A common reaction to this question is, “how about more money for everyone?”
And that response alone should already be telling us something important about what we all need to recognise.
A Grim Outlook as 2026 Begins
As we roll into 2026, it’s difficult to picture anyone feeling genuinely happy or hopeful about the year ahead. Few would disagree that the road in front of us looks bleak.
That feeling alone would be reason enough for concern. But when we look ahead from the wide range of perspectives, backgrounds and political standpoints that even the quietest or least informed among us hold, very few believe there is an obvious solution that will make life feel good again in the months and years to come.
The only exception might be those who believe that gaining power for themselves will somehow deliver positive change for everyone – simply because they assume their own improved circumstances would be mirrored across society.
What We’re Told… and What We’re Not
Through the lens of the mainstream media (including many who insist they are anything but), the picture is stark.
Tax rises from every direction. Food prices climbing while we’re told inflation is falling. Thousands crossing the Channel seeking a better life that the state can no longer afford to provide. Digital ID policies creeping in through every possible back door. A government full of incompetents who barely bother to hide their ambitions for power. And now, even they openly appear to admit – just as the recently ousted Tories have done so – that civil servants don’t listen to them anyway.
Then there’s what isn’t being discussed openly, yet sits in plain sight the moment you look behind the sofa and chairs of this same living room.
The price of silver has surged. The current US administration’s approach to global policy resembles an economic war on everyone else. Iran may be on the verge of a revolution that many elsewhere may soon find themselves wishing for. And behind all of this lies the deeper reality: the harm caused by the West’s obsession with a money‑centric system that ignores the human cost, and the understandable desire of the rest of the world to have their own moment – once the West falls and they believe their time has come.
Hope in the Wrong Places
Yes, there is hope. But for most people, that hope is pinned on the idea that the same system and the same tools that brought us here will somehow save us – just as long as they are placed in different hands.
And this is where the dose of reality must come in.
Why Changing Politicians Won’t Change the System
There is a hard truth that many people are still trying to avoid: changing the politicians will not change the system.
Even the newest parties, even the ones that claim to be different, even the ones people are now pinning their hopes on – such as Reform – are still trying to work with the same broken tools.
They are still operating within a framework built around money, competition, corruption, centralisation and control. And no matter how sincere their intentions, no matter how fresh their faces, they cannot escape the reality that a system designed around money will always produce outcomes that serve money first.
Even if a party like Reform managed to sort out its recruitment problems, its leadership problems, its internal contradictions – it would still be trapped. Because the problem isn’t the personnel. It’s the operating system they are all trying to ‘win’ within.
And you cannot fix a failing operating system by installing new users.
You have to replace the system itself.
Money Can No Longer Solve the Problems Money Created
Because money – and more specifically the value of money – sits at the heart of everything we say, think and do, it feels natural to assume that money is also where the solutions lie.
Be honest with yourself, as so many now need to be: if you simply had more money -enough to pay for everything you want as well as everything you need – you believe that you’d feel happier about life, and it wouldn’t matter who was in charge, would it?
That’s how it feels to many of us. The solution appears simple, the outcomes easy to imagine. And that is precisely why we have become addicted to an unsustainable way of living that destroys everyone and everything to make a very small number of people very wealthy, while pushing aside everything that once held real value to humankind.
Money – and this money‑centric system of Moneyocracy – is responsible for almost every practical problem the world faces. Yet our so‑called leaders and elites, obsessed with it, continue trying to use it to create solutions when solutions that help all of us no longer exist within that framework.
The Illusion of Progress
As long as the system continues to function, we will still be able to earn, borrow or obtain more money. But because the deck is stacked and the flow of money is rigged, the numbers may rise while the value stays the same – or more likely, falls.
This paradox allows politicians to use doublespeak and gaslighting to convince us that things are, or will be better than ever.
In monetary terms – figures on a page – there will always be a way to manipulate statistics or analysis to argue that point with a straight face. But a system that can only succeed by impoverishing the many to benefit the few can only ever produce outcomes measured in money.
The real, non‑financial cost to humanity is beyond calculation, and it is spiralling out of control.
