One type of harm, both economic and moral, that can be inflicted on someone is to take away what is theirs. In fact, there are thefts that can destroy lives. For all these reasons, it is something rejected in most cultures. This outrage includes almost as much variety as a fruit and vegetable shop, as it can be direct or indirect, legal or illegal, socially normalized or rejected, and within those categories there are different types.
Read LET US NOT STEAL!, not even in normalized cases
The least obvious ones are institutionalized, of which we will highlight 10 typologies:
Corruption corrodes institutions, the economy, and society. According to studies by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, this scourge reduces economic growth, per capita income, human development, quality of life and opportunities for progress for the population, while also generating inequality. As if that were not enough, it has a positive correlation with mental illness and a negative one with well-being.
Despite all this, this scourge is normalized in many countries, especially in… read more…
Some typical examples are crony capitalism (such as awarding public contracts to “buddies”), “plugging” party members into public companies for well-paid positions for which they are not qualified, revolving doors, the excess of politicians and privileges for them, buying media outlets with public money so that they say what interests the politicians and hide information that they do not want disclosed… read more…
One example is building ruinous infrastructure that is barely used to gain votes in the territories where they are built or to obtain hidden commissions. Another is having civil servants who get paid while barely working. This is a waste they would not commit if they had to pay for it with their own money instead of someone else’s.
This is the case with the tolerance or even legal protection of petty theft or squatting, as happens in Spain.
DO NOT STEAL: Eliminate squatting
Likewise, in some countries there are regulations that in practice prevent the creditor from collecting the amounts owed to them in certain cases. One scenario is when the debtor is insolvent and the State, instead of forcing them to pay through their work, protects them by forgiving their default while punishing the victim.
LET US REPAIR THE HARM!: Let us require work in the event of insolvency
Another type of case is when thieves use a legal entity to incur debts (with suppliers, etc.) and then dissolve it and set up another one to continue operating without having to pay the amounts owed by the first. And the regulations grant them impunity. Some countries, such as Sweden, Denmark, Germany, or the Netherlands, have strict laws to prevent this, but others like Argentina, Mexico, Romania, or Spain are lax.
In these systems, the State steals from some citizens to give those riches to others who vote for or support it (privileges in exchange for votes), such as… read more...
LET’S NOT STEAL!: Let’s rebel against covert servitude
DO NOT STEAL!: Let’s overthrow the parasitic neo-aristocracy
This consists of social security agencies granting disability pensions to people who are actually fit to work. And this is known and accepted by the authorities.
It is carried out through public over-indebtedness to hand out benefits to voters that cannot be afforded with the taxes they pay, so that they can live beyond their means. And then, who will pay the bill for all those luxuries? Those who still cannot vote, including those who have not yet been born, through their future taxes. Let’s learn from responsible countries with little public debt, such as Estonia, Luxembourg, Sweden, or Switzerland.
Public debt primarily makes sense in the same 2 cases as it does for individuals or families: the first is in times of crisis, reducing it when the good times return, and the second is to finance investments that yield a return higher than interest rates, which allows for a profit, economic growth, per capita income, and quality of life in the short, medium, and long term.
This means that some territories excessively appropriate the wealth of others, against their will, because they have … read more…
There are politicians who, in exchange for votes, even try to equate people who give their best with those who follow the law of least effort. It is totally asymmetrical to try to equalize the results of effort and not the effort itself. It is inequitable to mutualize the… read more…
This is the most atrocious and widespread of all institutionalized thefts, by far, as it consists of the law allowing them to be deprived of their freedom, their happiness, their children, their bodies, and their lives—that is, everything, everything, everything. It is… read more…
To finance all of the above, politicians need to carry out a large-scale robbery. In countries rich in natural resources, such as oil, they seize them to feed their patronage network. But since most states are not fortunate enough to have those resources, what they do is milk taxpayers who earn their living through their daily effort, sometimes through exorbitant taxes that plunder most of the wealth they generate.
In some countries, there are people from whom the authorities, after taking most of what they have earned over the course of their lives through multiple taxes, then, when they die, to make matters worse, also confiscate an additional 40% of their assets through inheritance tax. This means that in 2 generations, that tax alone has looted 64% of the family wealth, and in 3 generations, as much as 80%. If the rest of the taxes are added to this, it means that the State has kept almost everything, sometimes to invest and spend it properly, but other times to waste it and steal it.
In other words, they appropriate the bulk of the effort of families who have struggled to leave their descendants in a better situation than the one they found. This is a macro-theft that is not intended to forge a better world in general, but to use schemes to create a better micro-world for certain politicians, their families, and buddies in particular.
Read LET’S LIVE WITHOUT HARMING!: Let’s be honest
LIVING WITHOUT HARMING: Let’s reform society
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO ACHIEVE THIS?
1. Sign to ask all governments to eradicate:
2. Share these signature campaigns and this message.
3. Respect what belongs to others, avoiding all types of theft, including institutionalized ones and those that are more or less socially accepted.
4. Educate others, disapprove of, and oppose any type of looting and trickery. Even maintain a zero-tolerance attitude.
5. Take the most upright countries as an example: Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Switzerland.
6. Vote for upright politicians.
7. Educate children and adolescents in the ethics of uprightness. It must be an INTENSE awareness-raising effort so that it can counteract the natural human inclinations to appropriate what belongs to others… read more at…
LET US AVOID HARM: Let us educate children in the ethics of kindness
Thank you for sharing and contributing to a less kleptocratic and happier world to live in,
Xavier Paya
Living Without Harm initiative
LET’S NOT HARM ANYONE, except in legitimate self-defense against an aggressor.
With the Living Without Harm initiative, we strive to prevent any kind of suffering or harm from being caused to you, your loved ones, and others.
1 Mission: A happier world
3 Goals:
1. Share scientific knowledge about wellbeing.
2. Encourage people not to cause harm.
3. Promote scientific research on quality of life.
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