Making Money Real

Gallery

October 16, 2026

8–12 minutes

A book cover, dark green. Front: Title: The Dice are ALWAYS Loaded. Author: BJ Chippindale. An Image of a part of the globe forms the lower 1/5 of the cover. Europe and the Mediterranean are recognizable. Casino dice are impacting the planet, showing snake-eyes. Back: Dark Green, the same snake-eyed dice at the top of the page. Text that reads. "We can throw the moneylenders from the temple, remove the wealthy by bloody revolution, and occupy Wall Street. It isn’t enough! Our poverty, environmental destruction, greed, slavery, and war return relentlessly. Our owner’s unlimited accumulation of wealth and automation of theft continues unabated. Our governments are inexorably owned by power-hungry, megalomaniacal, amoral s. We are very consistent. Our money evolved as debt with interest, unchanging through every rise and collapse of civilization, loading the dice. The real definition of money, the Mahinist definition, is based on work that obeys the laws of physics; debt is not work. Debt is an idea. And ideas are not bound by the laws, and evolution only works if its mistakes are eliminated. Mahinism is a new “ism” based on work; “Mahi” is the te reo Māori word for “work.” Money must represent work. When it does and is limited by the laws of physics, the foundations of capitalism and fascism crumble like sandcastles in a rising tide. While we cannot break a law of physics, we can break everything else. The Dice Are Always Loaded explains how it all breaks, and how it can, finally, start working again. " At the bottom is the imprint for "YourBooks" the publisher, and the bar code for the ISBN 978-1-9911929-5-0 — A book cover, dark green.
Front: Title: The Dice are ALWAYS Loaded. Author: BJ Chippindale. An Image of a part of the globe forms the lower 1/5 of the cover. Europe and the Mediterranean are recognizable. Casino dice are impacting the planet, showing snake eyes.

Back: Dark Green, the same snake-eyed dice at the top of the page. Text that reads.
“We can throw the moneylenders from the temple, remove the wealthy by bloody revolution, and occupy Wall Street.

It isn’t enough!

Our poverty, environmental destruction, greed, slavery, and war return relentlessly. Our owner’s unlimited accumulation of wealth and automation of theft continues unabated.

Our governments are inexorably owned by power-hungry, megalomaniacal, amoral s.

We are very consistent. Our money evolved as debt with interest, unchanging through every rise and collapse of civilization, loading the dice. The real definition of money, the Mahinist definition, is based on work that obeys the laws of physics; debt is not work. Debt is an idea.

And ideas are not bound by the laws, and evolution only works if its mistakes are eliminated.

Mahinism is a new “ism” based on work; “Mahi” is the
te reo Māori word for “work.”

Money must represent work. When it does and is limited by the laws of physics, the foundations of capitalism and fascism crumble like sandcastles in a rising tide.

While we cannot break a law of physics, we can break everything else.
The Dice Are Always Loaded explains how
it all breaks, and how it can, finally,
start working again.
“
At the bottom is the imprint for “YourBooks” the publisher, and the bar code for the ISBN 978-1-9911929-5-0

The price of anything is
the amount of life you
exchange for it.

- Henry David Thoreau

A n image of the author, outside the Te Papa museum in Wellington, NZ - circa 2010

This is the image that appears after "The Road toward the real definition of money" in The Dice Are ALWAYS Loaded.
A set of black and white line drawings arranged as two columns. They are paired with a fisherman on the left and a baker on the right. The first pair shows the fisherman mending nets and the baker kneading bread. The second pair shows the fisherman in a boat at sea, hauling in fish, and the baker taking bread from an oven. The third pair shows two fish and five loaves of bread separated by an equals sign. — This is the image that appears after “The Road toward the real definition of money” in
The Dice Are ALWAYS Loaded.
A set of black and white line drawings arranged as two columns. They are paired with a fisherman on the left and a baker on the right. The first pair shows the fisherman mending nets and the baker kneading bread. The second pair shows the fisherman in a boat at sea, hauling in fish, and the baker taking bread from an oven. The third pair shows two fish and five loaves of bread separated by an equals sign.

Image from "The Dice Are Always Loaded" Labeled as "Figure 1: The economy is the tool with which society determines how much of the environment can and should be used to provide for its needs and wants. Ideally, wealth should not confer excessive power within society."
Image:
A salmon colored background contains three concentric ovals. The largest (bottom most if viewed from above) is shaded Maroon, and labeled "Society & Govt". The middle yellow oval is labeled "Economy" and the top most and central Green oval is labeled "Environment." There is a crosshatched segment of the Society and the Economy to the upper right sector of those ovals with the legend "In an ideal democracy the wealthiest ten percent get ten percent of the control over society, government and the economy. The cross hatch does NOT extend into the green environment.

The upper left contains an explanation: "Mahinism asserts that society, government, the wealthy, and the economy must NOT wreck the renewable environment.

