Researchers see solution in new monetary system
Künzelsau, 25.11.2020 - Children, parents and teachers are at their limit. Doctors, psychologists and family politicians sound the alarm. They all see the well-being of children as being seriously threatened by the current crisis policy. Quarantine rules, school closures and contact restrictions not only put child protectors on the barricades. According to Unicef, 15,000 children were starving to death every day even before Corona. The Corona measures have dramatically worsened global hunger. In order to create a secure basis for children's healthy development, the bionic economists of the Gradido Academy are calling for a transformation of the financial system. This would end poverty worldwide and ensure equal development opportunities for all children.
"Windows open, mask on!" - Prussia's glory is not crisis management
The current school system was developed in old Prussia to raise loyal subjects. It spread rapidly around the globe. The philosopher Richard David Precht has been warning for years that, according to all that is known about developmental psychology today, this educational ideal is completely wrong. Bernd Hückstädt, the co-founder of the Gradido Academy, also observes with growing concern "that there is a lack of money and the will to develop public schools worldwide in the way that would be necessary in view of the challenges of our times. This is a real testimony of the incapacity of a world community whose well-being depends to a large extent on the holistic education of its members".
Privileged children attend private schools
It is not surprising that more and more students are attending private schools in this country. According to the Federal Statistical Office, the number of general and vocational private schools in Germany increased by an impressive 79.8 percent between 1992/1993 and 2018/19. Many parents who could afford it paid an average of 2,000 euros per year and child for a place at a private teaching institute as early as 2016.
Child poverty instead of equal opportunities
The many children from less well-off families do not participate in this development. According to a study by the Bertelsmann Foundation, poverty is a feature of everyday life for more than a fifth of all children in Germany. That is 21.3 percent or 2.8 million children and young people under the age of 18. The Corona crisis is noticeably aggravating their situation. Job loss, existential fears, increasing lack of money and limited space also cause many family conflicts to escalate. Homeschooling is unthinkable where parents lack not only time but also competence. "Equal opportunities look completely different," concludes Hückstädt, a bionic economist, and adds: "Denying people free access to education means denying them a basic human right."
The lost generation of Corona children?
The children's aid organisation Unicef, the German Child Protection Association, the youth committee of the SOS Children's Villages, the network Children's Rights and family politicians also warn that children could suffer the greatest damage in the crisis. In its report 'Averting Lost Covid Generation', the United Nations Children's Fund documents that the severe long-term effects of the Corona crisis on education, nutrition and well-being could have a lasting impact on the lives of an entire generation of children and young people worldwide. Christian Neusser, child rights expert of SOS Children's Villages, says: "The dimensions are profound. After all, it is not just a matter of the violation of individual children's rights, but of a whole chain: poverty, for example, leads to illness, child labour or the loss of education". According to UN figures, 150 million children could fall into extreme poverty - in addition to the many hundreds of millions of children who were affected before. At times, 1.5 billion children worldwide could not attend school. Especially in poorer countries there is a danger that many pupils will never return to school because their families are too poor.
As early as June 25th 2020, the Child Rights Network criticised that the perspectives of children and young people had hardly been included in the discussion on how to overcome the crisis, although their rights were directly affected by the measures.
The first nationwide study on the effects and consequences of the corona crisis on the mental health of children and adolescents in Germany by the research department 'Child Public Health' of the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf already proved in July that the mental stress of children through corona measures is also significantly higher than previously suspected. A Forsa survey conducted by the German Children's Charity on the occasion of World Children's Day revealed that violence against children had increased dramatically during the corona crisis and that educational opportunities - especially for socially disadvantaged children - had declined.
On 20.11.2020, the International Children's Rights Day, SOS-Children's Village e.V. pointed out that the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989 had still not been fully implemented in Germany either - and that the restrictions on children's rights had become even more severe under the influence of the Corona crisis.
