Ok, so I have long held that legal tender was the next logical step in the evolution of society. However, it has long since become outdated and obsolete. The current system(ultimately being used by the entire "civilized" world) can't keep up with technological advncements, and is thus slowing down the pursuit of knowledge. I would like to hear some constructive ideas on alternatives to the current economic structure.
Money: The worst idea since murder.
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What socialist crap is this? We need legal tender, our economy revolves around it, and any proposed economic changes would be based around money-systems. The only other option is going back to the barter system and the dark age economies.
Money represents the relative value of a specific service or product. It is a largely standardised way of ensuring that the providers of a service or product are rewarded with a representation of the relative value of the service or product they have provided. If we were to give all services freely then those services would collapse in no time, because there would be no way of ensuring that the providers are compensated adequately for their efforts. Any transactions of any kind would revert to direct trade of products or services, meaning that any transaction ever made by anyone would be inherently and interminably negotiable because no standardised value is assigned to anything. And then nobody would ever bloody get anything done.
There have been some...wrong ideas on the Escapist lately
Maybe someone should create a thread on how the world works
Maybe someone should create a thread on how the world works
But how will we live our lives without the benefit of a medium a trade? Without a store of value?hvitulf said:
Go back to bartering? Then value would become overly subjective. Not everyone can mine gold like you, man.
Not keep up with technological advancements? How does that work?
You be talkin moonspeak.
Actually the worst idea in human history is farming. When we were hunter-gatherers, we could always find our food, we ate a much healthier diet, and we lived 10 times longer.
Edit: I should say that lifespans SHORTENED from the transition to farming. That's a bit deceptive, sorry.
Edit: I should say that lifespans SHORTENED from the transition to farming. That's a bit deceptive, sorry.
There are only two alternatives to money, whatever form it takes.
1. a barter system. Essentially money is just a way to control a barter system and even it out. Can you imagine having to negotiate how much of whatever junk you had on hand was enough for a big mac every time you went to get a burger? It's just a system that bends over and yells "corrupt me!" at every level, unless your economy is on a small tribal scale.
2. a working communism. This would actually be ideal, everyone is committed to their career simply for the love of the work; and that's the problem, it's an ideal. It's a Utopian pipe dream the likes of which will almost certainly never happen, and is somehow even less likely to happen within our lifetimes. It would require almost unlimited free energy and an almost total abandonment of the human drive to compete with each other for the sole reason of being better than the other guy.
Now if you meant that cash is outmoded and should be done away with, we simply haven't enough faith in a completely digital economy now. It very well may be for the best that we never do.
1. a barter system. Essentially money is just a way to control a barter system and even it out. Can you imagine having to negotiate how much of whatever junk you had on hand was enough for a big mac every time you went to get a burger? It's just a system that bends over and yells "corrupt me!" at every level, unless your economy is on a small tribal scale.
2. a working communism. This would actually be ideal, everyone is committed to their career simply for the love of the work; and that's the problem, it's an ideal. It's a Utopian pipe dream the likes of which will almost certainly never happen, and is somehow even less likely to happen within our lifetimes. It would require almost unlimited free energy and an almost total abandonment of the human drive to compete with each other for the sole reason of being better than the other guy.
Now if you meant that cash is outmoded and should be done away with, we simply haven't enough faith in a completely digital economy now. It very well may be for the best that we never do.
What on earth has socialism to do with this?deadman91 said:
Stop flaming please.
OT:
Money is only an evolved variant of the barter system, and it works.
It allows people to have specialised jobs, and allows society to allocate resources to more interesting projects.
Heres what we need: Socialism.
Everyones so against socialism for uninformed reasons but its a great thing in the right hands. For example, why does a man who lugs around heavy boxs all day, works all day, and comes home tired make less money than a man who sits at a desk all day? Socialism would make it so all men were truly equal. Capitalism give false equality, socialism gives real equality.
Everyones so against socialism for uninformed reasons but its a great thing in the right hands. For example, why does a man who lugs around heavy boxs all day, works all day, and comes home tired make less money than a man who sits at a desk all day? Socialism would make it so all men were truly equal. Capitalism give false equality, socialism gives real equality.