"I do not believe making money in order to consume goods is mankind's sole purpose on this planet. If you're wondering what I believe our purpose on this planet is, I'll give you a hint... it has to do with Creating and Sharing." Bill Hicks

submitted by EndlessSunflowers from i.imgur.com

sorted by:
top
newinsightfulfun
you are viewing a single comment's thread.

view the rest of the comments →

[–]christine_grab 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (5 children)

Lately, I have been thinking about how the only way to fix society's problems is to change the way money works. We already have engines that run on water, but it was shelved because it would seriously threaten Big Oil. We have light bulbs that never burn out, but they will never be produced because they can't make money long-term. Nowadays, most products have deliberately designed functional obsolescence to ensure that we keep buying said product. I have no answers about what a new money system would look like, but there has to be a way to distribute money as a reward for making things that will make the world a better place instead of our current system, which rewards us for making things that pollute, fill up our landfills, encourage corruption and exploitation, etc.

[–]fred_red_beans 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

Money is just a placeholder for trust between people. It's a blind trust system, as in you give someone your money (time, labor, resources) and you don't know what they may do with it. If we were to not use money, we would have to go through the process of communicating and learning to trust each other rather than just isolating in our respective homes. cars. jobs etc; it would not be a small process. This blind trust was supposed to be one of the "features" of using a currency system, but has rather just enabled us to be controlled by those who control the monetary system.

At least libertarians, while still advocating for the tokenized currency system, believe in a free market where individuals can transact freely with each other without having to pay homage to "the owners" through taxes etc.

[–]muellermeierschulz 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

Governments accept taxes only in the official currency. Therefore the currency has not naturally evolved. "Free markets" is an oxymoron. There has to be a "power" to make sure that private contracts will be kept. If there is no punishment for cheating - then there is no market. And this "power" has to be paid - with taxes. No market without government / state.

[–]fred_red_beans 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

This hinges on the premise that there needs to be an authority that enforces and punishes, which I disagree with.

When someone abuses the trust given to them, then that trust/power could be modified or removed by the individuals who gave them their trust in the first place. Punishment in of itself does not ensure further trust, quite the contrary as exhibited by the US "corrections" system which actually corrects nothing. I do believe it's important to have a police force and a way to take responsibility for common needs, but instead of that responsibility being taken by a few who are elected or are on boards or are appointed to positions, I think we would be better off if everyone were to take a more active role in serving those needs. This certainly would take much more time, effort, communication, and trust and would be highly inefficient by a monetary cost means, but I think the rewards would be much higher as the people themselves would be enriched by taking the responsibility for themselves rather than looking to governments, judges, or corporations to do it for them. Perhaps I'm painting an utopian anarchistic picture, but I don't think this scenario is impossible.

It could be argued that it's human nature to shit on each other, but I don't think so. I think the majority of people actually care about one another. The military has boot camps in order to train people and get them used to the idea of killing another human being. People more often than not come together in times of need. It is the caring aspect of people that is used to manipulate them and evoke emotional responses.

I see humanity as currently in a conundrum in which it's education, activities, and world view, which are guided by the economic system, actually contrast with their core base values. The worldview is maintained by the media, education system, and economic system - everything they are taught to care about. Most are just not able to look in the mirror and challenge their own belief system, which would also be necessary in order to do what I am describing.

Not probable anytime in the near future - but I think possible.

[–]muellermeierschulz 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

It could be argued that it's human nature to shit on each other, but I don't think so. I think the majority of people actually care about one another. I agree with that. But, if one or two in hundred don't care - can be enough to let everything go to waste.

[–]fred_red_beans 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I agree with that. But, if one or two in hundred don't care - can be enough to let everything go to waste.

Right, and we shouldn't lend those one or two in one hundred our trust and have them in positions of power. I think the only way to really check that power is by spreading it out over as many individuals as possible. But, again those individuals would have to invest themselves and take responsibility instead of abdicating it to those few in power.