4. The third action of sustainable development

After describing the first two actions of sustainable development, it is now time for the third and last action. I call it the third and last action of sustainable development, this in no way means that this action is less important than the two previous actions. Man cannot take care of his / her environment and fellow man if there is no self-reliance. I always say:

“you cannot love any other more than yourself “

We are doing relatively well in the Netherlands. Even though there is also poverty here The Dutch are among the richest inhabitants of the world with the highest standard of living. Now we do not have to be ashamed of this, but rather proud and happy, after all, we have worked hard for it. I think that in a time when sustainable development has become a necessity, people with a high level of self-reliance will see that it is in their own interest to help fellow world residents and the environment to achieve greater self-reliance.

On the bright side:

As the word self-reliance says, this sustainability action is about whether you can manage as a person in your living environment. The Dutch are doing relatively well in the Netherlands. Although there is also poverty here, the Dutch are one of the richest inhabitants of the world with the highest standard of living. The Dutch are known for taking a critical look at their position and sometimes forgetting that they live in extreme prosperity compared to many other inhabitants of the world. The Netherlands is a rich country and money means power and influence. The Netherlands is a democracy in which there is decided to be a welfare state. Financially this means that the strongest shoulders can / must carry the heaviest loads. I think wealth, and therefore power and influence, is an important piece of accountability. In other words, you can say that the Netherlands has a leading example function in the world. In terms of sustainable development (which concerns every world resident), the Netherlands cannot/should not think different. Some current Dutch political parties say that it is completely pointless if the Netherlands puts a lot of money and effort into sustainability, while other, often much larger, countries do not. The question that is often posed is: why should the Netherlands take a leading role in this process? My answer: because we can do it and because sustainable development applies for everyone. Someone has to take the lead. Planet Earth as one big caring nation/welfare state.

Consumers:

Everyone is a consumer; everyone influences development through the monetary system. I think we don't realize this enough. As humanity, we agreed long ago to introduce something (money) that represents a certain value that made bartering (buying) easier. This made it a lot easier to determine someone's self-reliance. Now it becomes clear that if we want planet earth to be a viable planet accessible to self-reliant(all) people, we will have to develop sustainably. We will have to do this together (as humanity) in which people with the most influence and power take the lead. Consumers with the most money have the greatest negative influence on the sustainable development process, but potentially also the greatest positive influence. Since we are all consumers and want to live happily on planet earth, we will have to develop together sustainably. This is no longer an option but a must! Money gives us as a person (consumer) the opportunity to be self-reliant, let's use money to develop sustainably, it is to everyone's advantage.

Politics:

You can divide the political landscape in the Netherlands using the HES-principle. My main conclusion from that view is that conservative (as it used to be) parties should disappear and make way for progressive ideas with the aim of harmony with more focus on humanlove. This is not possible without people being sufficiently self-reliant and the need for sustainability being widely supported in society. I think we have (finally) reached the point in the Netherlands that these 2 conditions are being met. Now focusing too much / only on self-reliance will only widen the gap between rich and poor and endanger our self-reliance. It is time for sustainable development. I want to emphasize that self-reliance is an essential action of sustainable development. If we want to develop sustainably as a country, we will have to have a political voice that defends the interests of self-reliance. I think the Dutch political system is ideal for sustainable development, everyone has a voice. One thing is clear, cooperation is becoming increasingly important for sustainable development, also at a global level.

Appointments and mechanisms:

Various organizations have been set up to maintain the monetary system and to respond to unexpected events. This article does not provide enough space to explain everything about money and which control mechanisms have been established. Besides this the world is divided in different parts each with its own currency. I decided to give an overview of how the banking system is setup in the most dominant economy’s. I also name two important organizations that consist of 189 countries working together to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world. I also name the world-bank. I have noticed that there are many people who do not know at all which organizations play a role in the process of 'money management' and what their role is in this process (which is ultimately about self-reliance). I think it is good to mention some important ones with their corresponding function.

