Why does the Human race use curency?
- Thread starter Kiyotaki
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it is immeasurably convenient; you could say to a fault...or you could say that attaching a monetary value to EVERYTHING leads to a very twisted and greedy view of reality. just look at the responses...you people cant live without money!
your point is well taken; the convenience of currency is so ingrained into human culture that very, very rarely will someone take an objective look at the whole mess and realize we've kind of been spoiled by the convenience of a universal barter item...there was indeed a time when humans managed to live for things other than green paper and shiny coins. humans are indeed inherently greedy; unfortunately we've fed that greed far too often throughout history to change that now.
im reminded of gulliver's travels...you money-grubbing bastards should check it out; a great read to relieve the tension when wallstreet does something stupidly evil (or just stupid) in the name of profits.
your point is well taken; the convenience of currency is so ingrained into human culture that very, very rarely will someone take an objective look at the whole mess and realize we've kind of been spoiled by the convenience of a universal barter item...there was indeed a time when humans managed to live for things other than green paper and shiny coins. humans are indeed inherently greedy; unfortunately we've fed that greed far too often throughout history to change that now.
im reminded of gulliver's travels...you money-grubbing bastards should check it out; a great read to relieve the tension when wallstreet does something stupidly evil (or just stupid) in the name of profits.
what does surprise me is that we don't just use "credits" for everything. I never really got the gold standard either though, so I guess it makes sense that I don't get just using paper money. I mean, I got that the gold made the money valuable, but why? Why couldn't the money be valuable on it's own? People aren't trading gold itself. They're trading the paper worth the gold...and...*explodes*
Well its not as bad as you think. Currency is just an efficient form of bartering. I don't think there was anything wrong when I raised chickens and traded you some eggs for the milk from your cow. Currency just made that simpler. Now I have eggs but you want fur. I still want the milk. So instead of me trading the eggs for fur and then trading that fur for your milk, we developed the idea of currency to eliminate the middle man.
Now, we just need to get rid of all the bad weed - speculations (and, yeah, the related people).
The part I don't like about money is that, when you put it on someone's table, they can grab, run and convert it to whatever they like. Worst thing... it's probably what sparked the idea of money in the first place. So you can take "value" and convert it to your liking. And this part of money I like.
The part I don't like about money is that, when you put it on someone's table, they can grab, run and convert it to whatever they like. Worst thing... it's probably what sparked the idea of money in the first place. So you can take "value" and convert it to your liking. And this part of money I like.
Because this is what works it allows people to continue to set the value of items and set a standard for trade. People don't all work for free because they wouldn't get anything from it and people are naturaly greedy and want compensation for their services. Also it's been shown without compensation for hard work no one has any reason to excel or innovate, if we worked under a system like you described innovation would be stifled and we likely wouldn't have developed most of the modern comforts we take for granted today.
There are other reasons besides that of course and, I'm sure some other people have put it better, but I think that covers some of the reasons.
There are other reasons besides that of course and, I'm sure some other people have put it better, but I think that covers some of the reasons.
Here's something to consider...
http://www.thevenusproject.com/a-new-social-design/resource-based-economy
http://www.thevenusproject.com/a-new-social-design/resource-based-economy
Simple question; simple answer:
You cannot do everything on your own; and a dollar is easier to carry than a chicken.
You cannot do everything on your own; and a dollar is easier to carry than a chicken.
Cause it's easier than having only the items you own to trade with, which makes it hard to find the guys who want what you have, and have what you want... sortof the D2 trade channel.
Then again, it's not like currency has had that great effects on the world... 10% of teh population owning 90% of the rescources...
As for the OP (and everyone else interrested) thezeitgeistmovement.com has some movies about currency-less rescource-based economy which is really interresting.
Then again, it's not like currency has had that great effects on the world... 10% of teh population owning 90% of the rescources...
As for the OP (and everyone else interrested) thezeitgeistmovement.com has some movies about currency-less rescource-based economy which is really interresting.
Cause the people who controlls teh world via the power of money wouldn't want the world to work in any other way.
damn double-post.
might as well add soemthing while i'm here.
To all the people saying no-one owuld do shit, you do know that currency doens't date back as far as man-kind right? you think people just used to do nothing before money or other currencies liek gold? how did teh change come then, did money just drop from the sky and people said, "hey lets start doing shit, so we have a system to distribute these weird metal plates and pieces of paper"
damn double-post.
might as well add soemthing while i'm here.
To all the people saying no-one owuld do shit, you do know that currency doens't date back as far as man-kind right? you think people just used to do nothing before money or other currencies liek gold? how did teh change come then, did money just drop from the sky and people said, "hey lets start doing shit, so we have a system to distribute these weird metal plates and pieces of paper"
Just because we're human doesn't mean we're all humanitarians. Unfortunately, the human race just doesn't believe in something for nothing, which is tragic when you consider religion and all. Money is not the solution, mind you. I feel that possibly the barter system is more honest, in that you're getting things you want or need directly.Kiyotaki said:
Haha, finally. Some people stay up nights contemplating the universe, I think about concepts such as wealth and value.
As a people, we give value to objects based on their rarity and the amount of work needed to produce or acquire them. For anything we give, we feel we must receive equal compensation, which makes sense; we had to work for it, why should he get it for free. Originally, that need for compensation was satisfied by the bartering system. In time, currency replaced that system and aided greatly in international trade.
We use currency as a physical representation of the value of certain goods and services and no matter how we might try, people need to apply value to these objects and deeds. Completely removing that system of value is something far to radical for people to even consider. It would be a paradigm shift of the highest magnitude. If nothing had worth, there would be no personal property. Stealing would no longer be criminal because you didn't lose anything of value.
Long story short (too late, I know), we need currency to fulfill our need for a concept of worth and value. Granted, the world might be better off without the concept of worth (at least for physical objects) but that's a topic for another thread, methinks.
As a people, we give value to objects based on their rarity and the amount of work needed to produce or acquire them. For anything we give, we feel we must receive equal compensation, which makes sense; we had to work for it, why should he get it for free. Originally, that need for compensation was satisfied by the bartering system. In time, currency replaced that system and aided greatly in international trade.
We use currency as a physical representation of the value of certain goods and services and no matter how we might try, people need to apply value to these objects and deeds. Completely removing that system of value is something far to radical for people to even consider. It would be a paradigm shift of the highest magnitude. If nothing had worth, there would be no personal property. Stealing would no longer be criminal because you didn't lose anything of value.
Long story short (too late, I know), we need currency to fulfill our need for a concept of worth and value. Granted, the world might be better off without the concept of worth (at least for physical objects) but that's a topic for another thread, methinks.