A good friend of mine Justin recently posed this question at work; "Can you imagine a society in which money does not exist?" Well can you? None of my co-workers could but if you stop and think about it, it is very possible. There have been money free societies that existed in which the inhabitants lived in perfect harmony until outside influences were threatened by them. The Shakers and Rappites were fine for a extended period of time.Think of the communes in the world or the whole hippie movement for that matter. Here was a group of people that did not want anything from anybody. They did not care about the labels on their clothes. They did not judge people by their titles, the car that they drove or which zip code that they came from. They shared what was theirs and expected nothing in return. It is for that reason that they were investigated and had to be dealt with. People that cannot be used or exploited in anyway are often seen as a threat. They are not driven by greed or success and therefore will not be manipulated in the same manner that so many others are. Once you remove money from the scenario then the whole notion of a monetary penalty is moot. The fear of penalty and big brother's use of it to get people what they want to do or discourage them from doing what is taboo would no longer exist.
Unfortunately, so many people have been brainwashed to believe that the only thing that makes this world move is money, they feel that the only way to get something done, to get results, is to pay for it. They have been getting a monetary award ever since their parents gave them an allowance for bringing out the trash and putting their toys away. Hell, I am just as guilty as everyone else, trying to sell my writings. It is a hard habit to break and one that I hope one day I can escape from.
When the question is posed, "Can we live without money?". Most people will say no. They will ask; "How will bridges get built?" or "Who will repair your home for free?". What they fail to realize without money, these materials, these services, would all be free. Example; The gardener could swap some of his surplus to the carpenter for a new roof. You get the point. The problem, greed and laziness.
Greed, there will always be those who want more. Those who would rather profit in one way or another from their services or goods. There will be those who feel that their service is worth more than someone else. They will get the urge to increase their belongings, their land, their surplus and the cycle will begin again. The other problem with greed is taxes. If big brother cannot benefit then they must stop it. If there are no taxes to collect, then in their eyes something is wrong, people cannot be manipulated.
Laziness, there will always be those who refuse to carry their weight. In societies from the dawn of time, there were always people who figured the world owed them something, looking for a free handout and having the whole "I'll get by". attitude. These people would put a blemish on the whole commune living style and just leech off of others. When others get frustrated at their neighbor's lack of initiative the whole structure falls apart.
This is not a joke. I am serious about this and would love to hear your thoughts and ideas. Pack are bags Liz, we are moving to the country.
Is it hot in here or am I Crazy?
Love this topic. Basically what you are referring to is whats called a resource-based economy. The term resource-based economy or post scarcity is also used for an economic theory in which things such as goods, services and information are free. If you are interested in learning more about this topic www.zeitgeistmovie.com/ also www.thevenusproject.com/ touches on this topic as well as different ways the world could run efficiently without the use of money. This concept is not something that could happen overnight. The entire world would need a complete reboot or change of consciousness. But to think that in the year 2012 with all that we have been through as a species and our exponential growth in technology the only thing holding us back from becoming a true utopian society is ourselves. The problem is its a race against the clock the possibility of economic collapse as well as nuclear war looms over our very heads every day. In the end we are destroying the planet, it may be hard to think of it this way but we are actually one with the planet and all life on it, the only ones we are going to spite is ourselves.
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