Why does the Human race use curency?
- Thread starter Kiyotaki
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Thank you.Matt_LRR said:
When a CULTURE/SOCIETY is large enough to have specialties on the workforce with dependence on bartering products like firewood/chickens etc. nothing is as efficient as one universal unit of exchange.
Please don't say "The human race" as if we're the only group of people still left on this world. There are still some groups that don't use money.
To the people talking about their pet theories about charitableness among humans, if this was non-existent then how the hell did people create/have a moral system?
Because using currency is the only way that society can work in this day and age. Can't really barter effectively right now, after all.
I don't like it, but that's just the way things have to be.
I don't like it, but that's just the way things have to be.
Because the Templars invented currency as a way to make all of us enter into voluntary slavery so that they could keep us down! Duh.
OT: Because capitalism requires money and money makes people want to make better things that will make life better for other people. It may not be a perfect system but it's the best one we've got.
OT: Because capitalism requires money and money makes people want to make better things that will make life better for other people. It may not be a perfect system but it's the best one we've got.
People always say "communism is an awesome idea, it's too bad that it doesn't work because of human nature and shit". If an idea doesn't work, it's not awesome. Get over it, seriously... people philosophizing about communism drives me nuts. Yeah it would be great to live in utopia, but the selfish and greedy and power-hungry people of this world would exploit it. Most people are just greedy, it's a simple fact. Nothing to get depressed over, we just have to structure our government and economy accordingly.
Not to sound mean but did you think that question through for more than a second before asking it?Kiyotaki said:
So some people decide to go through like 18 years of education entirely in the knowledge that they'll be working for free, then they just waltz down to the food store and take as much as they want. How many people are just going to drop out of school straight away? And how many assholes are just going to take everything they can just for the sake of it.
In no way would that work.
Then that would still be pretty much the same as it would be the exchange of goods for services or vice versa.Kiyotaki said:
Well, there have been many valid comments thus far.
As to why we have currency, it's because there is a finite amount of resources in the world and in order to ensure its relevant distribution we have to have a way of making an exchange. Bartering still works, but with how much people purchase with how little we produce, it is unreasonable to negotiate with people on that scale. Small scale bartering actually is quite alive and well in many locations around the world.
Money used to be based off of precious metals to ensure its value in something tangible. But since the 1970s we decided it's better to let currency stand on the word of the world governments and let a market determine its worth. So even though, theoretically, an infinite amount of money could be printed, its perceived value would decline so much that it would be worthless (see Zimbabwe... I actually have one of their 100 trillion dollar bills). So keeping currency circulation in check helps maintain its value, thus preserving the reason we use currency in the first place: to give value to finite resources for their relevant distribution.
As for the charity worker thing... we just have to wait until the Star Trek universe comes true...
As to why we have currency, it's because there is a finite amount of resources in the world and in order to ensure its relevant distribution we have to have a way of making an exchange. Bartering still works, but with how much people purchase with how little we produce, it is unreasonable to negotiate with people on that scale. Small scale bartering actually is quite alive and well in many locations around the world.
Money used to be based off of precious metals to ensure its value in something tangible. But since the 1970s we decided it's better to let currency stand on the word of the world governments and let a market determine its worth. So even though, theoretically, an infinite amount of money could be printed, its perceived value would decline so much that it would be worthless (see Zimbabwe... I actually have one of their 100 trillion dollar bills). So keeping currency circulation in check helps maintain its value, thus preserving the reason we use currency in the first place: to give value to finite resources for their relevant distribution.
As for the charity worker thing... we just have to wait until the Star Trek universe comes true...
Don't like currency? Blame the Egyptians and their bread (makes you wonder about the origin of the term "bread winner").
Yar... I be ninja'd. Seriously thought it was one of the few books in High School that I had an easy time reading. Ironically the OP seems to have the same ideas as Snowball, and we all "know" what happened to him.yamitami said:
If there were no currencies, then how would ownership work? What gives you the right to own something if you haven't done anything to earn it? If you haven't paid for it, then it's hard to just claim it. You might say, "But people would just say 'This is mine,' and it would be okay." It's true, people would, but that wouldn't work either. What if somebody just said "Everything is mine," and claimed everything for their own? Then you could say, "Well, we could set up a system where people can only own a certain amount." You could, but how would you compare the value of a biscuit to the value of a Porsche? Would they be worth the same amount? No, of course not. So, you'd give them a value based on the nature of their use, the availability, and other things.
So, people would then be assigned a certain amount of "Ownership Points". But, to get these points, people would have to do things, and the more they worked, and the more value their work had, the more of these points they'd earn.
Oh, hang on. You receive valued points, redeemable for things, that you have to earn through work? Sounds like a system I know...
So, people would then be assigned a certain amount of "Ownership Points". But, to get these points, people would have to do things, and the more they worked, and the more value their work had, the more of these points they'd earn.
Oh, hang on. You receive valued points, redeemable for things, that you have to earn through work? Sounds like a system I know...
If everyone did their own portion of work, we'd be ok... Maybe. We want to consume goods more than work. In order to, someone has to make them. No one wants to work, really... Lets make some robots and then we'll grow happy and fat like in WALL-E!
Currency is a thing you trade for goods and/or services, like a car or a haircut. We used to trade before currency became popular, but that led to a few problems.
If I wanted a cow back before currency, and I had a bazillion chickens, I'd want to trade my chickens. If the guy who had the cow didn't want my chickens, then I was S.o.L.. Even worse, what would happen if winter hit and I lost all my chickens? Now, currency is more or less a universal 'trade' thing within a culture that everyone wants, can't perish(animal), or lose value in itself(like a rotting fruit) (but still is affected by inflation.)
Currency is a thing you trade for goods and/or services, like a car or a haircut. We used to trade before currency became popular, but that led to a few problems.
If I wanted a cow back before currency, and I had a bazillion chickens, I'd want to trade my chickens. If the guy who had the cow didn't want my chickens, then I was S.o.L.. Even worse, what would happen if winter hit and I lost all my chickens? Now, currency is more or less a universal 'trade' thing within a culture that everyone wants, can't perish(animal), or lose value in itself(like a rotting fruit) (but still is affected by inflation.)
Money acts as a store of value, a medium of exchange, and a unit of account. It's easy to take with you, no haggle when it comes to transactions, and it is widely accepted.
Code of Laws is overrated. Just build the Pyramids, and you unlock any government you want.The_root_of_all_evil said:
I totally agree that communism doesn't work because of human bullshit and greed, and that we have to structure our systems accordingly, but I think that the philosophizing part in very important to do too. If we want to create the best government and economy we can, we need to look at why ideas that sound good, like communism, fail when used for real. By doing that we hopefully dont make the same mistake in a different direction.jaketaz said: