Guest guest Posted September 5, 2000 Report Share Posted September 5, 2000 I need to please give me info - <Anudasa <vediculture > Tuesday, September 05, 2000 6:26 AM [world-vedic] ECONOMIC DEMOCRACY > > ROOPA: > Economic Democracy > > INTRODUCTION > > An Economic & Political Policy Platform: > Greater the Vice, Greater the Price > > ROOPA: Responsibility Of One's Products & Actions. > > Lawsuits are a system of monetary compensation by the guilty for the > estimated cost of their victim's damages. Welcome to ROOPA. The only > difference: the precision with which ROOPA tallys' the cost, compensates the > victim and streamlines this into a truly universal system of "justice for > all." > > This principle of compensation is used in courts the world over or found as a > centerpiece in much of our public policy. Insurance companies and others also > use this ROOPA principle as part of everyday business. > > These court, business and legislative practices are much like today's other > economic and public policies. They are a sloppy imitation of this ROOPA > principle. To begin, they are almost entirely arbitrary. Their approach is at > best sporadic in nature, disjointed as a policy and generally clumsily > instituted when followed. > > ROOPA redresses these failings by articulating this principle into a > uniformed, standard procedure. In doing so, it has happened upon a fair, > effective and scientific system of justice that translates beautifully into a > formal economic policy. > > > Premise: > The premise of ROOPA is that every activity produces an economic out come. > ROOPA holds that "good deeds" (virtue or non-vice like education, family and > sobriety) offer profitable economic returns. Conversely, "bad" or vices like > smoking and drinking, create expensive economic "social-cost" by way of > crime, social services, medical expense, impaired work performance, degraded > living standards, etc. > > This is simply an interesting economic observation, not the focus of this > proposal. ROOPA is not a moral quest, but an economic one. > > It simply plays out that activities "generally" viewed by society as a vice, > also have high a degree of social-cost. Things generally viewed as virtuous, > prove economically rewarding. > > ROOPA simply notes this intriguing ECONOMIC correlation. In doing so, > however, ROOPA removes morality from the subjective realm of religious > zealots and places it the realm of science and verifiable numbers. We are all > weary of religious extremist and their brand of moral authority. ROOPA > replaces such relative morality with an objective, measurable science. > > ROOPA then translates this principle into an economic system wherein a > product's "social-cost" will now be included in the upfront wholesale/retail > price. > > "Vice-products" now burdened with the "true-price" of their social-cost will > always prove expensive. > > > > Net Result > > Consumption reduced. > > > > Benefit > > ROOPA circumvents the need for further government regulation. > > > > Advantage > > All the drawbacks of state regulations are finally stamped out. Most taxes, > insurance premiums and fines are nearly eliminated. They've already been > covered in the wholesale/retail price. > > We will have simplified the maze of government tax-codes from tens of > thousands of pages (7 million words) into a single word: ROOPA. The minefield > of tax penalties will have been cleared in one fell swoop. > > Government bureaucracy, waste, corruption, regulation, legal finagling, > racial targeting and penalties are all reduced to nil. The job market for > lawyers, bureaucrats and politicians are reduced right along with it. All of > these schemes and schemers are a sloppy substitute for personal > Responsibility Of One's Products & Actions: ROOPA. > > Here's Why: > The ratio of government regulation generally correlates to the social-cost > associated with an activity. Greater an activities social-cost; the more > government justifies its regulation. > > This supports ROOPA's premise: > > Greater the vice, greater the price. Simply measuring the long-term economic > consequence can designate the gravity of each vice. > > > > End Result: > > Paying ALL related social-costs of any given vice becomes expensive in degree > to the gravity of its "moral" transgression. Further regulation is therefore > unnecessary. > > > > Example > > Government takes the moral stance that smoking is a "bad thing." It so > happens to also carry a clearly defined "bad" economic outcome in medical > expenses--$100 billion a year. > > A child's smoking is viewed by the government as a more serious transgression > then an adults. This coincides with the numbers. A child's smoking causes > greater economic liability by way of higher, long term medical cost. > > Now take the example of crack. The government considers crack cocaine a more > serious vice then cigarettes. As expected, crack also causes far