is called earning ‘Punya’ and the opposite is ‘Paap’ or Sin. And the concept of Karma- the concept of ‘you reap what you sow’ and the actions that you do today will come back to you- either in this life or the other/next.

Very ‘successful’ concept. Billions believe in it, and keeps a lot crime/unethical conduct at bay.

But you need rewards in this life, in this world too. And for that, actions should be document-able. Not all noble causes can be rewarded- but those that can be- they should be.

In the ideal scenario you could use a “Karma Card” to buy your regular accessories and it could be freely tradable as money today. But that has many hurdles. The goods and production costs need to be offset and one needs to put more thought on how that exchange system can be made more robust- for example.

But hey, at the least, the government could waive off taxes, or institutions can waive off part of fees where the actual money-burden is not high. They will, in return, get compensated through the Karma Federal reserve bank- (in Karma currency of course)- and they get their burden shared too!

At an advanced level, this can also act as a buffer to the money markets- economies will not be solely dependent on GDP growth- the Gross Domestic Karma could buffer any turmoils- and because this will be relatively uncomplicated (no hedging, no borrowing/lending, no short sell, no ponzi schemes…)- this could be a more solid buffer.

With this, economic recessions will not impact people and individuals so much because they can still transact using their “Karma reserves” or contribute more towards society and earn more Karma currency.

This is just a start- an initial piece of thinking. A stone in the pond. This needs to evolve. Many questions remain-

• How will the Karma currency cost be offset against actual money?
• Can it lead to more corruption (thereby becoming an anti-thesis)? (Give me money to award you Karma points)
• It will need huge infrastructural investments and a lot of convincing to do? Is it even possible?

and so on…

My belief is- there are enough intelligent people in the world that could make this happen. And when this happens, that will be the day when heavens will be a little closer to the earth.

You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. (John Lenon)

Think about it

Shalabh

Image attribution: Tax Brackets