NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2010 - ISSUE 3

FEATURE: Atlas at Work

Humanities drive for self-improvement and education has been largely motivated by our greed based monetary system. If banks and our monetary system failed today with our current social views and conditioning, without a change in our core values, millions would suffer. Atlas was created with the idea that a smooth transition from our greed based monetary system to a resource based economy is not only possible, but humanity is morally required to make every effort to do so. Atlas is the proof of concept that will pave the way to a better value system that replaces greed. A place where people start recognizing we are all one race, one tribe, and that we are capable of doing better than we have at managing resources for each other and the world. To make this transition from our greed based monetary system to the resource based economy, we must first prove that such an option is viable to mainstream society. We must demonstrate that we value each other and the personal contributions we are capable of making to society. In this, we will prove that money will not dictate who we are and what we will do any more. By pursuing our personal ambitions, motivated by the pleasure of what we enjoy and believe we can contribute, we will spend our lives in continual self-improvement. Without money holding us back, free and abundant education will encourage people to explore their potential as has never been seen before. By celebrating each other's successes, encouragement and recognition it may replace money and greed.

Today, most people are conditioned to disbelieve that people are capable of working without money. They do not believe that a social system would be successful without the greedy desires they we're conditioned to respond to. Many cannot resist calling these efforts of social change slanderous names of failed social systems in the past; however, Atlasians know that this assumption is false. Not only are we doing it, as there are no paid positions in Atlas Initiative Group or the Atlas City Project, but we can also see pockets of society who have achieved this ideal, such as the... Read More

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SPOTLIGHT: Newest Organizers

Currently a sophomore at Oklahoma City Community College, in addition to healthcare Jennifer is interested in art, painting, crafting, reading books that she finds interesting, and she is excited to help make Atlas City become a reality with great healthcare services. She was attracted to Atlas because of the Resource Based Economy that Atlas will be based on and also the life in Atlas where people will not worry about their lives and they can do what they want that will make them happy. Her vision in health care for Atlas is to provide the best health care that will work effectively not only in treating and curing diseases, cancers, and infections, but also preventing them..

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Green Valley High graduate, Amanda started her own business in an interactive dinner theatre. Amanda Wood managed the major fundraiser of Showgirls Across America, walk to New York for muscular dystrophy, with over 400 contenders. She also did the Santa walk raising money for orphans and providing for children's needs. Amanda has excellent fundraising experience and has already provided some great ideas launching Atlas Initiative into its first fundraising opportunities. A huge supporter of Atlas City, she is excited to raise funds to make it a reality.

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Money VS Motivation

"What motivates a person to work when there is no money involved?" This is a conversation that everyone in RBE should be used to by now. Unfortunately for most of us, it is not always a simple and eloquent explanation that is returned. Sometimes it is much easier to remember a few facts, interesting stats, and in a sequential type of order so that your retort will be appropriate. It needs to emphasize just how easy, simple differences will create a new paradigm, and just how simple some of these steps may be achieved. For many, just understanding supply and demand, less wasteful processes, and what changes this could bring about should be sufficient to open their minds to new ways of doing old things.

Let's start with the factors of supply and demand. In the past, and unfortunately still occurring, supply and demand is based on scarcity. We don't have enough of this material or product for everyone to have one so whoever can pay this high price gets one. However, if we really look into it there is very little necessity for such scarcity today. Numbers from 70-85% of all produced materials end up in a land fill within 6 months are tossed around it shows a complete bass-acwards way of doing things. Granted we are becoming better at recycling every year (numbers range from 20-30% on average per state for glass and aluminum) we still have an inordinate amount of waste. I've heard claims of even higher percentages for food when you consider nearly 60% of most produce don't even make it to the store due to physical imperfections. How can we sustain such waste and thoughtlessness?! We can't. Thus supply and demand, global warming, shortages in food and power, and many other aspects of our society that ail us and the planet are prevalent.

From beauty products to clothes to every other material possession we create a proliferation of waste through encouragement of dozens of competitive brand names. Yes, competition can bread creativity at times, but when you have to spend $50 just because your T-shirt says "Hilfiger" or "Abercrombie" there has obviously been a misconception of worth and competitive usefulness. In large part, the only way to move away from planned obsolescence is to encourage only the construction of useful products. Every item you buy is a vote. It's a vote to keep that product around and make more of it. Let's say you purchase a generic mouthwash that is just as good at the top five brands, but much cheaper. If this action becames the majority, this simple action of buying in an intelligent way could get rid of dozens of other brands which gets rid of countless amounts of energy waste and product waste. Sure, there are often minute differences in reality that may keep a product around longer, but the concept is the same. The first step is to no longer encourage destructive construction. By creating less waste there is more material that can go around, making production of necessary and useful products much cheaper. Less waste- more material for cheap- more products for cheap (in this case less is more).