more harm > and social, economic liability by way of crime, social services and medical > expenses. The social-cost for a hit of crack runs into hundreds of dollars. > > This mirrors state regulations wherein smoking for adults comes with some > restrictions such as high taxes or when and where one may smoke. Underage > smoking is banned completely. Crack cocaine is not only banned, but carries > stiff penalties--fines in thousands of dollars, years behind bars. > > All the social-cost government attempts to account for in its regulations are > automatically included in the true-price tag. ROOPA, therefore, accounts for > all of these legislative considerations. Further regulations championing some > moral crusade by government, church or the media are no longer necessary. > The Difference > > Presenting tobacco companies, for example, the challenge to "cut cost" leaves > them to curtail the same areas government was trying to regulate in the first > place. Those areas offer the greatest savings. > > Dividing tobacco related medical cost between each smoker comes to about > $2,500 a year. That's about $1,000 per American family. Eliminating teenage > smoking will reduce much of this cost. Moderation taking the place of > compulsively smoking packs of cigarettes a day would cut cost even further. > > The difference is that government regulation is replaced with the savvy and > resources of a tobacco industry now redirected to meeting these same goals--- > moderate smoking and teenage smokers curtailed. > > Manufacturers will prove more effective then government bureaucrats at > implementing needed safeguards whether via product design, marketing or > compensation. Or they will go out of business and be replaced by one capable > of meeting "market demands." > > Public Policy Formula > Charging the social-cost upon these products makes them expensive > proportionate to the gravity of their "sin" or vice--social cost. As prices > rise, consumption is reduced. > > Cigarettes will go from being a staple of "spastics" to a social, high-end > luxury. Abusive, mass smoking will be tempered. The very goals of government > regulation will have automatically been achieved. > > ROOPA is the duel track of moral and economic imperatives run side by side. > The "true-price" is the deterrent, the penalty and the social compensation > all in one. Further regulatory tampering by church or state is no longer > necessary. > > The true-price tag combines morality and government legislation into an > all-purpose, easy-to-use formula for public policy. It's no longer necessary > to create new policy directives from scratch with each new issue. > > Such an automated system shuts out the politics of "special-interest." > Political corruption and bureaucracy is effectively abolished. Conspiracies > of all kinds--eliminated. It's much harder for multi-nationals to hide their > products social-cost then it is for "them" to blackmail, bribe or sabotage > our government. > > Today's system of justice and reform relies on the integrity of our > politicians, the competency of our government and the righteousness of our > courts. Does anyone else see a problem here? Compromise anyone of these > institutions and the whole system shuts down. This is the story of Washington. > > The U.S. government's struggle with the tobacco industry offers a case in > point. > > Kenneth Starr's law office is a primary law firm of the tobacco industry. > Starr's "independent-counsel" of the White-Water Investigation left Clinton a > weakened president. Clinton's mandate for tobacco reforms was left tethered > in scandal. This saved the tobacco industry hundreds of billions of dollars. > > HMOs, oil companies, nursing homes, the gun lobby--among others, were all > targeted in Clinton's original political itinerary. The impeachment trial > changed all that. Clinton's subdued presidential agenda saved multinationals > trillions. > > Conspiracy or coincidence? It does not matter. ROOPA does not rely on these > government institutions and so can avoid the political shell-games of these > staged scandals. ROOPA bypasses these snags--whether of government bungling > or corporate manipulation. > > ROOPA uses one simple formula: modifying the government's power-to-forgive > perpetrators for (economic) damages to third party victims. The most common > victim is the American taxpayer. ROOPA does not introduce a new tax. It's the > same tax system we have today. The only difference is that politicians can no > longer arbitrarily forgive Big Business from covering their FAIR share. All > of it. No more black mailing or bribing politicians out of one's social cost. > This is all ROOPA ask. > > ROOPA will do for social justice, political reform and economic policy what > credit cards and ATM machines did for banking. ROOPA is the social > "Debit-Card-of-Justice." Automated, concise and universally accessed with > ease. Its primary