Visitors since April 8, 1999 :

The Bahia project

To: bioregional@csf.colorado.edu
From: "Wim A. de Bruyn"
Subject: Re: Ecological version of the free market economy
Cc: Durval Olivieri

Hello Durval,

On Thu, 25 Mar 1999 11:45:56 -0300, you wrote :

>Greetings,
>As I said in order to try to gather some ocal interest I kindly ask you
>something like a preliminary draft of a program - something like one page.
>Thanks, Durval

A university can process costs of living data with its Electronic Data Processing infrastructure. This treatment assures a scientific base for the public accounting of costs of living. Funds can be found to improve this infrastructure, if necessary. The professors, other academic personnel and employees of the university would be the most logical group of consumers to be invited to participate in the research project to test in Bahia whether mankind can control the sense of development in the free market economy. Their salaries might put them in the group of income earners who could gain from declaring on their income tax declaration forms their costs of living with ecological products as ZERO research costs for processes that assure income for eternity. They will have a legal base to deduct these costs from their taxable income, after the trial process about the costs of recreation of the yachts' people who participate in "the race". These costs will also have been declared as ZERO research costs. A positive verdict would supply the information for the university personnel that should enable them to deduct these costs from their taxable income in the order established by law in the free market economy. Moreover, university personnel have the qualifications to account for their costs of living with the data that qualifies the ecological value of a product.

This data is the percentage of the price of a product that corresponds with its costs of production with goods and services from processes that assure income for eternity.

The producers who supply the goods and services with which the personnel of the university sustains its way of living, can also participate in the project. They therefore have to indicate this percentage on or for all the products with which they participate. For the ecological products of producers who do not present this percentage, an average percentage will be calculated, after a scientific analysis of the qualities of the products. For funds to pay for this research can be searched among the international sources of funds for such research.

The personnel of the university would feed the value represented by this percentage of the price of their purchases, together with the values of other parameters of the product, into an Electronic Data Processing information system, at the university. The room, space, building to enter these data into the information system can be a space of research to find out what the most efficient conditions are to collect data about costs of living : a bank, a bar, a club, a society or, or with a confessional. It would be a place where information is exchanged to what extent the goods and services with which we sustain our way of living have been made in processes that assure income for eternity. I expect that not more than 5% of the costs of production of industrial products is for ecological goods or services. Products with the highest percentage on the ecological quality label, would be promoted. It would also be the place to inform the consumers who participate in the project what the impact of their management of the costs of living is on the quality or state of human Nature in their bioregion. The place might also operate a clearing house for people and funds, places and times to develop or apply tools and techniques, means and methods in processes that assure income for eternity. For funds to equip the space to induce the university personnel to account for the ecological quality of their costs of living, can be searched.

Simultaneously, the university would collect data about the arguments of the producers to justify the percentages they claim. This data bank with the qualifications of an ecological product, can be hooked up with data banks about the subject in the information systems of the European Union and other such sources of information. For funds to make such connections and to continue the research can be searched.

At the university in Bahia that would participate, the personnel might live with goods and services produced by people known personally. The justifications of the claims will therefore be simple. Whatever this producer transmits as information to support his or her claim will be accepted as truth. Values, such as for biodiversity, biodegradability qualify the ecological value of a product. There must be other parameters that value this quality. These values will be established for the products of the producers participating in the project. How to improve these values could be a research project in which the producers co-operate with the university. The producers can suggest improvements, while giving feedback over the results of applying the advice or using the tools developed by the university in its development of processes that assure income for eternity. Funds to enable this co-operation would have to be found among the funds available for this kind of research.

In societies in which the personal contact with the producers of the goods and services with which we sustain our way of living has been lost, this administration will be more complex, but also more refined. It might take some time to get this percentage for goods and services produced at industrial scale.

An efficient way to test the impact of the management of the costs of living on production processes in the Bahia project, is with products from producers for whom the demand of the personnel of the university represents an important part of their revenues from sales. Another way to test this impact is with products from producers known by the consumer personally : the baker and other artisans. The next expenses which would be analysed to test this effectiveness in the research project, would be for products made in the bioregion, preferably with goods and services from the region. A university in a rural area would therefore be an efficient place to test the impact of the management of the costs of living on production processes.

The university, its personnel and the producers of the ecological goods and services with which they live, will delimit a zone within which all these goods and services are exchanged for money. The zone would grow when other universities would join the zone with their personnel and their producers. The zone would grow or become more dense when other government employees would join the scientific research project : how to manage the costs of living to maintain the integrity of human Nature. Afterwards, the project could be opened up to the public in the zone established by state employees during scientific research in the order established by law. The zone can grow with the speed with which the information system that collects and processes costs of living data, is developed.

