Steven Murphy | Earthism | CHOICE GB
The Earth Tax – A bill we all must pay
Survival Was Never Free
Every living thing on Earth consumes, creates waste, and leaves a footprint. But humans? We’re world champions in destruction. Our lead in this area is such, that if there were an Olympics for consumption and waste, we’d take gold every time.
However, from the dawn of life on Earth, survival has always demanded a price. Every species has paid this cost—not in currency, but in the form of time, effort, and adaptation. Long before the introduction of money, laws, or infrastructure, there was the Earth Tax: nature’s price for existence. This tax was woven into the very fabric of nature: survival was earned through the investment of time, effort, sweat and struggle.
Nature’s foundational rule is simple: to live, you must compete, strive, and adapt. For countless generations, humans respected this rule, maintaining balance with the Earth by hunting, building, collaborating, and enduring hardship. Our place was earned through hard work, ingenuity, and resilience. But somewhere along the way, we stopped paying.
Modern Society’s Illusion
Today, we consume and degrade with minimal effort or consequence. In the UK alone, millions avoid this tax—shielded by artificial systems that detach us from the true cost of survival:
- Enhanced welfare schemes that provide benefits without requiring corresponding time or effort, permitting consumption and environmental harm at no personal price.
- Mechanisms like money printing and financial engineering, including interest rate manipulation, which create the false impression of limitless abundance, while obscuring the real finite limits of our planet.
- Economic models that favour consumption over conservation, and convenience over responsibility.
These systems have postponed nature’s reckoning, allowing us to live as if we are exempt from its rules. Yet, nature’s memory is long, and the debt is now due. We have built a dangerous illusion: the belief that survival is an inherent right rather than a privilege that must be earned. This mindset fuels excess, idleness, and waste, perpetuating the myth of human exceptionalism—that we exist outside nature’s laws.
In reality, Earth’s resources are finite, its tolerance is diminishing, and our disconnection accelerates the harm. Having stopped earning our place, society finds itself out of balance—socially, economically, and ecologically.
Restoring Balance — The Foundation of Earthism
Restoration begins with recognising a forgotten truth: prosperity and success are not entitlements but achievements to be earned. This is not optional; it is vital. Here lies the genesis of Earthism—a new perspective on governance, sustainability, and human purpose, grounded in one core principle:
Human beings possess no automatic rights or entitlements—only choices. And it is through making the right choices—exerting effort, contributing meaningfully, and practising ecological accountability—that freedom and equality are justified.
Earthism rejects unchecked growth and consumption. It insists on meaningful contributions from every individual towards the system that sustains them. Competition is not viewed as cruelty, but as a mechanism to reward effort and merit. Ecological costs must be integrated into every decision—social, political, and economic. Central to this is the Earth Tax: a new standard for 21st-century society.
The Principle of the Earth Tax
In a free society, each person has the right to choose their lifestyle, they can compete, strive, consume and create waste. However, with freedom comes responsibility: every act of consumption and waste creation incurs a cost—not just to the environment and society, but to the individual.
We begin from a simple premise: those who draw from the commons—energy, materials, or ecological space—must also contribute, both financially and socially. This is not about imposing restrictions, but about recognising that choices without consequences lead to degradation, while choices linked to contribution foster resilience.
The Earth Tax embodies this ethic, it doesn’t penalise income or effort; instead, it aligns cost directly with and individuals impact. The greater one’s consumption, the more one is required to give back—not as penance, but to promote equity, incentivise innovation, and fund a sustainable future.
Under this new covenant, competition is transformed. The contest is not about how much one can consume, but about how well one can contribute. Value creation is assessed not just by financial output, but by the harmony between personal gain and the collective good.
This is more than a reform of taxation; it is a redefinition of liberty through accountability. Freedom and choice are upheld not through detachment, but through individual contribution. It asks the hard question: if you are not contributing economically or financially to our society – what is your purpose?. If your only output is consumption, waste creation and degradation, why should society carry you?
To share in societal prosperity and success you must be productive, you must generate an income for yourself, for your family and for our society, in summary, to benefit from the system you must add value.
The Moral and Practical Standard
At Earthism’s core lies the Earth Tax—a moral and practical standard for what humanity owes the planet:
- If you consume, you must contribute.
- If you create waste, you must offset it.
- If you advance, you must innovate sustainably.
The Earth Tax reconnects humanity to the ecosystem we have long exploited. It serves as a reminder that survival was never free. The aim is not to halt progress, but to redefine it—using innovation to restore rather than indulge, and shaping a future that respects the limits of the world we inhabit. We are not the Earth’s masters, but its tenants, and each generation must contribute its due.
To make Earthism a reality, we must enshrine the Earth Tax within our systems and policies:
- Access to resources should be contingent upon personal or community input.
- Waste must be addressed through remediation, not outsourced or ignored.
- Innovation should be rewarded only when it aids in the planet’s restoration.
- Rights must be earned through ecological accountability, not granted by default.
This is not cruelty. It’s reality. An alignment with truth. Every species pays a price to remain; if humanity wishes to thrive rather than merely survive, we must return to this ancient agreement. The invoice is overdue. The cost is compounding. The consequences are now evident in climate breakdown, resource depletion, and social decline. The Earth Tax should not be viewed as a penalty, but as a pledge:
- A pledge to compete fairly.
- To innovate with humility.
- To consume with discipline.
- And to exist with accountability.
Earthism offers an opportunity to reset, to restore balance, and to build a society that earns its place rather than assuming it.
