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The Social Dividend

Foreword of Personal Rights, and page 35,
(See page 4, Reinstatement

Freedom and Dignity.)
Did you know that the Social We have entered the Fourth l It is important for the
Dividend could save the Industrial Revolution . Do we reader to understand why we
1
planet but that consumer- not recognize that progress call this income source a So-
ism will destroy it? and automation could liberate cial Dividend. Each citizen is a
Yes! Technology and auto- us to a life of leisure and freely capitalist, the owner of a social
mation render human labour chosen activities? Instead we and commonly-owned capital.
obsolete in production. The are stressed because of eco- When this capital is fruitful, each
present shortage of manpower nomic insecurity. citizen must receive their share
in some regions is temporary What is missing in our so- of the profits in the form of a So-
and is related to demography. cieties? Why must we always cial Dividend.
Progress in robotics and artifi- run? Work, work, work! Why (See page 35, The Social
cial intelligence have led us to a are people so stressed? Dividend and Commonly-
new industrial era. According to These questions will be an- Owned Capital, and page 37,
the consulting firm, McKinsey & swered in this booklet. Inheritance and Heirs.)
Company, 800 million workers
risk losing their jobs to robots l We have a situation in
by 2030. which products that people
Finding new jobs to replace want are not sold due to a lack
those made redundant by ro- of purchasing power.
bots will require that new needs (See page 39, The Chronic
and new types of consumption Shortage of Purchasing Power,
habits be created. This will be at and page 41, Progress and
the expense of the planet’s re- Unemployment.)
sources. l Social Dividends would
The Social Dividend de- permit the self-realization of in-
scribed in this booklet would dividuals, families and society.
solve both the employment and
environmental problems facing (See page 43, Beneficial Ef-
Social Dividends would
modern economies. protect the environment while fects of the Social Dividend,
Readers are invited to study allowing individuals to reach and page 45, Objections
this booklet on the Social Divi- their full potential. to the Social Dividend.)
dend and further their under- l Social Dividends are feas-
standing of the economic phil- A Social Dividend, but what for? ible.
osophy of Social Credit. l Each person has the right (See page 46, From Where
There are many questions that to life, integrity, dignity and free- Will the Money Come?)
need answers! dom. In this century of plenty, of Louis Even et the Social Dividend
Does the production system progress and instant communi-
exist to create jobs? Must we cation, it is unconscionable that Louis Even explained the
create new needs for the sole there are people who live in po- Social Dividend in many articles
purpose of replacing jobs lost to verty. on the topic which were pub-
automation? Are we stuck on a 1 The Fourth Industrial Revolution lished in Vers Demain between
treadmill of consumption for the (4IR) is the fourth major industrial era 1939 and 1974. This booklet is a
sake of job creation? Is it inevit- since the initial Industrial Revolution summary of these articles.
able that the planet’s resources of the 18th Century. It is characterized We have developed a Ques-
be depleted? by a fusion of technologies that is blur- tion and Answer format. The
Production economics works ring the lines between the physical, dig- questions are ours and the an-
ital, and biological spheres, collectively
well. Why does the economics called the cyber-physical systems. It is swers are from Louis Even’s ma-
of distribution lag? Why is the fi- marked by emerging technology break- terial. Enjoy your reading!
nancial system so outdated and throughs in a number of fields (www. Lise Rodrigue-Fournier
contrary? wikipedia.com).

34 MICHAEL May/June/July 2019 www.michaeljournal.org