function: to tally and charge offenders the total cost of > their social damages. > > > > True Free Market > > Higher costs, means less smoking. Less smoking means less medical cost. As > the social (medical) cost drop, so too will the price of cigarettes. When > smoking rises, so too will the social cost and wholesale/retail prices along > with it. > > It's a natural balance between consumer and manufacturer and the public good. > A regulating government middleman is no longer needed. > > ROOPA IS THE ONLY, one true, "Free Market System." Today's global economy > demands "ECO-nomic" and social-cost subsidizes. Today's free market system is > therefore as much a fraud as it is a corruption. > > Tobacco is a $40 billion a year industry. Its social-cost in medical > expenses--$100 billion a year. Smoking consumes more than double in > social-medical subsidies then it generates in economic activity. Gambling and > liquor have a much higher ratio of social-cost subsidy. > > These subsidies represent an economic policy of diminishing returns. It's a > zero sum game. Therefore, segments of the economy and the population have to > be targeted to makeup "the difference." It's the most vulnerable that are > left to pay. > > Washington provides the tobacco industry with a $100 billion a year in > medical cost subsidies to smokers. Yet, our politicians refuse to spend the > $65 billion that could cover America's remaining 45 million uninsured. Much > of these economic shortfalls are `Made from the hides of the third world > people.' > > ROOPA pinpoints those activities of diminishing returns. ROOPA separates them > from activities of "sustainable yield" like education and family. ROOPA > brings tobacco, liquor and other vices to pay "the difference" of their > social-cost subsidies. Paying this difference makes them economically > self-sustaining. Healthcare premiums are instantly reduced by 60% to 80%. > Universal health care--affordable for all. > > Today's "free-market" also demands massive cash bailouts--CONSTANTLY. There's > the billions pumped into Tiger or Capital Investments Corp or Citicorp Bank. > Then we have the hundreds of billions spent bailing out the Asian and South > American stock markets laid waste by foreign investors' `hot money.' > > ROOPA does not require these regular taxpayer bailouts or eco-subsidies. > These costs will now be covered by those responsible for creating them. ROOPA > is a natural market balance and therefore, the one and only true free-market > system. > > This natural-balance allows ROOPA to level the playing field from today's > lopsided economic policy standards between international investors and third > world countries. > > Foreign investors cried foul (political-corruption) over water `subsidies' > for Mexican farmers, over Indonesia's food and fuel price subsidies for the > poor and over medical care for South Korean's. Billions of the world's most > vulnerable people crushed into dire poverty in the name of `free-market > reforms.' > > Somehow, these same `experts' turn a blind eye to tobaccos medical cost, the > US meat industry's free grazing rights for cows on public lands and the > billions more in public services spent on gambling's dire social ills. > Today's `free-market' seems FREE for but a select few-those of vice. ROOPA > makes it `free' for all. > > > > Economic Democracy > > Democracy is governance of the people, by the people. ROOPA is the next step. > ROOPA is governance of ones' self. > > ROOPA is the self-regulation of ones own activities through NATURAL price > restraints. The price will represent the true-cost of ones' activities and > (moral) lifestyle choices: Economic Democracy. > > Our present system does not allow us these options. Today, you are > blackmailed into covering a smoker's medical treatment via way of higher > taxes and high insurance premiums. Either pay it or forfeit your health > coverage and IRS compliance. > > This has been the only option for the 45 million American's now without > health insurance and the additional 35 million with patchy HMO (non) > coverage. Nearly 50% of all personal bankruptcies for example, are due to > "medical reasons." (Time5/15/00) This does not include the tens of millions > buried under by today's tax policies. > > With ROOPA, you can eliminate these penalty expenses by simply not smoking. > Your family would save $1,000 a year in tax and insurance premiums. You can > again reduce your tax and medical premiums by not drinking. You can reduce it > further by eating organically grown produce and wholesome foods. > > Cancer causing pesticide grown foods will now prove more expensive as will > meat and junk foods. They will now bare the medical cost of treating > pesticides cancer-victims or other dietary related ailments. > > Corporate, modern agriculture may not prove the most competitive farming > system after including all its eco-social, medical cost. ROOPA