Confronting the Illusion of Entitlement
We must challenge the arrogance of entitlement—the assumption that rights exist without contribution, that survival is a guarantee, and that humanity is exempt from nature’s laws. This mindset has fostered waste, excess, and decline, severing our connection to the ecosystem that sustains us. Achieving the necessary transformation demands behavioural change on a scale never before attempted, but it is a price worth paying to secure a future for generations, yet unborn. This must be accomplished not with mere slogans, but with robust systems, effort, and ecological honesty. We must choose to live within our own financial limits and nature’s bounds, sustained by its generosity and judged by its balance.
To take is instinct. To give back is what earns our place.
Empowering Choice, Ensuring Fairness
At the heart of the Earth Tax is a fundamental recalibration: empowering individuals with the freedom of choice, while anchoring those choices in consequence and fairness. This is not a punitive system—it is a liberating one. People are not dictated to about what they should buy or how they should live; instead, they are invited into a framework where every decision reflects their values, and every contribution mirrors their use and impact.
By shifting tax burdens away from income & wealth onto consumption and waste, barriers that penalise effort are removed. Time and labour—whether manual, creative, or intellectual—are no longer disincentivised. In this way, those who contribute and innovate are encouraged to flourish without being penalised for their productivity.
However, freedom must go hand in hand with fairness. Under this model, equality does not mean enforced sameness but equal opportunity: all have the same starting point, everyone must participate in the economy with a clear understanding that it is the time, effort and the choices that an individual makes that shapes their impact.
Competition is redefined as well. It becomes a race for value, not volume—rewarding ingenuity that aligns with sustainability. Businesses strive to develop cleaner, more efficient products, motivated not by regulation but by a system that rewards long-term thinking.
The Earth Tax enshrines accountability within every transaction, reminding us that liberty without consequence is not freedom, but externality. In contrast, this model establishes a social contract based on transparency: each of us pays our share according to how we live, what we consume and the waste that we create, not just what we earn. This is more than tax justice—it is civic integrity.
The Earth Tax goes beyond being a policy mechanism; it reframes society’s relationship with value and fairness. It honours individual freedom of choice, while demanding fair contributions from those who consume more. If you take more from the commons, you contribute more towards its renewal.
Key Pillars of the Earth Tax
Democratising Prosperity: Economic Fairness & Progressivity
Every pound spent becomes an endorsement for a more equitable economy, empowering individuals and promoting responsible competition.
The system:
- Empowers choice and control—people decide their impact and financial contribution based on their consumption & waste creation.
- Rewards effort, not extraction—income and productivity are no longer penalised; tax is tied to environmental impact, not pay packets.
- Creates a level playing field—everyone participates on equal terms, matching freedom with fair contribution.
- Encourages responsible competition—businesses innovate for efficiency and sustainability, not just for volume.
- Supports generational equity—wealth can be passed on without penalty, recognising contributions across lifetimes.
Preserving Our Planet: Environmental Stewardship
By pricing nature’s true cost, sustainable choices become the default, ensuring every act of consumption carries ethical significance.
The model:
- Aligns price with planetary cost—you pay for what you consume, the waste you create, not what you earn.
- Incentivises low-impact design—producers compete to deliver value without ecological burden.
- Deters wasteful excess—high-impact consumption becomes a conscious financial and social choice, not an entitlement.
- Builds shared accountability—everyone contributes proportionally to environmental renewal.
Cultivating Conscious Consumption: Behavioural Change & Social Norms
Small nudges can reset our relationship with natures resources, promoting dignity through restraint rather than excess.
The principles include:
- Freedom with consequence—consumers retain choice, but each purchase reflects both values and cost.
- Redefining status—value is tied to smart impact, not overconsumption.
- Fostering ethical citizenship—everyone becomes an active participant in shaping the future through daily decisions.
Ensuring Fiscal Resilience: Stability & Transparency
Reliable revenues and visible reinvestment foster public trust and link contribution to collective benefit.
The system:
- Employs a fair contribution model—those who use more, contribute more, with no hidden subsidies for high-impact lifestyles.
- Builds a values-based treasury—taxes support services that reflect shared priorities such as education, environment, and equity.
- Deepens civic trust—transparent connections between spending and impact encourage informed citizenship.
Streamlining Governance: Political & Administrative Simplicity
A unified, point-of-sale levy simplifies processes, accelerates implementation, and closes loopholes, ensuring accountability begins with every transaction.
The approach:
- Is simple to understand and difficult to avoid—a fair system because it is visible and universal.
- Leverages real-time systems—technology enables dynamic pricing and feedback, reinforcing behavioural change.
- Embeds fairness in everyday life—justice is no longer abstract, but itemised in each transaction.
Earth Tax Summary
Living well on Earth is not a free ride. It’s a responsibility—one too often ignored. Everyone who benefits from society and the planet must give back. Time, effort, ideas, money—something. Taking without contributing, consuming without care, and leaving waste behind is not just selfish—it’s a betrayal of community and future generations.
Welfare systems should provide survival essentials not lifestyle or unearned equality living standards. Everyone must contribute economically and financially, no exceptions. This isn’t optional, it’s the cost of participation in a functioning society. A just system demands that everyone pays their share, so the foundations of health, equity, and sustainability can endure. Society must stop tolerating non-contribution, no contribution, no voice.
Conclusion
We either step up—or we step aside. The Earth doesn’t owe us comfort, success, or prosperity. We have to earn it. If we refuse to contribute, we forfeit the right to have a say—to shape how our society evolves, how our future unfolds. Fairness means effort, stewardship means sacrifice. Those who consume without conscience, who dodge responsibility, are not just short-sighted—they’re complicit in decline.
There is no middle ground. We demand a future built on fairness, accountability, and ecological respect. Not someday—now. Because anything less is theft, and anything less is failure.
See CHOICE GB Tax Policy.
