Use your words

@useyourwords2.bsky.social

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Let’s make basic income and a common wealth fund the next political change. Tell your politicians this is the highest priority for them to achieve

Republicans when someone mentions people on a UBI could choose not to work: "People living without getting jobs and they're not born rich? Well, those are bad people then. If they're born rich, that's okay. But if they're born poor, and they wanna live without working, they're just bad people."
*The Charter of the Forest, Modern Version* King Henry III said: Listen up, dudes — archbishops, bishops, barons, sheriffs, foresters, and everyone else. Out of respect for God and to fix the kingdom, we’re giving you these rights forever: *1. Forest boundaries* Any woods that got made into 'royal forest' by my grandpa Henry II will get checked by good, honest locals. If grandpa took woodland that wasn't his and it hurt the owner, we're undoing that — it goes back to the owner. If it was his own woods, it stays forest, but the locals who used it for grazing and stuff before can keep doing that. *2. Court hassles* If you live outside the forest, you don’t have to show up to forest court anymore just because there’s a general summons — unless you’re actually accused of something or you’re vouching for someone who got arrested for forest stuff. *3. Royal takings* All the forests that my uncle Richard or my dad John grabbed since my first coronation? Those are free again right now, except for the king’s personal woods. *4. Punishments* No more death penalty or cutting off body parts for forest crimes. Dudes caught hunting or taking wood won’t get mutilated. *5. Common rights* You dudes can graze your pigs and livestock, gather honey, firewood, and other resources, and use small rivers and ponds in the forest. Foresters can’t just take your stuff without due process. *6. Oversight* Forest officials can’t abuse power. We’ll have 12-man juries keeping an eye on them. Basically, dudes: the king’s forests aren’t off-limits anymore. You get to use the land for food, fuel, and your animals. These rights are permanent.
Basic security, the psychologists have shown, increases the mental bandwidth. If you're chronically insecure your bandwidth shrinks, your IQ drops and your ability to make good decisions and responsible decisions diminishes. And it is evil of the state to expect people who are chronically insecure to be behaving rationally and with social responsibility. They only become accountable to the state if the state is making sure that they have basic security — and basic security is fundamentally the essence of what is needed in an era of pandemics and an era of chronic uncertainty with unknown unknowns crowding in on us where stress and anxiety develop from insecurities.
According to Justinian’s Institutes, AD 533 There are four types of property: Res privatae — private things Res publicae — public things Res nullius — things that belong to nobody Res communes omnium — things belonging to all of us as commoners The essence of common property is that it belongs to every one of us equally. The word equally is very clear It not only encompasses the land, the sea, the air, the seashore, the seabed, the minerals under the ground but it also encompasses all the institutions that we inherit; that have been built up and accepted as part of the commons and that has been based on a concept of social memory.
How to read it: • 1. Destitute / Indigent – No income, can’t meet basic needs like food, housing, medical care. • 2. Insolvent – Employed, but wages don’t cover expenses. You’re actively losing money and going into debt each month. • 3. Wage Slave – Income barely covers expenses. Paycheck-to-paycheck, zero cushion, no savings. One car repair away from insolvent. • 4. Breaks Even – Income = expenses. Bills are paid but there’s no disposable income for extras, emergencies, or saving. • 5. Gainfully Employed – Income > expenses. You have disposable income for savings, leisure, and some financial breathing room. • 6. Thriving Wage – Income comfortably exceeds expenses. Significant savings, investments, and long-term financial security. The dashed “Expenses” line is the tipping point. Left of it = you’re losing ground. Right of it = you’re building stability.
*OCCUPANT RIGHTS CARD* *Survival Rights Act of 2026* *You have the legal right to:* 1. Access basic necessities: water, food, emergency medical care, permanent housing, clean air 2. Enter public lands for survival purposes 3. Gather, forage, collect water, and construct permanent housing on public lands if the state does not provide housing 4. Protection from denial based on inability to pay, employment status, housing status, disability, or criminal record Federal employees may not remove, dismantle, or cite compliant dwellings. 25,000 dollar civil penalty per violation. 18 U.S.C. 242 applies for willful violations. *To file Notice of Occupancy:* Contact local BLM or USFS office within 30 days. *For violations:* You may bring civil action for injunctive relief and damages. Attorney General may prosecute systemic violations. Section 4(c) & Section 6, Survival Rights Act of 2026
Survival Rights Act of 2026 Section 1. Short Title This Act may be cited as the “Survival Rights Act”. Section 2. Findings and Purpose (a) Congress finds that the deprivation of basic necessities of life threatens public health, safety, and human dignity. (b) The purpose of this Act is to ensure that no person within the United States is denied access to the basic necessities required for survival, including the natural environment necessary to sustain life. Section 3. Definitions For purposes of this Act: (1) Basic necessities means:  (A) Potable water sufficient for drinking, sanitation, and hygiene;  (B) Nutritious food adequate to maintain health and prevent malnutrition;  (C) Emergency medical care necessary to prevent death or serious bodily harm;  (D) Permanent housing, or safe shelter providing protection from environmental exposure if permanent housing is not yet provided;  (E) Access to air meeting minimum federal air quality standards;  (F) Access to natural environments on public lands sufficient to obtain food, water, fuel, and shelter through personal effort, consistent with conservation law. (2) Person means any individual present in the United States, regardless of citizenship or immigration status. (3) Agency to survive means the legal ability of a person to engage in non-commercial acts of gathering, foraging, collecting water, and constructing permanent housing on public lands for purposes of sustaining life, when such housing is not provided by federal, state, or local government.
Common Wealth Fund Act of 2026 Section 1. Short Title This Act may be cited as the “State Common Wealth Fund Act”. Section 2. Establishment (a) There is established in the State Treasury a fund to be known as the “Common Wealth Fund”. (b) Purpose: To invest state revenues for long-term public benefit and to provide annual dividends to eligible residents. Section 3. Funding Sources The Fund shall receive deposits from: (a) 25% of all state revenues from natural resource extraction; (b) 10% of state budget surpluses exceeding $100 million; (c) Voluntary contributions and bequests. Section 4. Management (a) The Fund shall be managed by an independent Board of Trustees appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. (b) Assets shall be invested with the goal of achieving a 5% average annual real return over 20-year periods. (c) No more than 5% of the Fund’s market value may be spent in a single fiscal year. Section 5. Resident Dividend (a) Each eligible resident 18 years or older shall receive an equal annual dividend from the portion appropriated under Section 4(c). (b) Eligibility: Must have been a resident for the full calendar year and not incarcerated for a felony during that year. Section 6. Transparency The Board shall publish an annual report detailing all investments, fees, and dividend calculations.
Universal Basic Income Act of 2026 Section 1. Title This Act may be cited as the “Basic Income for All Act”. Section 2. Establishment of Program (a) The Department of the Treasury shall establish a Universal Basic Income Program. (b) Every eligible citizen or legal permanent resident shall receive a monthly payment of $1,000. Section 3. Eligibility (a) Age: Individuals 18 years of age or older. (b) Residency: Must be a citizen or legal permanent resident for at least 3 years. (c) Income: No income limit or means testing shall apply. Section 4. Funding Payments shall be funded through general federal revenues, including a 3% value-added tax established under this Act. Section 5. Implementation (a) Payments shall begin on January 1, 2027. (b) The Secretary of the Treasury shall issue regulations to implement this Act within 180 days of enactment.
“Is it progress if a cannibal uses a knife and fork? Do not think that a system is civilized just because its tools are modern.”
Remember when people used to say: "Work hard and you'll get ahead." Now it's: "Work hard and you might be able to afford all your bills this month." What an inspirational downgrade that turned out to be.
"Gold Fever" in DuckTales is actually the episode "Too Much of a Gold Thing", which is episode 5 of Season 1 from the 1987 series. What happens: Episode: Season 1, Episode 5 - "Too Much of a Gold Thing" Plot: Scrooge McDuck catches "gold fever" as he and Huey, Dewey, Louie, Webby, and Mrs. Beakley make their way to the Valley of the Golden Suns. The hook: Scrooge gets obsessed with finding the treasure, to the point where it starts messing with his judgment. Meanwhile, El Capitán is chasing them, trying to get the treasure for himself. Part of a story arc: It’s the 5th episode in the 5-part "Treasure of the Golden Suns" arc that kicks off the series. The arc runs from Episodes 1-5. Quick context: This arc sets up the whole series - Donald goes to the Navy and leaves Huey, Dewey, and Louie with Scrooge, and they immediately go on a treasure hunt. "Gold fever" is literal here - Scrooge gets so fixated on gold that he starts acting irrationally.
Henry George wrote Progress and Poverty (1879). > “The greatest destitution is to be found not in the new countries where land has little or no value, but in the richest and most civilized countries, where land has the highest value.” > “It is not in the newer countries, where land is yet cheap, but in the older countries, where land is dear, that distress among the laboring classes is most intense.” And when he’s talking about San Francisco specifically, he notes: > “Pauperism, like property, is a creation of civilization. The tramp comes with the locomotive, and almshouses and prisons are as surely the marks of ‘material progress’ as are costly dwellings, rich warehouses, and magnificent churches... It is as though an immense wedge were being forced, not underneath society, but through society. Those who are above the point of separation are elevated, but those who are below are crushed down.” He was writing about San Francisco in the 1870s boom - how land speculation made city lots insanely expensive while wages stayed low, creating slums right next to mansions.
To understand what the state of society ought to be it is necessary to have some idea of the natural and primitive state of man; such as it is at this day among the Indians. of North America. There is not, in that state, any of those spectacles of human misery which poverty and want present to our eyes in all the towns and streets in Europe. Poverty, therefore, is a thing created by that which is called civilized life. It does not exist in the natural state. On the other hand, the natural state is without those advantages which flow from agriculture, arts, science and manufactures. The life of an Indian is a continual holiday, compared with the poor of Europe; and, on the other hand it appears to be abject when compared to the rich. Civilization, therefore, or that which is so-called, has operated two ways: to make one part of society more affluent, and the other more wretched, than would have been the lot of either in a natural state.
Giving poor people some money makes crime go down better than giving cops more money. Says science. We did the science. We keep doing that science. Nobody in a suit ever cares tho.
Probably the word immaturity, would still more fitly express the status of Congregational Iowa in the 'S0s, for, of course, no church is complete, and the demand for new churches is as great as ever, while our colleges are little more than the names of institutions that are yet to be, and while the opportunities for growth were never greater. In 1880 Superintendent Adams made report: "We have done a work here, and there is more to do, for Iowa is yet to grow. Nearly half of her soil has never yet been touched by the plow or inclosed in farms. Her water-courses still flow unconscious of the power in them. Her mines are yet to be opened and her railroads built. Something, much, has been done but more remains. The past is brief but there is much of history in it. We are on the verge of great possibilities." A year later he wrote again: "We have a field, stimulating in both history and promise. Looking backward, we see & development of this portion of the great Home Missionary beld that has been simply marvelous. We entered it, some of us, upon the saddle, fording streams and traversing prairies, to find embryo villages of a few thousand people on its eastern border. All the interior and the west were still unexplored and untraversed, save by the red man, the deer, and the buffalo. Now the whole area is covered with a million and a half of people, with railroads to whirl us within twenty miles of the remotest of their homes; while villages, towns and cities have sprung up everywhere on these arteries of trade-schools, colleges and churches accompanying them. Now Iowa is no