Crisis as an opportunity for a sustainable course correction
According to Hückstädt, Corona is not the cause of all the problems that are currently becoming all too apparent. Like every crisis, Corona is a historic opportunity to change course towards a better world. "For years we have known that the old financial system with all its bubbles is at an end. It has to change, and Gradido is a fantastic solution. We just have to take it." Despite all his optimism, Hückstädt urges a sense of proportion: "The responsibility of the entire community is needed so that our children do not fall by the wayside in these turbulent times, but finally get the security and support they deserve - worldwide."
The solution has existed for four and a half billion years
The novel economic and financial system has been developed in more than 20 years of research work at the Gradido Academy for Economic Bionics. Economic bionics examines the successful models of nature that have been functioning for over four and a half billion years and transfers them to the economy. The 'Natural Economy of Life' makes all 17 UN sustainable development goals defined in the Agenda 2030 achievable. The right to education is an explicit part of this - and equal opportunities for all is the programme. Margret Baier, co-founder and managing director of the Gradido Academy, explains the concept of public welfare: "It is not only our concern to offer children protection and perspective, we also want to improve the opportunities for personal development in the long term". According to the scientific investigations of the neurobiologist Prof. Gerald Hüther, 98 percent of children are highly gifted as newborns, but only two percent are still highly gifted after completing their school education. "Our educational system clearly needs reform - and the Gradido model almost makes it happen by itself."
Gradido creates fair educational opportunities
The proposed Gradido monetary and economic system paves the way for the 'unconditional participation' of all in community life. Hückstädt explains: "The basic ethical principle of Gradido is based on the 'threefold good', i.e. on harmonising the good of the individual with the good of the community and the greater whole - in the sense of nature and the environment. The individual is part of the community, and the community is part of the 'big picture', the ecosystem. The common good currency Gradido (GDD) is created as a credit for each individual, without creating debts. In this way, we follow nature's example to provide our children and grandchildren with a debt-free future worth living. A Gradido has about the value of one Euro. Per capita 3 × 1,000 Gradidos are created. 1,000 Gradidos each for the 'Active Basic Income', for the public budget and the compensation and environmental fund. This results in a generous, debt-free state budget, which, among other things, allows kindergartens and schools to be equipped in a way that is suitable for the future, in order to support and challenge all children in the best possible way. In the Gradido model, school and further education are free of charge worldwide. This means that they are accessible to all people, regardless of their financial situation.
But here too, education is by no means just about training. In order to give children the chance to grow up to become those "responsible shapers of their own lives", who, according to Hüther, have the best prospects of "not only becoming successful in their careers, but also living in a meaningful, self-responsible and happy way", the Gradido model also provides for an "active basic income" and "unconditional participation" in community life.
The 'Active Basic Income' secures the basic supply of all people worldwide and thus eliminates the constant fear of existence, which weakens the immune system and can overload the psyche. It thus creates the basis for a conflict-free family life. The 'Unconditional Participation', which also gives children and adolescents the opportunity to participate in the community for their 'Active Basic Income', opens up unprecedented opportunities to try out and develop in a wide variety of areas and to get to know a genuine sense of community. At the same time, the Active Basic Income ensures that the children and adolescents can already earn a living during their education. "With Gradido, the best basis is created for every young person to be able to exercise his or her vested right to education and healthy development from childhood on, in order to find the best possible path to a fulfilled life," Hückstädt emphasises.
For details of the complete 'Gradido model' see https://gradido.net
About the Gradido Academy
The Gradido Academy for Economic Bionics has developed an alternative 'common good currency' based on the models of nature. Nature follows the rule that only where something passes away can something new emerge, and thus long-term improvement (evolution) is possible. Its recipe for success is the 'cycle of life'. If our economy were also to follow this natural cycle, then, according to the assessment of the bionic economists, practically all the world's monetary problems could be solved. The Gradido model is based on the idea that not only every person, but also every state receives income generated on a credit basis. It can thus fulfil all its tasks without having to collect taxes. Deflation or inflation are a thing of the past. The economy is freed from the constant compulsion to grow, the danger of a collapse of the financial system is finally averted.(www.gradido.net)