Modern life is characterized by an ever growing body of work left behind by the human beings who came before us. Man has displayed creativity, inventiveness, inspiration and achievement in his never ending quest for improvement over the human condition. As such everyone alive today is by rights the natural beneficiary to the collective achievements of our forebears. Everybody has ancestors who contributed to this collective body of work. Why did our predecessors bother to create, build and invent? Why did they toil in fields and study by candlelight if no to insure than their progeny might lead a better life?

So why is it there is so much poverty and suffering in the world? How can it be that a small minority of people on Planet Earth today are benefiting disproportionately from the fruits of the labors of all our ancestors? Surely something is wrong with this picture...

The answer is a distribution of wealth based on a combination of both merit and natural inheritance. There should be a level of wealth afforded to every human being merely for being a member of the human race. After all, much of what exists for us today is through the efforts of those who have gone before us.

Concurrently there should be scope to embrace the natural tendency of human beings to strive for individuality and special recognition. We may have been created equally but we were not created uniformly.

Thus I have begun thinking about a new cryptocurrency based on this principle of a "UNIVERSAL ROYALTY" for humanity. The idea is that each human being receives one "BEANCOIN" (as in Human Bean Coin) per day for the rest of their lives. Thus every day for every person, a new coin is generated.

At the same time whenever any goods or services are exchanged using the new Beancoin, a small percentage is automatically deducted and put into the Universal Royalty Fund as a licensing fee for the use of anything invented by our predecessors. This fund is divided daily with equal shares going to each human citizen. In other words, you are entitled to your equal share of this currency just for the mere fact that you are a member of the human race and thus entitled to your fair share of the fruits of the body of work left by our ancestors. This includes the wheel invented by your great, great, great (to the power of a million) grandparent.

As people trade Beancoins with each other for goods and services, what they are really trading is symbolic units of their time spent on Earth along with the extra effort they have made in providing goods and services.

Bitcoin is sometimes presented as a radical antidote to the current global banking order. But so much of human misery is based on the "whoever grabs it first wins" principle. Those with money and power tend to be in a position to get and keep money and power. Their money and power grows exponentially and those arriving late to the party suffer tremendously. Thus those in on the ground floor gain a disproportionate advantage over those arriving later. As a result we have a distribution of wealth based on "whoever grabs it first wins" rather than any reasonable or fair rules. Bitcoin feeds into this tendency for an unfair and disproportionate distribution of wealth.

The Beancoin is regenerated daily, is available to everyone and offers those with a desire to excel an opportunity to exercise their individuality by providing goods or services. Thus everyone receives a basic degree of security along with further scope for individuality and outstanding achievement.

One problem I foresee is the loss of anonymity suffered due to the necessity of registering in order to receive your share of the currency. So is there a way to make it anonymous whilst also insuring that nobody abuses the system by creating extra identities and receiving more than their fair or earned share of coins?

My Beancoin idea is in its early stages and really needs a lot more thought. I woould like to encourage any and all ideas, comments and especially criticisms of its shortcomings. Let's brainstorm this.