Real Economics

At some point we have to ask ourselves if money is so effective at getting things done and charities get the good things done, when are we going to start giving them more money?

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"Actual amounts of charitable acts..."

Real Economics is economics that addresses the Real Problem in the world which is our tendency towards that which is directly in front of us causing us to forget about the people that suffer in the world of whom we would tend to over all else if their suffering was apparent and they were right in front of us or we didn't have this tendency.

The real solution is to eliminate this tendency by training ourselves to live as if those who are suffering were right in front of us. Then we would tend to them, and that can be described as an act we would do without any compensation, otherwise known as charitable acts.

The acts themselves must be apparent, just as they would be if we were helping these people directly in front of us. Therefore the charity that we do when they're not in front of us should also be apparent. Practically that means knowing real (apparent) amounts of charitable acts being done per unit of currency donated. Combine that with charitable acts that go directly to solving the Real Problem and let's call that Real Charity.

Q&A

What does this have to do with economics?

In many ways saving the world costs money including putting an end to human suffering. Money doesn't just make the world go round it can also make it go around in the right direction.

Dan Pallotta, a charity researcher and spokesman, is known for the concept that charities could actually eliminate the problems they were set out to do if they actually made enough money to do it.

Charity costs money. This is not a big surprise but a much needed message when many place high expectations for charities to donate as much of their fundraising as possible instead of using it for say, more fundraising, so that the charity can donate more than before the added fundraising.

A charity with more money can do more charity and the money first has to come from fundraising which also costs money. It takes more dough to make a bigger pie but you can share more of that bigger pie.

The funds charities gather from fundraising is from the profit made during transactions. Real Economics is going straight to the source of this profit, the transaction, and allocating some of the profit from that transaction to real (apparent) amounts of charity towards solving the Real Problem.

The Real Problem states that only when all possible courses of action are directly in front of us do we know which actions are most important by knowing which we would tend to first and this would be apparent human suffering.

In other words, the realness or truth of reality is revealed to us only when it's right in front of us. In this sense, Real Economics is the most important form of economics because it is the most important thing that economics can do: end human suffering.

What is Real Economics Incorporated?

Real Economics Incorporated or Real Inc. for short is the incorporation of Real Economics in the world by putting it into practice, selling products and services and then donating the profit to real amounts of charitable acts. In our case we will be donating 100% of the profit.

Real Inc. is supposed to be the initial example and template for other companies to have an idea of how to integrate Real Economics into their own operation.

On our roadmap and hopefully soon in our pipeline is a service that will automate this integration into a company’s backend financials and onto their frontend for customers to freely choose donation options as they can do in the Real (Inc.) Store.

How can I incorporate Real Economics into my own operation?

By first assessing if Real Charity taken from your profits will drive more profits by attracting and retaining customers with the added incentive of Real Charity. If such contributions will harm profits in the end then we advise not doing so. If your company brings in more profits than the company and its owners need then it is advised to direct those excess profits to Real Charity.

Once you assess that it would be valuable for your operation to give to Real Charity it comes down to which charity, who is choosing (you or the customer), and how will funds be properly distributed to such charities.

How does Real Inc. donate 100% of its profit?

Profit is generally revenues paid out to shareholders as dividends (cash payments) after subtracting expenses, investments, cash reserves, etc.. There's only one Real Inc. shareholder and he's more than satisfied with the salary Real Inc. pays him, which is an expense. 100% profit donated simply means 100% of the revenue from a company's revenue streams goes towards maintaining and growing those revenue streams, not a single dollar gets paid out as dividends to the shareholders, and anything that's not used for the company gets donated.

Should governments adopt Real Economics?

Real Economics is economics that solves the Real Problem. The Real Problem has two parts to it and government can only help solve the second part but not the first.

The first part of the Real Problem is the tendency to forget that which is not directly in front of us, specifically people who are suffering. The second part is to end that suffering. Part two is the end goal and doesn't require part one but solving both is greater.

Governments can use tax money from the people to contribute to ending suffering but this leaves the people not contributing themselves and the host of benefits contributing provides the one contributing. As well, it doesn't solve the initial problem of this tendency which people must train themselves to eliminate on their own.

While the goal is to end suffering it is by solving this tendency that people will come to solve suffering on their own. This tendency is a primary problem of people that could not be solved if governments didn't allow them to solve it.

The first goal of Real Economics, while not the end goal, is for humanity not to forget about one another and government takes that away. Solving this tendency which is at the heart of humanity's problems will also bring humanity to solve the many environmental problems and other problems that require attention as well.

As long as the issues of humanity and the environment are out of sight, they are also out of mind, and this is the first problem Real Economics seeks to solve by educating people to see these problems with the sight of their mind until it seeps into their hearts and from there affecting their actions.

Furthermore, when we solve this tendency we become a species that not just can end suffering but keep it that way. Whereas if government ended the suffering but then the government itself ended as has happened to many governments throughout history, the suffering is sure to bounce back because we never eliminated our tendency not to tend to the suffering to begin with. Humanity can't mend their problems if they don't first tend to them, and they won't tend to what they have the tendency to forget about. When we remove one of the greatest human flaws of not tending to the suffering we remove humans suffering and one of their greatest flaws of humanity.

All this being said, it ultimately comes down to what we would do if an apparent suffering person were right in front of us and the answer is that nothing else would matter but him. That means that while government would be better of not helping him in order to let the people (learn to) help him, the reality is that if an apparent suffering person were in front of you, you wouldn't run to your friend and say its better you help him as there are benefits in you doing so instead of me, rather you would run to help and shout at your friend to do so as well. Therefore everyone including the government should face this reality and run to end suffering with not a thought otherwise.

