Money.
Why do we care about it so much? It humors me to think how conditioned society has become, completely reliant upon this concept of money. The transfer of wealth from one person to the other in exchange for a good or service. Sure, it’s made it easier to shape our economies, graduating from the barter system to a more universally applicable item. But did the invention of money REALLY help humanity?
Think about this. Your life is literally dictated by the pursuit of money. Everyone’s is. That’s the ticket to happiness, many people say. And to a certain extent, they’re right. Not having to worry about financial issues relieves an enormous amount of stress. But does that stress have to exist in the first place? After all, as scientists will tell you – all we really need is food, water, and shelter.
What if we lived in a society without money? Where people could do as they pleased and follow wherever their passions took them. A society where laws and regulations were dictated on a local level, rather than an enormous blanketed government philosophy. If you don’t like the way things are done here, just move to the next town until you find one compatible with your values and beliefs. Wouldn’t that be cool? More importantly, why hasn’t this happened?
There are so many problems in the world. Governments have evolved to a point where they literally control how the world functions. I think we’re approaching a point in humanity’s evolution that this needs to change. We’re all in this thing together, and we need to start figuring out how to get along and stop with the childish conflicts. Governments need to stop trying to control people. Just like the blank lives matter movements, they’re exacerbating their own problems by continuing to control people. It makes the public resentful. Its common sense! Why don’t they have it?
Back to the topic at hand. A LONG, long time ago, some super smart person probably turned to his buddy as they rode their steeds and said “You know what would be a good idea? If we invented this mechanism that could enslave people to work for us. Let’s call it money. We’ll give them work to do, and then we’ll give them something that they can exchange for stuff. And once they become reliant on that system, they belong to us!”
Think about that. I mean really, really, think about it. Money is a societal construct. It’s an invention, and not really an actual “thing”. It’s a concept that a random person thought up thousands of years ago and has since been the foundation of society ever since. Kudos to whoever that was, that’s a hell of an impact they made.
After I’m done writing Continuity (which is probably going to be years from now with all the stuff I’ve mapped out), I think I’ll try and write something about this. I think it would be an interesting story – showing the original invention of money, how it’s evolved, and a hypothetical future where we transcend the need for money.
Just a thought.
How the World Should Work 