ECB

The ECB (European Central Bank) is the central bank of the Economic and Monetary European Union (see fig 1). The primary task of the ECB is to maintain price stability in the euro area. The ECB was incorporated on 06-01-'98 and the current President is Cristine Lagarde.

Fig. 1: building of the European Central Bank in FrankfurtFig. 1: building of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt

The ECB can influence prices by raising or lowering the interest you get / have to pay for money. Due to an interest rate increase, prices will fall, or at least rise less quickly. Due to an interest rate cut, prices will rise faster. This is an indirect method of influencing inflation (economic process in which money is becoming less and less valuable due to the rise in average prices). Price stability has been defined by the ECB as an annual increase in prices from below, but close to 2%. The ECB is the highest body in the European monetary union, all national central banks of EU countries are affiliated. The main tasks of the ECB are:

1)     to define and implement monetary policy in the euro area

2)     conducting foreign exchange operations, maintaining and managing the official foreign exchange reserves of the euro area countries

3)     issue banknotes in the eurozone. Since November 4, 2014, the ECB has been supervising banks in the Eurozone. About 1000 employees work for banking supervision at the ECB.

The ECB is also responsible for:

- promotion of smooth operations of large payment systems;

- collect the necessary statistical information from national governments and directly from financial institutions.

The ECB is completely independent in the performance of tasks. The ECB, the national central banks of the Euro-system (in the Netherlands the DNB) and members of the relevant decision-making bodies cannot request or accept instructions from any institution. The European institutions and the governments of the Member States are obliged to respect this principle and must not attempt to influence the ECB or the national central banks.

PBC

The People's Bank of China (PBC or PBOC) is the central bank of the People's Republic of China (see fig. 2)

Fig. 2: The People's Bank of China headquarter in Beijing

The bank was established on December 1, 1948, based on the consolidation of the Huabei Bank, the Beihai Bank and the Xibei Farmer Bank. Valued at US$3.21 trillion, the People's Bank of China has had the largest financial asset holdings of any central bank in the world since July 2017. The top management of the PBC are composed of the governor and a certain number of deputy governors. The governor of the PBC is appointed into or removed by the National People's Congress or its Standing Committee. The candidate for the governor of the PBC is nominated by the Premier of the People's Republic of China approved by the National People's Congress. The current governor is Yi Gang. 

FED

The Federal Reserve System (the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States of America (see fig. 3)

Fig. 3: The Eccles Building in Washington, D.C., which serves as the Federal Reserve System's headquarters

The federal reserve was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act. The U.S. Congress established three key objectives for monetary policy in the Federal Reserve Act: maximizing employment, stabilizing prices, and moderating long-term interest rates.

Current functions of the Federal Reserve System include:

·        To address the problem of banking panics

·        To serve as the central bank for the United States

·        To strike a balance between private interests of banks and the centralized responsibility of government

o  To supervise and regulate banking institutions

o  To protect the credit rights of consumers

·        To manage the nation's money supply through monetary policy to achieve the sometimes-conflicting goals of

o  maximum employment

o  stable prices, including prevention of either inflation or deflation

o  moderate long-term interest rates

·        To maintain the stability of the financial system and contain systemic risk in financial markets

·        To provide financial services to depository institutions, the U.S. government, and foreign official institutions, including playing a major role in operating the nation's payments system

o  To facilitate the exchange of payments among regions

o  To respond to local liquidity needs

·        To strengthen U.S. standing in the world economy

IMF

The IMF (International Monetary Fund) is a United Nations organization for international monetary cooperation, financial crisis response and lending for states with payment difficulties. The IMF is a United Nations specialized agency headquartered in Washington, D.C. (see fig 4)

Fig. 4: IMF Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

the main objectives of the IMF are:

1) promoting monetary cooperation and stability

2) guarding economic growth, exchange rate system and employment

3) temporary financial assistance to countries to correct balance of payments deficits. This gives the countries concerned the necessary time to implement domestic measures.