Ultimately, when faced with the Real Problem, the government and the people naturally come together to solve it. Religious differences fade away. Orientations become obsolete. Culture matters not. Enemies become friends. Hate loses its place and love sharply comes to the surface. Even the capitalists and the socialists unite to become realists.

What if people don't want to give?

That's what Real Inc. is for. The primary goal of Real Incorporated is to incorporate Real Economics into the world, through whatever moral means necessary, whether through collaborating, convincing, and even competing.

Collaboration such as through affiliation as we do with companies in the Real Plaza. Convincing by educating. And competing by offering customers a way to contribute to solving the problems of their world free of charge. Customers can contribute 100% of the profit from their purchase back to themselves instead of to those they are buying from. It is simply a better way to shop. It is competition by contribution.

It's hard to imagine someone would purchase the same product at a store that doesn't contribute if they can purchase at a store that does. Our contributions are also quantified making them more real, actionable, measurable, trackable, and therefore they can be visualized and therefore more appreciated. We even give the customers the choice as to where the charity should be contributed, from every single product they buy, or they can leave it up to us to decide by leaving the default donation option "Where It's Needed Most."

Ultimately, the goal is to weed out those who don't contribute or convert them under social and market pressures and expectations by establishing a new market standard.

Why give what I earned?

What would you do if an apparent suffering person was directly in front of you?

You wouldn’t blink an eye to help them.

Because the data says you should.

Forbes:

87% of consumers will have a more positive image of a company that supports social or environmental issues.

88% will be more loyal to a company that supports social or environmental issues.

87% would buy a product with a social and environmental benefit if given the opportunity.

92% will be more likely to trust a company that supports social or environmental issues.

88% of consumers want brands to help them be more environmentally friendly and ethical.

Consumers are 4 to 6 times more likely to purchase, protect, and champion purpose-drive companies.

It’s an incentive to buy from you.

Customers prefer to purchase from those who contribute to humanity and the environment of which they are a part of and rely on especially when done in a manner of quantified charity (i.e. $1 feeds 1 person 1 meal).

This incentive for the buyer is also an advantage over the competitor who doesn’t contribute or doesn't do so in a quantifiable manner.

If your competitor already contributes quantifiably so it is you that has to match the new market standard.

A reputation of doing good is a good reputation.

It’s hard to hate and resent someone who contributes to (quantifiable and therefore) apparent charitable acts. It’s much easier to love, respect, trust, and be grateful to them. All the more so for the one actually receiving the charity of whom could also end up being your buyer and one day even your seller.

Benevolence is the root of all benefit.

On the contrary, being malevolent is more of a malfunction that destroys what the one being malevolent depends on, eventually destroying his own self. What good is that?

Benefits are only to be found where there is benevolence. The benefits towards oneself include more love, gratitude, honor, respect, trust, etc.. These are only the benefits towards oneself not including the vast benefits for the world including for humanity and the environment of which the world including you rely on.

Economically speaking, people amass their fortunes from their buyers. The more buying there is, the more selling there is and vice versa. Buyers are also sellers and vice versa. Growing the pool of buyers, grows the economy, of which is the summation of all transactions between buyers and sellers.

As explained in the previous point, the one receiving your charity can eventually be the one buying your product and even selling their own to you because it provides you with value.

Giving to the poor helps them get rich which helps you get and / or stay rich. But what many times goes amiss about giving to the poor and the suffering is the richness in the way they get to riches.

Ask yourself the last time you were in the dumps if you ever wanted to go back when you got out.

The answer also applies to people who have endured poverty of whom would endure not to go back.

More so those who were on the edge of death are those who have an edge on life and those who have suffered are those who strive not to suffer but to thrive.

Value is only produced where it's not and value / production makes our economy bigger and better.

If you have what you don’t need, give that to someone who needs it.

At a certain level of wealth, the question becomes “what do I need it for?” If it’s not for your wellbeing then it should be for the wellbeing of others.

What if I didn’t earn it?

If you have not worked for your wealth then you should not feel any resentment when given the opportunity to give something that you didn't earn to those who didn't earn it either but need it more.

How is this different from government aid?

More Taxes Equals Less Charity

Government aid actually hinders Real Economics from solving the first part of the Real Problem which is the tendency for people not to attend to the suffering.

Governments can give to charity but at the expense of its citizens not giving to charity. Government revenue comes from taxes. When government revenue goes up the revenue of the citizen goes down.

When there’s big government from big taxes there’s no big contributions from the people and therefore no big charities either.

The goal of Real Economics is not just that there are no suffering people but that they don't return to that state. This means the end goal of charity is to not have to give it at all. How? Work.

Work is done in a business and higher taxes means less money for the business to hire and pay its workers. Excessive taxes, over-regulation, complicated compliance, these are hindrances on giving people a job, not allowing them to sustain themselves and therefore the entire economy as a whole.

Government is a necessity. But when government gets unnecessarily big, the citizen gets unnecessarily small.

Coercion & No Choice

Government aid comes from taxes which are taken against the will of the taxpayer. Real Economics based contributions are given at will by those who desire to give them and one can find the incentives as to why to do so in the section above. If they don't want to give see the last question in the Q&A above.

Not A Great Track Record

Government aid goes through the government and the government isn't known to have a pristine track record of efficiency and morality.

On the other hand, in a study done by the charity GiveDirectly and five charity researchers it became clear that people who lack basic necessities were free from corruption. That's hard to say about politicians, of whom handle the aid money before it ever sees the hand of whom they should be aiding.

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