Pillar Number 1 - The Gaia Principle

The Gaia Principle stands for “Guaranteed Annual Income for All”. Every country in the world has been designated a monetary amount that represents a “living wage”. There are many definitions of this but they all basically resemble this one: “The living wage is defined as a regional calculation that looks at the amount that a family of four needs to earn to meet their expenses. The living wage includes costs like rent and groceries as well as items like extended health care and two weeks' savings for each adult.” This is in no way to be confused with “minimum wage” which is almost always lower than a living wage.

To simplify this proposal, in Nexus, every individual over 21 years of age is guaranteed to earn this amount every year. For all those who are earning a living wage already, this proposal doesn’t affect you. For those of you who are earning less than a living wage, this proposal would be a supplement to that. For those of you who are earning nothing, you will take full advantage of this proposal.

Sounds like a lot of money. How can we possibly pay for this? I am going to look at a number of scenarios to help explain how this is completely feasible as a concept. I am going to start with Canada because I know it well, and let this model stand for the U.S., Europe and several other countries who fall into this category. I have consciously chosen to compare each situation/country in their own currency and in Canadian dollars (CAD) as a direct confrontation to the American dollar being used as the global standard. All of this will change as we transition.

In Canada, a living wage is currently set at $30,000. Less than 10% of Canadians make less than this amount and so only 10% of Canadians would be affected.  Upon enacting this principle, you can eliminate all aspects of the so called “safety net”. No welfare, no employment insurance (or unemployment insurance as it used to be called). No need to talk about or debate minimum wage. You can eliminate the entire infrastructure that supports these programs. How much is saved in Canada alone with this proposal?

China. A living wage is said to be 36,000 CNY per year, or $6,800 CAD. This is a country where the richest 1 percent owns more than one-third of the total national household wealth, while the poorest 25 percent owns less than 2 percent. A huge cost to enact GAIA. So, even with the elimination of all social support programs and the infrastructure that support them, the money has to come from somewhere. Be patient, this is only the first of the four pillars. 

India. A living wage is said to be 240.000 Rupees/year ($4,500 CAD). India's average national income is about Rs 132,300 a year. However, 80% of Indians earn less than the average. Only 6% Indians earn more than Rs 240,000 a year. The top 1% make Rs 800,000 on average.

 Argentina – 13,000 Argentine pesos/month – 156,000/year ($3,500 CAD)

 Bangladesh – 15,000 Taka/month – 180,000 Taka/year ($3,000 CAD) Sweatshop workers in Bangladesh are paid just 30 CAD dollars per month. And that's the official minimum. Most workers only get 17-20 CAD dollars per month.

Ghana – 1,000 Ghanaian Cedis/month – 12,000 Cedis/year ($2,800 CAD)

What this means globally is that all programs related to social services as well as monies from aid organizations (which is almost always tied to something nefarious) would cease, would be redundant. What is the global saving from that? Is it a kinder, gentler world where no one any longer will ever have to submit themselves to a means test in order to receive a subsidy?