Armed with lethal money power, Counts can target and prey on the wealth made by Americans. Extreme money makes taking easier than contributing. It undermines capitalist America.
And this violates
fundamental
American values.
America is a land of makers and do-ers and helpers. We don’t want to exploit our neighbors, and we don’t expect to get something for nothing. We just expect a fair share of the Public Gains of America.
Extreme money can turn any regular problem in America into an extreme threat. Elite, entitled Counts endanger America by wielding extreme E8, E9, E10, E11 Money Counts to:
- Outmatch individual Americans. Counts wield grossly outsized predatory power. An E10 Count takes more in Free Income in a single month than a Contributing American saves in an entire lifetime. With such a radical imbalance of power, Americans can’t possibly compete.
- Target America’s riches for money. To absentee Counts, America’s wealth is a target to raid for more Free Income. Housing, pensions, hospitals, personal information, scientific knowledge, farmlands, public safety—whatever puts out a regular stream of money.
- Outmatch our public protectors. Even our governments aren’t strong enough to defend Americans from Counts. A lone individual armed with an E11 Money Count easily outmatches an E10-sized state government, or any E8 to E10 local city or county or regional government.
- Take the Public Gains of America. A Count collects America’s Public Gains as Free Income like an entitlement. No work or contribution to America is required. His inflated Money Count shows how far his net contribution to America has gone into the red.
- Target America’s KIRE Engine of Prosperity. Counts even raid the engine of America’s Public Gains: our Public Knowledge, Public Investment, Public Resources, and Public Extensions. They risk breaking capitalist America for future generations.
- Compete to take even more. As Counts jockey for position in the ranks of the Counting Class, they compete to take even more. The available clockwork 10% gain in Free Income is just a baseline. Any Count can chase higher gains to increase his rank even faster.
On the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the Big Woods Declaration (BWD) renews the call for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, free from the corruption of extreme money.
The BWD is a First Amendment petition to the American people and our government. It is not limited to any political party or group.
The BWD is a total of 60 pages: the Core Declaration (4 pages), the 13 Notes, the 27 Dangers to America, and the 16 Solutions for America.
The BWD may be shared and reused under the terms of the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license. View a copy of this license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
The BWD was created without the use of any AI, opinion polling, or focus groups. The BWD draws on many core American ideas as well as the work of Thorstein Veblen, America’s visionary from the Big Woods of Minnesota.
All photos in the BWD were taken in the Big Woods. The BWD was framed by Erik Christopher Sahlin with Alyssa Beth Wulf.