Everything about humanity and the human experience has been trashed so that money can rule, and those who benefit from the system can consolidate their control and keep making more.
A System That Has Reached Its End
The problem is that there is no “more” left for them to make. They already own everything that once had real value.
Now they are using that ownership to box everyone else into a corner through laws and regulations crafted for this very purpose – laws created by useful‑idiot politicians like too many of those we have today, replacing the protections that once existed to prevent exactly this kind of tyranny being inflicted upon us, as they are now under the Moneyocracy.
This is not happiness.
Lack is not happiness.
Always feeling pressure to better ourselves is not happiness.
Mental health crises are not happiness.
Joblessness is not happiness.
Division is not happiness.
Financial servitude is not happiness.
Poverty is not happiness.
Yet we are expected to believe these things don’t matter – so long as we aren’t experiencing them personally.
What LEGS and BLS Offer That the Old System Never Can
This is where the Basic Living Standard and the Local Economy & Governance System stand apart.
They are not about swapping one set of politicians for another. They are not about trying to make a money‑centric system behave like a people‑centric one.
They are about building a foundation where people, community and environment come first – not as slogans, but as the structural basis of how life works.
LEGS and BLS don’t pretend that everyone is the same.
They make everyone the same in the only way that matters:
by ensuring that every person has the freedom, resources and security to meet their needs without fear, without servitude, and without dependence on the whims of markets or the ambitions of politicians.
This is personal sovereignty in the truest sense. Not the fantasy version sold by the money centric system. But the lived reality of having enough to live, enough to contribute, and enough to participate fully in the decisions that shape your community.
It is a contribution culture rather than a consumption culture.
A participatory democracy rather than a spectator democracy.
A system where value is measured in human terms, not monetary ones.
A Kind of Freedom Nobody Alive Today Has Truly Experienced
Because this system puts people first, not money, it offers something that almost nobody alive today has ever naturally experienced:
the feeling of being free simply because your needs are met, your community is strong, and your life is not defined by debt, scarcity or competition.
Most of us have only ever had a false version of that feeling – a temporary illusion created by credit, convenience or consumption.
But real freedom, the kind that comes from security, dignity and shared purpose, is something entirely different. And it is only possible when the foundations of society are built around people rather than profit.
We Still Have a Choice
The truth beneath all of this is that we do have a choice.
None of this would have been possible without generations of us blindly going along with it and playing our part.
We have already chosen money – and money as we know it is coming to its end.
If we do not choose life instead, life in any sense that has meaning will end with it.
Further Reading: Expanding the Conversation
The challenges outlined above – rising inequality, political stagnation, and the dominance of a money-centric system – are not isolated issues. They are deeply interconnected, shaping every aspect of our lives and the choices available to us.
To truly understand the roots of these problems and explore meaningful alternatives, it’s essential to look beyond headlines and political soundbites, and engage with broader perspectives and deeper analysis.
The following selection of articles and essays offers a structured journey through the wider context: from the origins and consequences of our current system, through the political and social dynamics that sustain it, to the human cost and the possibilities for genuine change.
Each piece is accompanied by a short summary to help you navigate the themes and insights they provide.
Whether you’re seeking to understand how we arrived at this crossroads or looking for practical ideas to help build a better future, these readings will help illuminate the path ahead.
1. Understanding the Core Problem: The Money-Centric System
- https://adamtugwell.blog/2024/11/12/the-moneyocracy/
Summary: Explores the concept of “Moneyocracy” – a system where money, rather than people, is at the centre of all decisions and power structures. This post lays the groundwork for understanding why current societal and political systems repeatedly fail to deliver for the majority. - https://adamtugwell.blog/2025/11/12/money-is-the-greatest-crime-of-our-time/
Summary: Argues that the elevation of money above all else has led to widespread harm, inequality, and the erosion of genuine value in society. - https://adamtugwell.blog/2025/11/12/breaking-the-money-myth-rethinking-value-exchange-and-equality/
Summary: Challenges the myths surrounding money, proposing alternative ways to measure value and foster equality.