National Geographic states that it takes "95% less energy to make a can from recycled material then new." It's amazing how many cities and states don't make recycling a higher priority when the time and energy requirements to mine raw minerals is extreme and damaging. Raw materials are not the only thing readily wasted as "It has also been estimated that about 25% of the world's food supply is lost as a result of microbial spoilage. In the United States, this adds up to an economic loss of $1 billion per annum" (http://www.daniscocare4u.com/contaminations.html). This is clearly an inefficiency in crop production and transportation. It makes sense from a certain standpoint. By creating the jobs that create the waste you make people content that they have a job, and then you create jobs to clean up the waste. You have now created jobs from nothing. Despite the quantities of avoidable jobs created there are still the highest unemployment rates the United States and other western cultures have seen in decades. When you also take into consideration the great automation technologies being held back due to public misconception that losing their job is a negative consequence you can see how far off our culture is from its true potential.

So what can be expected in the typical Atlas work day? When realizing how many jobs are no longer required in a resource-based economy (store clerks, banks, etc.), and the highly automation of mundane occupations it has been estimated that about 70% of the work hours can be reduced when compared to other cities/communities of similar size and population. That means that all residents will only work part-time and have much greater luxury and study time. Less work hours, reduced work stress and unpleasant jobs, decreased worry about job stability, and a tapering off of job monotony will make those few work hours a pleasantry compared to most jobs today. If you are bored one place or can no longer work the same job for physical reasons you can be shifted to another occupation easily. So ask yourself, is money more motivating to you? Wouldn't you rather work less and have more? This is not an attempt at the "lifestyles of the rich and the famous" nor a utopian community, but a practical lifestyle with a plentiful supply of what is needed and beyond. That's pretty good motivation to me.
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How to Save a Penny: Television Services

Television is another one of those services that has increased their already outrageous bills every few years, not to mention all the little add-ons that they will never tell you what it's really for (believe me, I called each month). It's time to get away from big cable and satellite companies for our visual entertainment needs. There was a day when the "Black box" or hooking up to a neighbor's cable line was the only way to get things for free, but no longer. Here are a few cheap and free (and legal) alternatives for the media junkie in all of us.

Netflix, despite all of the negative comments from other companies, is a very reliable and easy service. Starting at just $9 a month, this alternative gives you access to hundreds of movies and seasons to watch instantly online. Most new game systems allow for Netflix use as do newer DVD players and the Netflix receiver. If your cheap like me you can always try to just plug your computer right into the TV as well. For those movies you can't watch instantly you may have to wait a day for it to come in the mail. That sure beats $150 a month for many full package cable packages, or going to a movie (that averages around $11 these days).

Hulu and Google videos, along with a few other online sites, give instant and free access to thousands of movies. You won't get the latest from Hollywood, but many documentaries and artistic films are always available. Make sure you stick to the main sites, however, due to the fact that there are more viruses out there than ever. With a little caution you have nothing to worry about. There is also the issue of downloading torrents and other file transfer technologies, but legal and safety issue change so often you will have to do a little research yourself and determine if this is a route you would like to take.

FTA, or free-to-air, receivers is another great technology to get free satellite feeds. It's similar to the old black box of cable days, but works on many satellite based systems. This is a technology that has been out for years not, but only recently gained a lot of momentum. There are many companies out there, such as SatMonster (SatMonster.com), that sell these receivers and can usually cover the issue of installation. Of course, if your home already has a Dish Network or other applicable service previously set up it's nearly plug-and-play. The question I hear most are concerns if it's legal since the black box was not. All signs point to yes! These signals are thrown out there so if you make a receiver that can accept the signal that is already directed at your house (and the whole continent) it is not illegal for you to do so. If you still have concerns then Google that question and you will be told 50 different ways that it's completely legal. I wouldn't recommend asking your current provider, however, since they will likely lie to scare you away from taking away their income stream.

Computer to DVR is another greatly underappreciated technology. It was possible to watch television on your computer and save it to your hard drive years before the first TiVo DVR came out. Most modern desktops need a TV receiver card (and other alternatives are available) plus some recording software and your set. It's amazing how much free software is out there specifically for this purpose. These also change very frequently so I would look into Consumer Reports or your favorite computer science magazine to see what tests and reviews they have available.

So there you go. You now have almost a half dozen ways to minimalize or eliminate your television utility bill. In times like this, it's good to save every dollar you can. "We make use of a service already existing without paying for what could be dirt-cheap if it wasn't run by profiteering gluttons."

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