The environment is centered here (unlike a Raworth doughnut) to better present the reality that it is limited. — Image from “The Dice Are Always Loaded” Labeled as “Figure 1: The economy is the tool with which society determines how much of the environment can and should be used to provide for its needs and wants.
Ideally, wealth should not confer excessive power within society.”
Image:
A salmon colored background contains three concentric ovals. The largest (bottom-most if viewed from above) is shaded Maroon, and labeled “Society & Govt”. The middle yellow oval is labeled “Economy”
The topmost, central Green oval is labeled “Environment.”
There is a crosshatched segment of the Society and the Economy to the upper right sector of those ovals with the legend “In an ideal democracy the wealthiest ten percent get ten percent of the control over society, government and the economy.
The cross-hatching does NOT extend into the green environment.
The upper left contains an explanation: “Mahinism asserts that society, government, the wealthy, and the economy must NOT wreck the renewable environment.
The environment is centered here (unlike a Raworth doughnut) to better present the reality that it is limited.

The Dice are Always Loaded. Image included as Figure 2: " Unconstrained money and growth of the economy at the behest of the owning class. The working class has lost half its economic wealth, while the owning class is distorting society itself. It often controls governments and restricts the options of democracies."
Image: The same Salmon background as Figure 1, the upper part of the Society and Govt Maroon oval has grown to a rectangular background, much larger than before. At the same time, the 10% crosshatched owning class is now a sliver, less than one percent. The Economic Yellow oval is jaggedly overlapping and encroaching on the Environmental Green from both top and bottom. The Cross Hatching representing the control of the owning class covers most of the Society and Economy from the top. The legend for this cross-hatch is "The hyper-wealthy owning class is now less than ONE percent of the population but controls most of our governments, society, and economics."
A small bit of the yellow economy oval and maroon society oval is not overlaid by the control cross hatching and is labeled "What's left for the rest of the world."
The Legend below is
" While the wealthy owning class controls nations, distorts society, and consumes the environment human civilization relies on at the expense of everyone else, including humans not yet born, it also consumes the freedoms our democracies provided.

No government by the wealthy can call itself either democratic or free." — The Dice are Always Loaded. Image included as Figure 2: ” Unconstrained money and growth of the economy at the behest of the owning class. The working class has lost half its economic wealth, while the owning class is distorting society itself. It often controls governments and restricts the options of democracies.”
Image: The same Salmon background as Figure 1; the upper part of the Society and Govt Maroon oval has grown into a much larger rectangular background. At the same time, the 10% crosshatched owning class is now a sliver, less than one percent. The Economic Yellow oval is jaggedly overlapping and encroaching on the Environmental Green from both top and bottom. The cross-hatching representing the owning class’s control covers most of Society and Economy from the top. The legend for this cross-hatch is
“The hyper-wealthy owning class is now less than ONE percent of the population but controls most of our governments, society, and economics.”
A small bit of the yellow economy oval and maroon society oval is not overlaid by the control cross-hatching and is labeled “What’s left for the rest of the world.”
The Legend below is
” While the wealthy owning class controls nations, distorts society, and consumes the environment human civilization relies on at the expense of everyone else, including humans not yet born, it also consumes the freedoms our democracies provided.
No government by the wealthy can call itself either democratic or free.”

The oval at the top of the image is the orange Sun. The box below it represents the region controlled by society and contains a second green oval that represents the energy-capturing ability of that society. It is labeled "Energy Collection Infrastructure: Work captured by Society. There are orange arrows from the Sun that miss the box, arrows that hit the box but miss being captured, and arrows that hit the green oval.

Below the green oval, there are small rounded boxes labeled from A through G. These rounded boxes are blue and arranged diagonally to divide the remaining page, representing citizens in society. The money society creates is the total of the Green arrows in the diagram. Two arrows from the green oval to A, C, D, E, and F. Single arrows to B and G.

There is a black oval to the left of the blue boxes and green arrows from D, E, and F to the Black Oval, which is labeled "Goods and Services and Infrastructure Produced. This captures work done by the workers D, E, and F in producing the goods and services consumed. This simple diagram does not distinguish between workers, entrepreneurs, and inventors

There is a black hexagon to the right of the echelon of blue boxes. It is labeled "Resources needed for production (capital)." There are dotted lines from A, B, C, and D to the hexagon, denoting their ownership of the means of production. Note that there are no green arrows to or from the hexagon.

There is a single black arrow from the Production (black) oval to the Capital (black) hexagon. There is a single black arrow to each of the citizen's boxes. There is a single black arrow back up to the green energy collection oval. The black arrows represent consumption. — The oval at the top of the image is the orange Sun. The box below it represents the region controlled by society and contains a second green oval that represents the energy-capturing ability of that society. It is labeled “Energy Collection Infrastructure: Work captured by Society. There are orange arrows from the Sun that miss the box, arrows that hit the box but miss being captured, and arrows that hit the green oval.
Below the green oval, there are small rounded boxes labeled from A through G. These rounded boxes are blue and arranged diagonally to divide the remaining page, representing citizens in society. The money society creates is the total of the Green arrows in the diagram. Two arrows from the green oval to A, C, D, E, and F. Single arrows to B and G.
There is a black oval to the left of the blue boxes and green arrows from D, E, and F to the Black Oval, which is labeled “Goods and Services and Infrastructure Produced. This captures work done by the workers D, E, and F in producing the goods and services consumed. This simple diagram does not distinguish between workers, entrepreneurs, and inventors
There is a black hexagon to the right of the echelon of blue boxes. It is labeled “Resources needed for production (capital).” There are dotted lines from A, B, C, and D to the hexagon, denoting their ownership of the means of production. Note that there are no green arrows to or from the hexagon.
There is a single black arrow from the Production (black) oval to the Capital (black) hexagon. There is a single black arrow to each of the citizen’s boxes. There is a single black arrow back up to the green energy collection oval. The black arrows represent consumption.

