What about food?

In the past when I've brought up this idea the first response I got is "But what about food? Won't we all starve to death?"

This assumes that people work simply because of money and without it we'd all just quit. I don't believe this is true. We all have things we enjoy doing and we're good at. Some of us are able to make that thing our jobs. Those of us who are in those jobs would obviously keep doing them. As for those that don't I'll save for another post. Farming is one of those careers that is a calling for a number of people. For some families it's what they grew up doing and continue with. I think it's safe to say that most farmers aren't in it to get rich. The industry as a whole has always been subsidized by government.

A world without money just means it's without money. People still work, they just don't get paid and they don't have bills to pay either. The money merry-go-round that we go through simply goes away. One of the bigger things that would change is work in general would become what we consider volunteer work today. As people do now, they'll see duties/tasks that they really feel needs to be done and chip in their time and expertise to do it for free. A money less society means everybody would be doing this.

I'll say the dominance of corporate farms over family farms does put a wrinkle in this. A lot more people are farming as a job instead as a way of life. Still, food will be a primary need and I have no doubt we will continue to feed ourselves. Suggesting that we wouldn't and would just starve to death because we are lazy is just dumb on the face of it. Humans have a pretty strong sense of self preservation if nothing else. The hope I have is that we produce enough of it that we have less overall hunger. We might not feed ourselves the exact same food we eat today. That would all depend on what food people feel is worth devoting their time to.

There might be enough fans of Twinkies out there that will continue to make them in enough quantities to feed those that want them. The same might not be true for other food related jobs. Lots of people like McDonalds hamburgers, but will enough people be willing to step behind the counter and start making them at the speed and quantities needed to fill that demand? If not, then do we really want them? We might want them enough that we're willing to pay a couple bucks when it's convenient. Doing that is easy. But if not enough people are willing to do the work, then maybe we don't want them as badly as we say we do. That could change out society in some eye-opening ways. Perhaps a world without money could lead to people eating a healthier diet.. or worse.

As for me, I'm a big chicken finger lover. If I find there is a shortage, I'll gladly chip in some time to make some for myself and others. What food would you be willing to devote your time to making?

A Dangerous Idea

A money free world is something I've been thinking about for a number of years now. The germ of the idea started with Star Trek in how they lived in a money free society. I wondered how something like that could be applied to the here and now. This blog is going to my thoughts on how a money free world would be different.

The amount of changes is impossible to imagine at all once. Bit by bit I'll be going through them. It wouldn't be a utopia but would it be better? I think it would, or at least I think it would be for most of us. There are many positive changes it would bring and there would be challenges. I'll be going through them and possible ways to deal with negative aspects to such a world.

This isn't designed to be an overly political blog. I'm sure the removal of money from our society appeals more to  the left then it does the right. But I can see this appealing to people of all stripes. The left vs. right viewpoints have been going around in a never ending circle and I've long heard people say we need new ideas. This is for one for exploring.

The need for money applies to all of us and makes us do things we aren't 100% comfortable in doing. This usually happens though our jobs but also through our relationships with people. How we treat and react to friends, lovers, even family members can be changed a great deal by the absence or abundance of money. Maybe it's just me but I find it too sociopath like for my tastes and it's getting worse.

If this idea were to be taken seriously it would be fought against harder than anything that's been fought against in the history of our planet. To the most powerful people on this world, money is their true god and the lengths they go to get more of it never ceases to amaze. I suspect even the most conservative parts of the financial sector of the world would accept communism before getting rid of money entirely. Even communists still believed in money, they just wanted the equal distribution of it. Ordinary people would fight it too, their whole way of life would change and that's a very scary thing.

Can it happen though? They say an idea is the most dangerous enemy. When it's time has come nothing can stop it.