Bahia project and "the race"

The project in Bahia will be connected with "the race" by the ZERO costs of research quality of costs of living in both projects. This connection will be reinforced in public attention and publicity for the Bahia zone, when a yacht with a crew from members of the university personnel participates in "the race" to transport ecological products from the Bahia zone. This promotion for the Bahia ecological products with quality label will increase demand for these products and will make their price increase. The more profitable the producers are in the Bahia project, the more they demonstrate the productive value of managing the costs of living. Sponsors will therefore be searched to enable a Bahia yacht and crew to participate, once a university has been found.

Mohamed Trad will approach the American university of Beirut with a request to develop an information system with data about "the race". He will also invite a group of students to crew a yacht that participates in "the race". He might already have done so. When students and the university get involved, the Lebanese government might get involved, he informed me. Mohamed Trad is also subscribed to the bioregional list. The university of Brussels will most likely put its faculty of information science at the disposal of the project to integrate both information systems. This would make the project eligible for funding from European sources. The nascent information system of the Bahia test zone will set an example how such zones can be developed in other bioregions.

It might seem like pushing the sense of martial arts to its limits of refinement, by sponsoring a yacht with which the generals and admirals of Brazil can participate in "the race". The result would be an indication of the wisdom of the art. These military chiefs control costs of living of their personnel. They can specify that a maximum of the money to cover these costs should be spent on products with the ecological quality percentage label. Their demand would be adrenaline for the industry that supplies the goods and services with which we live, to produce ecologically. They can hook up their accounting system to the information system about costs of living. The admirals and generals and their armies and fleets could open up a way of living in harmony with Nature by marching into it. Moreover, their presence at "the race" will be good publicity for the Bahia zone. It could improve its attractiveness for investors ; to develop ecological industrial processes that assure income for eternity or to establish an ecological vessel line from and to the Bahia zone, for example. If you think that they or ministers might be interested to be present at "the race", sponsors would be searched to cover the costs of the use of one of these remaining sailing vessels with many masts, owned by states for educational purposes, as the yacht of the admirals and generals and ministers of Brazil to participate in "the race".

Brussels, May 19, 1999

Wim A. de Bruyn

X-Sender: olivieri@seplantec.ba.gov.br
Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 10:25:18 -0300
To: "Wim A. de Bruyn"
From: Durval Olivieri
Subject: Re: Ecological version of the free market economy

I am submitting the project to Prof. Alçeixo Belov, a yachtsman and world circunnavigator. He will decide. Thanks, Durval.


X-Sender: olivieri@seplantec.ba.gov.br
Date: Mon, 09 Aug 1999 19:05:59 -0300
To: "Wim A. de Bruyn"
From: Durval Olivieri
Subject: Re: Drive
Mime-Version: 1.0
Status:

Dear Wimm,
I do not see many people yet interested in a more comprehensive sustainable
living. While that matures we will try the modest porposal of law for a
small percentage of the stete sales tax to be applied in deductions for
projects to save the green in private lands. Do you have any suggestions?
The idea is to invest about two or three million dollars in the first year.
Best regards,
DO

To: Durval Olivieri
From: "Wim A. de Bruyn"
Subject: Re: Drive
Cc: Mohamed Trad

Hello Durval,

This is good news.

I suggest to spend these two or three million dollars to introduce the ZERO label into an area. A publicity firm could develop a campaign energising the MUDA of the label ; the low level of the percentages would stir the conscience of both producers and consumers. This awakening conscience would make them aware of the potential of consumers to improve this percentage with their demand. The low percentage, their conscience and interests would make them aware that consumers can give sense to development with the capacity to deduct costs of living from taxable income. With a good campaign, both producers and consumers would be captured by MUDA. This fascination would raise their personal and financial interests to drive each other to adopt the label. The label could be introduced in a test area to test the potential of consumers to give sense to development in a scientific research project to test a theory.

The instructions to the publicity firm would therefore be to maximise the number of producers who give the percentage to put on the ZERO label and to maximise the number of sales people to offer ZERO label products, because a maximum number of consumers would ask for them. The campaign would be considered successfull when so many producers and consumers in the area would have adopted the label, that it would be sound to continue the project.

When the results of the campaign would begin to confirm that the logic of the theory is valid in reality, parts of available funds could be used to establish the ZERO label as an element in an operating information system about costs of living.

I am confident that the chosen publicity firm would have insight in opening a way of living in harmony with Nature, with a good campaign.

Thank you for asking.