Property	Communism	Socialism	Mahinism	Capitalism
Basic philosophy	Government does not exist (the state will “wither away”). Cooperation replaces government. “From each according to abilities, to each according to needs.” Ownership is removed.	Government has priority and is trusted. Cooperation Democracy is desired but inconvenient to the owning class. Taxation & wealth transfer stop the owning class from establishing plutocracy or oligarchy.	Government has priority and is trusted. Cooperation Democracy is desired and protected by money that is subject to the laws of thermo-dynamics. Ownership cannot be a source of money.	Government is secondary to individuals and is distrusted. Competition. Democracy is desired but inconvenient to the owning class. The owning class can establish a plutocracy and always does.
Money	Communism asserts that no money is required.	Money is required and it is “an idea.” Money is created as debt with interest (usually by bankers).	Money is required and represents work controlled by the society. Money is created by the state with built-in demurrage and loaned without interest.	Money is required and it is “an idea.” Money is created as debt with interest by bankers.
Payment for work (risk of wage slavery)	Depends on the state, with differentials for productivity and social supports for those who cannot work.	Depends on private negotiation or public wage settlements for industry sectors. Social support for those who cannot work.	Depends on the state, with differentials for skill and productivity. Social support for those who cannot work, plus a UBI.	Depends on private negotiations between the worker and employer. Social supports are minimized so that wages can be suppressed and workers forced to take jobs.
Market vs state control (risk of market failure or autocracy)	Centrally planned economy. Black market with scarcity pricing.	Essential portions of the economy are controlled by the state (Health, Education, Energy). A free market with scarcity pricing.	Essential portions of the economy are controlled by the state (Health, Education, Energy). A free market limited to cost pricing is established.	Market domination of all sectors of the economy. A “free” market with scarcity pricing and potential monopolies.
Consumption of the environment	Driven by a politically motivated need to grow.	Driven by profit motive & protected by government regulation. Resources are rationed by wealth. Growth is a sacrament.	Driven by necessity. Protected by regulations, the reduced need to grow, and the lack of profit through exploitation. Resources NOT rationed by wealth.	Driven by the profit motive. Protection by government regulation is resisted. Resources are rationed by wealth. Growth is a sacrament.
Ownership of and profit from economic resources	State (public) ownership & profits.	Mixture of public & private ownership & profits.	Mixture of public & private ownership. ONLY public profit is permitted.	Private ownership & profit.
Class	Class is abolished. The ability to earn more than other workers is reduced.	Classes exist but differences are diminished. Inequality is bad but is still based on ownership.	The owning class is abolished. Inequality due to effort, skill, and talent (but not ownership) is good.	The owning class is dominant, controls everything, and runs the government. Inequality is good & based on ownership.
Public information	Controlled and funded by the state. Fully censored. No way of knowing what is true or not.	Privately owned media & advertiser funding. Some social censorship. Some public funding for media. No way of knowing what is true or not.	State vouchers for full subscription services with almost no censorship and little advertising. ALL media is labeled to indicate the degree with which it promotes fact vs fiction.	Privately owned & advertiser-funded media. Some social censorship. Scarce public funding for media. A myth of merit-based class distinction is promoted. No way of knowing what is true or not.
Taxes	No money, so no taxes. (This has not been seen in the real world.)	Consumption and all forms of work based income are taxed. (Heavy taxes vs capitalism). Wealth-transfer is normal. Vice taxes (alcohol, cigarettes, weed) are used to discourage self-destructive behavior. The state is funded by taxes & debt.	Vice taxes (alcohol, cigarettes, weed) are used to discourage self-destructive behavior. Ownership Income taxed at 100%. Wealth transfer is not required. The state is the source of money and does NOT need taxes to fund itself.	Consumption, income and all forms of work-based income are taxed, and taxed more than capital gains. Wealth transfer is regarded as evil. Vice taxes (alcohol, cigarettes, weed) are used to discourage self-destructive behavior. The state is funded by taxes & debt.
Distribution of economic production	Production is distributed to the people at no charge.	Production is priced according to scarcity and distributed according to wealth, with social support for the poorest.	Production is priced according to cost, and access during scarcity is managed by the society; it is not rationed by wealth.	Production is priced according to scarcity and distributed according to wealth with minimal social support.