2. The Consequences: Collapse, Exploitation, and Social Harm
- https://adamtugwell.blog/2025/11/14/facing-the-economic-collapse-the-real-crisis-behind-money-wages-and-freedom/
Summary: Examines the deepening economic crisis, linking it to the flaws of the money-centric system and its impact on wages and personal freedom. - https://adamtugwell.blog/2025/11/27/the-borrowed-time-budget-a-system-running-out-of-road/
Summary: Discusses how current economic policies are unsustainable, warning that society is running out of time to address systemic issues. - https://adamtugwell.blog/2025/11/21/plastic-productivity-and-the-debt-trap-what-the-november-budget-wont-fix/
Summary: Critiques government responses to economic challenges, highlighting the limitations of superficial fixes and the growing debt crisis. - https://adamtugwell.blog/2025/11/25/minimum-wage-maximum-exploitation-a-collapsing-system-propped-up-by-rising-taxes/
Summary: Explores how wage policies and taxation are used to maintain a failing system, often at the expense of the most vulnerable. - https://adamtugwell.blog/2025/08/20/overtaxed-overburdened-overpowered-the-role-of-the-uk-state-has-become-all-bread-and-no-jam-for-too-many-of-us-and-we-are-fast-approaching-a-place-called-stop/
Summary: Analyses the growing burden of state intervention and taxation, arguing that the system is reaching a breaking point.
3. Political Dynamics and the Illusion of Change
- https://adamtugwell.blog/2025/01/14/the-unfolding-tragedy-of-the-uks-political-right/
Summary: Reviews the decline of the UK’s political right, illustrating how mainstream parties fail to address root causes. - https://adamtugwell.blog/2024/12/05/the-contemporary-politicians-dilemma/
Summary: Explores the challenges faced by modern politicians trapped within a broken system, unable to deliver meaningful change. - https://adamtugwell.blog/2024/08/29/we-need-a-new-party-in-british-politics-yesterday-but-it-wont-be-another-thats-only-been-reformed/
Summary: Argues that simply creating new parties or reforming old ones is insufficient; a fundamental change in the system is required. - https://adamtugwell.blog/2024/12/06/the-harmful-truths-that-are-hidden-behind-political-growth/
Summary: Reveals uncomfortable realities about political and economic growth narratives, and their hidden costs.
4. The Human and Social Cost
- https://adamtugwell.blog/2025/01/12/your-beliefs-today-create-everyones-experiences-tomorrow-full-text/
Summary: Explains how collective beliefs and choices shape societal outcomes, emphasising the power of public consciousness. - https://adamtugwell.blog/2025/08/13/playing-on-fears-the-self-fulfilling-prophecies-of-todays-false-prophets-will-be-the-worst-outcome-from-everything-thats-already-wrong/
Summary: Discusses how fear-based narratives perpetuate negative outcomes and hinder positive change. - https://adamtugwell.blog/2025/11/13/choosing-outcomes-over-comfort-a-path-to-a-better-future/
Summary: Advocates for prioritizing meaningful outcomes over short-term comfort, urging a shift in societal values.
5. Alternatives and Solutions: Building a People-Centric Future
- https://adamtugwell.blog/2025/10/24/the-basic-living-standard-explained/
Summary: Introduces the concept of a Basic Living Standard (BLS), outlining how it could provide security and dignity for all. - https://adamtugwell.blog/2025/11/21/the-local-economy-governance-system-online-text/
Summary: Details a model for local economic and governance systems that prioritize community well-being over profit. - https://adamtugwell.blog/2025/11/26/revaluing-the-workforce-escaping-the-grip-of-greed/
Summary: Explores how shifting values and priorities can empower workers and communities, reducing exploitation. - https://adamtugwell.blog/2025/11/12/the-coming-collapse-and-the-revaluation-of-everything-needed-to-regain-personal-freedom-and-control/
Summary: Looks at the potential for societal collapse as an opportunity to rebuild systems that support genuine freedom and control. - https://adamtugwell.blog/2024/12/20/one-rule-changes-everything-full-text/
Summary: Proposes a foundational rule or principle that could transform society for the better. - https://adamtugwell.blog/2025/07/19/the-choice-a-waking-up-story-full-text/
Summary: A narrative piece illustrating the personal and collective awakening required to move beyond the current system.
Adam Tugwell 