[GJM] Is Money Obsolete?

[E. Crockett]

--- Dan Parker <dan.parker at globaljusticemovement.org>
wrote:

> Money can be made obsolete by
> 
> a) a society so technologically advanced, that
> materialistic goods
> can be created out of thin air, via nanotechnology
> or some such
> 
> or
> 
> b) through a return to the 90% self-produced
> consumption
> and double coincidence barter system of the middle
> ages;
> which would entail an early death for billions.
> 
> As it is, money eliminates the double coincidence
> needed
> for a barter economy and makes possible wonderous
> technology through the specialization that is only
> possible
> where double coincidence is not a concern.
> 
> Money is strictly symbolic in nature, and can
> symbolize
> whatever the system is designed for. If the poison
> of compound interest math is put into the money
> system,
> (or other injustices involving money's creation),
> then the
> symbol will become a drag on what is really
> possible.
> That is not the fault of money, or the symbol
> itself.
> 
> Imagine a tribe subsists on water from condensation
> and
> struggles to survive ( as did *all* humans before
> the age
> of specialization that money made possible). Now
> imagine
> this tribe digs a well and can quench its thirst
> fairly easy.
> Except that someone starts poisoning the well,
> causing
> illness.
> 
> A wiseman of the village will look at the entire
> history, at examples of unpoisoned wells (i.e. the
> Guesney
> Island experiment for money, New Zealand's success
> in
> climbing out of the depression before WWII ) and so
> on.
> Shutting down the well and killing most of the
> populace
> (i.e. eliminating the money system) would not enter
> into
> the thought stream of anyone that understood the
> concept.
> 
> Regards
> Dan Parker
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Steve Consilvio" <steve at behappyandfree.com>
> To: <discussion at globaljusticemovement.net>
> Sent: Thursday, March 08, 2007 9:18 AM
> Subject: [GJM] Is Money Obsolete?
> 
> 
> > Hi All,
> >
> > In watching the discussion here, there and
> everywhere, always the
> > discussion is about money. The rich fear the poor,
> the poor fear the
> > rich. Nobody can get their budget to balance.
> Corporations,
> > governments, NGO's are all perpetually seeking
> more money to survive,
> > the same as the individual and families.
> >
> > Maybe the time has come to recognize the obvious:
> Money itself is the
> > problem. Not who has more of it, or who has less
> of it, but the
> > intellectual idea that time and land should be
> "valued" by this third
> > party we call "The Marketplace," and the concept
> of money.
> >
> > We need to have a Jubillee and move on. What you
> possess is what you
> > own. The Charters are meaningless. In reading over
> some peace
> > treaties of prior centuries yesterday, I was
> amazed at how the
> > concept of debt endures even at the end of war and
> a cycle of
> > destruction. Why is there so much fear in regard
> to forgiving debt
> > and moving on? This is all indicative of an
> inability to trust one
> > another, and a perpetuation of the idea that money
> is "real" and of
> > primary importance.
> >
> > Until we recognize that money is meaningless, and
> that it is the
> > relationship between people that is the most
> important, any attempt
> > at reform is simply to recreate the problem anew.
> The marketplace of
> > profit and interest is not about making fair
> exchanges (much less
> > charity) it is about "regulating" unfair
> exchanges. What an oxymoron!
> > Like "the rules of war," it simply makes no sense
> to regulate what is
> > an insane behavior with "rules" to legitimize the
> insanity.
> >
> > Money is all the media and everyone talks about.
> Prices are good,
> > bad, too rich, too poor, going up, going down,
> meeting expectations,
> > passing expectations not meeting expectations,
> needing relief,
> > underbudget, foreclose, bankruptcy, eviction,
> overpaid, underpaid,
> > fines, penalty etc., and so on. All of these
> "financial
> > relationships" are defined by the supremacy of
> money in the exchanges
> > between men and institutions. The law creates
> money, but it is men
> > that accept the concept.
> >
> > Rather than burning books, burning buildings,
> burning people, burning
> > ships, burning bridges and burning our
> possessions, maybe what we
> > need to burn is the currency. Forgive all debts,
> erase all the rules,
> > and start over. All of those things that were just
> burned, however,
> > belong to "other" people. We need to start
> locally, in our own
> > community, and with ourself.
> >
> > The only promise that democracy ever offered was
> the ability to
> > change the world without the need for blood being
> spilled. Thus far
> > it is a failure because both the people and the
> leaders think alike
> > regarding money. (Even Cromwell returned to the
> idea of tolerating
> > Interest once victorious.) Democracy can only
> solve a political
> > problem, it takes a change in economic behavior to
> solve an economic
> > problem.  The politically ambitious do not have an
> economic analysis
> > of what is wrong, only WHO is to blame. What I am
> describing is not a
> > political action, it does not require political
> power; what it does
> > require is a change in social mores regarding
> money. In essence, we
> > need a divestiture movement from banking,
> insurance and the stock
> > market. The promise of making wealth grow is the
> seduction that
> > creates this ponzi scheme we are all trapped in.
> These institutions
> > find it impossible to survive, too.
> >
> > In other words, by creating a PERSONAL DIVESTITURE
> MOVEMENT, the net
> > effect is that the ponzi scheme will collapse. The
> ponzi scheme only
> > works if new people are perpetually buying into
> the existing scheme.
> > This should prevent an economic collapse, or war,
> because the net
> > effect, as it is done slowly, will be to create a
> pricing
> > equilibrium. As institutions follow suit, because
> they only do what
> > everybody else does, too, we eventually end up
> with a society where
> > people and relationships are valued more than
> money and objects. If
> > the ponzi scheme cannot pay its dividends, then
> nobody will play, and
> > there will be nobody working its ropes in a
> desperate attempt to
> > survive. Mao's "paper tiger" will be slayed. At a
> minimum, the next
> 
=== message truncated ===


 
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