The Newcomer

“Here, something nice, for you and your family” said the newcomer bearing gifts, to the indiginous.

“Thank you, you are most gracious”, said the indiginous in response, accepting the gift in good faith.

“Now, perhaps you would like to give me something in return”, says the newcomer.

The indiginous, briefly considering this unusual but seemingly acceptable request, gives the newcomer what they asked for.

The newcomer repeats this cycle of giving gifts on agreement of return, a number of times.

Then came the day when the indiginous could no longer give to the newcomer what they asked for.

What the newcomer had offered, was a little of something in huge abundance to the newcomer, but scarce and yet most precious to the indiginous.

What the indiginous had been asked for, was something in relative abundance to the small numbers of the indiginous, but scarce and yet most precious to the newcomer.

The newcomer came from a land of many, producing that which was offered to the indiginous at scale, whereas the indiginous produced only what they needed.

Naturally, the indiginous soon ran out of what it was that the newcomer asked for, so could no longer give it in return.

“OK, then let’s make a deal; I will continue to give you what I brought for you, but you must agree to give what you normally give in return, in the future”, offered the newcomer.

Of course, driven by honour, the indiginous has no choice but to accept.

From that simple exchange, the rest of the history is known, and accepted.

Broken agreements, unpaid debts, mistrust, slavery, retribution, wars, famine, genocide, global pollution, yada, yada, yada.

Yet, many thousands of years later, that flawed, greedy exchange, made by one more privileged than another for a return, itself is still the fundamental building block of the entire global human economy.

Throughout history, the nature of the problem has meant that we’ve heard only the voices of those prospering by this flawed system of greed.

But now the internet is allowing the voices of those less privileged to be heard.

Now, we are starting to see the truth, exposing the real details of history.

The vast numbers of those who died in the name of greed, are no longer silent.

We are even starting to realise how to put it right, with the endless gift of free money to all, asking nothing in return; the ultimate breaking of the greedy agreement.

Let’s hope not too late.