In other words: promoting exchange rate stability and free international payments, meeting the need for international liquidity and providing financial assistance to members who have problems with their balance of payments. The IMF has nearly 200 (country) members. Member States pay membership fees (quotas) upon accession to the IMF and this money constitutes the institution's own capital.

World-bank

The World Bank is a component of the World Bank Group. It is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of poorer countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects.[5] It comprises two institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), and the International Development Association (IDA). (See fig.5)

Fig. 5: The World Bank Group headquarters building in Washington, D.C.

The World Bank was created at the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference, along with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The president of the World Bank is, traditionally, an American. The World Bank and the IMF are both based in Washington, D.C., and work closely with each other.

TAX

A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed upon a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund various public expenditures. Most countries have a tax system in place to pay for public, common or agreed national needs and government functions. One of my favourite quotes is:

“there are two things certain in life; one day you will die and you will pay tax!”

Paying taxes is generally not seen as something nice, but it is actually essential for sustainable development. By collecting taxes, the government has the opportunity to offer citizens good life opportunities (charity), the government has opportunities to take care of the environment (environmental care) and the government has the opportunity to raise the level of self-reliance for all citizens. (self-reliance). Although paying taxes does not seem like fun, it does strengthen us together and it is an essential part of sustainable development. Paying taxes is nice.

Measurable:

It is often challenging for world residents (and therefore consumers) to take the sustainability action self-reliance into account when making a product purchase choice. In itself you can find organizations (price comparators) that deal with the theme of self-reliance, but to find this information in the light of sustainable development does not yet exist. While building our online sustainability platform, we thought about how to make the sustainability action self-reliance measurable for product purchases. We ended up with the money unit. It may sound a bit unbelievable at first, but I don't think this is it. Although feelings such as love and perfection are not for sale, having money in the search for these feelings works to your advantage. One of my favourite quotes is:

"Money does not make you happy, but it does help!"

In other words, money gives options. Options that can increase self-reliance. Care, food and medicines are just some of the needs that people have and that they can buy with money. As mentioned earlier, the cost of a product with the unit money is the best way to express the sustainability action self-reliance. A price comparison tool with a product-specific self-reliance indicator, displayed in a number from 1 to 10 (compared to other products), gives a good product rating for the sustainability action self-reliance. On average with the other 2 sustainability actions (humanlove and environmental care), a sustainability rating for a product is obtained. However, until now only rational indicators have been included in the assessment of the sustainability level of a product. As is known, marketing studies show that people make product choices largely based on feeling. Basically, people are all emotional beings. If a product scores very high on the 3 sustainability actions, but is for example not liked for whatever reason, it will not be bought. You could then say that a product is not sustainable because it does not make people happy. I think being happy is the highest goal of every person and comes with self-reliance. A person has a rational and an emotional mind with which we make decisions. In order to also meet the emotional nature of people, we have added a 4th indicator (with numbers 1 to 10) to the 3 sustainability actions. We have called this indicator user experience. The sustainability rating (between 1 and 10) for a product 2

When we thought about a symbol for the sustainability action self-reliance, we did not have to think long. The unit in which self-reliance is expressed is money. Since I live in a country where the used currency is the Euro this is my unit of self-reliance, it has become a symbolic representation of this. Of course, any kind of currency can be a unit of self-reliance so we choose a coin as symbol.

If you fill in the self-reliance symbol in the HES-principle you get the following picture (see fig. 6)

Fig. 6: HES-principle with symbol for humanlove, environmental care and self-reliance

Man and life:

In this last paragraph I would like to emphasise again why self-reliance (with the unit of money) is essential for sustainable development. Earning a lot of money is considered “dirty” by some people. I do not agree with that. A lot of money offers many possibilities, also the possibility of sustainable development. Sustainable development is about the development of all mankind and individual self-reliance is essential otherwise you can do nothing. If you see the picture of the HES-principle with the 3 symbols, then it concerns self / fellow human / environmental care. I think you have the key performance indicators at hand when it comes to the successful ?