— Bob-a-job-alog-a-roonie

Many people hate the work for the dole scheme, and for many good reasons. But maybe the concept can be turned on its head, to benefit the unemployed?

What if there was a voluntary organisation, of unemployed people, who because they have some time on their hands, help out in the local community?

• Self-organised, and therefore learning how to organise
• Respected for their can-do attitude
• Looks great on a resume – the opposite of a dole bludger
• Develop skills

If successful, it could become a legitimate to satisfy mutual obligation requirements.

When people vote, they feel empowered.

When people are polled, they only feel good if the majority of people surveyed agreed with them.

Idea: National poll of people eligible to vote, asking them a single question with two answers to choose from.

Our society is programmed to need to know the result of the election/vote or poll…

The government chooses questions that it expects the majority to get wrong. And the majority gets it wrong.

Then, most of the population will feel little, and bow down to the government that is smarter than them.

(the pic is from a fenced community farm at my back door, that is open to the public during daytime…)

The problem is teenagers without purpose outside of school, purposelessness that can lead to drugs, crime and even terrorism.

The goal is for teens to be given an opportunity to work together, with no hierarchy, to achieve a goal, with no skills required, for reward.

It should appeal to those who most need it.

Using nature makes sense, so the idea of running a farm has merit, and is already being used, albeit supervised:

https://farmandwilderness.org/tamarack-farm/activities/
http://wolfesneckfarm.org/teen-ag/
https://www.sdmf.org.au/youth-progams/triple-care-farm
http://www.knightfarm.co.uk/farming-for-teens

These are typically places where you need to travel to, and stay at, and you need to apply or qualify.

I’m thinking of a more local community, anarchistic model.

Unfortunately it does require money from a benefactor, but it may be money well spent. The local council is a good fit.

Some empty urban land (or any land close to where the teenagers live) needs to be gifted or loaned. Ideally it needs work to make it fit, especially demolition work like breaking up concrete or removing weeds.

A plan that is gamified.

For example:

1. Getting a minimum of 5 teens involved unlocks some tools

2. Clearing the land unlocks timber

3. Building raised vegie beds unlocks seeds or seedlings

4. A successful harvest, sold or distributed to the needy, unlocks the equipment for building a chicken coop

5. Building the coop unlocks chickens

6. Distribution of eggs unlocks some recycled items to be turned into artistic pieces or statues

A key aspect is that the quality of the work will never be judged. However if the entire project is mistreated or not valued, it can be stopped.
Anyone of a certain age (and perhaps males only) in the local area can participate. The only requirement is parental approval. Those with parental approval will have their names written somewhere permanent on the land, like painted on a wall, or something more difficult like etched into stone.

Work can only occur during daylight.Instructions and information will be provided.

There will be no direct supervision. There will be no team leaders or hierarchy, and participants will be told to keep it that way. Each person contributes as much as they feel they can, and to the best of their abilities. Nobody should judge the work of others.

Obviously there can be regulatory hurdles, such as health and safety, and protecting property from theft or vandalism.

If a CCTV was actively monitored by adults during all daylight hours, and recording at night, that could help with the hurdles.

The property could be fenced in and locked during darkness by a responsible adult who otherwise has no contact with the property.

If successful, the completed farm will still need ongoing work, and new teens can take the place of others. Teens will get the most value if they are there from the beginning, and constructing. Restarting this process in future years without destroying what is built is a problem to deal with at the time.

The concept could be trialled for a TV doco.

An it harm none, do what ye will

Three facets, freedom, libertarianism and social. Freedom to do as you will, as long as it harms nobody. A few rules and as little rule as possible. And a mandate to make sure everyone is looked after. Libertarianism with a soul.

You can’t look after everyone without tax (unless the whole planet receives an epiphany). So everything will rotate around how this tax is raised.

The available Tax choices are:

• GST / VAT – when you buy something
• Income – when you earn something
• Payroll – when you hire someone
• Resource – when you use resources that (should) belong to everyone
• Corporations – to limit their success, tax them more

In all cases the model is the same – the more you do, the more you pay. This promotes moderation.

Medicine

Deconstruct the system, use technology. If I know I have gastro, I can stay at home, self-test, and come back to work/society when I feel better. No need to go out there and spread my germs.

Home treatments reduce the risk of hospital-acquired disease. If the patient is in control, they can demand cleanliness.

Social Welfare

What we need is a mix of giving useful employment to those that will benefit from it (most people need a purpose/station in life, and won’t think too deeply about what it really is), and allowing the artists, mystics, intellectuals and the genuinely useless to sponge off the state.

Military

One of the main reasons for countries forming (in ancient times) was that a national force could protect individual communities much better than they could on their own. Lefties and greenies are typically anti-military, because individually they tend to be pacifists. When running a country, pacifism has its limits – even Switzerland has an army. In fact the Swiss model is one that could be adapted – it has only 5% career soldiers and does not participate in foreign conflicts (with the exception of peace-keeping roles). Australia has two key differences to Switzerland which need to be addressed:

Geography – as a massive country with a low population, there is a strong need for local militia.

USA – being a close military ally with the USA has numerous benefits, and the relationship should be maintained to some degree. With very few career soldiers, the Swiss model could be modified so that there is some foreign conflict participation, but only by commandos fulfilling elite roles.

Education

This is probably the trickiest to get right.

A national system works best, because otherwise we’ll have people shifting states to get an advantage for their kids – and that isn’t efficient.

I propose a system similar to the pole vault in the Olympic Games – if you pass a standard level, you get to try the next level. No more scores. Just passed / didn’t pass. With quite a few levels. They could even break down the tests by category.

Drugs and Marriage

Freedom to do as you will as long as it harms none. If drugged drivers becomes a problem, the solution is punishment for those actually impaired – not someone who had a puff on a joint 2 weeks ago.

Any human marriage should be legitimate  – it is the second most primal purpose after making kids. Why make such a fundamental aspect of life exclusive to a self-righteous majority?

Refugees

Assess at the source – their actual country of citizenship. Much easier than when they have arrived here without papers…

Provide guaranteed work. Most likely better than where they came from. Base the refugee system on the rest of Australian society… if you are fit and able to work, you should. If you are hopeless, we’ll look after you. If you want to learn, you can.