exposes all > such economic distortions and transforms them into economically > self-sustaining activities. > > ROOPA is representative of a simple and obvious economic truth. People will > either cover the social-cost of their activities or someone else will have to > cover it for them. > > ROOPA is therefore not optional. It's the only option. We either have smokers > cover their cancer cost or we will have to cover it for them. Given that a > growing number of us can ill afford these rising healthcare premiums, more of > us are left forfeiting all other healthcare benefits. It's becoming an all or > nothing game. For the 45 million American's without insurance, there is no > other option. ROOPA is the only option. > > Why should smokers cover the cost of an alcoholic's liver problems? Why > should alcoholics cover for smoker's lung problems? Why should the rest of us > pay for either of them? Let them cover their own cost. Welcome to the > responsibility of adulthood, capitalism, the free-market and democracy. > Welcome to ROOPA. > > > > Cost: $5.00 > > It's about 5 bucks above today's price. It cost about $4 per pack of > cigarettes. For $5 bucks more, smokers can have full medical coverage for all > smoking related treatments--free. No more punishing insurance premiums. > Government harassment, restrictions and penalties-gone. > > Is that worth 5 bucks!? This comes to 50 cents a cigarette. It's about 30 > cents more over today's 20 cents per cigarette. Is it worth the 30 cents? > > > > How to Start? > > ROOPA only needs one thing. YOU. Just tell others about it. Do you know 12 > people who would be willing to tell 12 people? It means telling just one > person a month. > > Talking to just one person, who then tells one person, who also tells one > person a month means 200,000 supporters in the first year. It will reach 800 > million people by the 2nd year. That's if we start with a mere 100 people. > > > You can reach nearly a billion people by telling just 12!?! Reaching just 1% > of this means 8 million people speaking in one voice. > > > > The ROOPA Party > > A broad-based, grassroots, independent Third Party "of the people, by the > people and for the people" will have finally been born. No money. No media. > No politicians. No multinational influences. It's you and your friends using > your own voice. Nothing more. Welcome to the ROOPA Party. We can have all > this in place for the next elections in 2 years from now. > > This is the power of each of us taking just a little responsibility. It means > telling just one person a month and paying 30 cents more per cigarette. It's > small enough to change the world. This is the secret formula of democracy and > it's economic counterpart--ROOPA. > > > > Law Suits or ROOPA > > It comes down to this. We either go with ROOPA or stay with its evil cousins: > Big Brother, political corruption, class action lawsuits, and high premiums > and taxes. These are the only two choices. > > Lawsuits are a sloppy version of ROOPA. The billion dollar rewards are > attracting lawyers in mass. Some version of ROOPA is gradually being > instituted throughout every industry. Attorneys will make sure of it. Why not > have the real-thing? > > Lawsuits charge offenders for only a few of the victims and a small portion > of the total social-cost. ROOPA provides all victims full compensation and > does so in partnership with manufacturers and consumers without the middlemen > bandits of lawyers and politicians. > > Which do you prefer? Lawyers and politicians deciding what's best for you or > you deciding what's best for you in each dollar you spend? Lawsuits or > ROOPA!? > > Today, the choice is yours. So begins our Economic Democracy. > > > Available at www.ROOPA.org > > Volume 1 > Introduction: Shown above. > Preface > Chapter 1 Not a Moral Quest, But Economic One > Ch. 2 Common In Courts, Business & Public Policy > Ch. 3 Modern Economics: Little More Than Theories & Ideology > Ch. 4 Fed.s vs. Tobacco: Case in Point > Ch. 5 Starr & Tobacco Connection: Trillions Saved > Ch. 6 ROOPA: Shortcuts Corruption & Gov't Bungling > Ch. 7 Price Tag: Morality & Regulation in One/Greater the Vice; Greater the > Price > Ch. 8 Product: Producer's Baby & Responsibility > Ch. 9 ELIMINATED: Bureaucracy, Corruption & Taxes > Ch. 10 ROOPA Cost: $5 more per pack (of cigarettes) > Ch. 11 Reach A Billion People by Telling Just 1 A Month, > Welcome to the ROOPA Party > Ch. 12 ROOPA: Economic Democracy > > Contact: Anudasa > John/Raghu PO Box 1108 Hilo HI 96721 PH. # 323 969-4727 > > > > > This is an information resource and discussion group for people interested in the World's Ancient Vedic Culture, with a focus on its historical, archeological and scientific aspects. Also topics about India, Hinduism, God, and other aspects of World Culture are welcome. > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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