Travel1 min ago
A world without money?
26 Answers
This is just one of the odd questions that pop into my mind every now and again, but what do you think the world would be like if there was no such thing as money?
I realise that the reality is that if there was no money, then we would have something else that we deem to have a certain value to get through life, but just for the purpose of my general wondering, lets say that isn't the case.
Would we all be running around blind and naked and eating fruit from the trees/ground and killing cattle ourselves, in a world that has not evolved?
Or?
I realise that the reality is that if there was no money, then we would have something else that we deem to have a certain value to get through life, but just for the purpose of my general wondering, lets say that isn't the case.
Would we all be running around blind and naked and eating fruit from the trees/ground and killing cattle ourselves, in a world that has not evolved?
Or?
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Money is nothing more than a credit, and it is fast disappearing. Most transactions these days are not by cash, but credit card and cheque, and even the cheques' days are numbered.
American company called "Verichip" has got a system where a small chip is placed under the skin, and that, is in fact, your debit and credit card. You wave your hand over the scanner and the shop deducts the amount from your chip.
When you get paid, your employer credits your chip with more, "money"(?), so hard cash becomes a thing of the past. The technology is here, now, it jst need the politicians to order us to have money implants.
American company called "Verichip" has got a system where a small chip is placed under the skin, and that, is in fact, your debit and credit card. You wave your hand over the scanner and the shop deducts the amount from your chip.
When you get paid, your employer credits your chip with more, "money"(?), so hard cash becomes a thing of the past. The technology is here, now, it jst need the politicians to order us to have money implants.
Cash money is actually only an IOU anyway and has no actual value (its only a cotton-type paper anyway) and on all notes it says "I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of...."
Archaeologists have found evidence that bartering has been around for thousands of years. Early humans improved their circumstances by acquiring something of value with which to swap for something they didn't have. So an economy has been around since apes stood upright I would think!
Archaeologists have found evidence that bartering has been around for thousands of years. Early humans improved their circumstances by acquiring something of value with which to swap for something they didn't have. So an economy has been around since apes stood upright I would think!
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I think about this often because im a huge Star Trek TNG fan and money does not exist anymore in their time (fiction i know).
I think meglet is going down the right lane!! Bartering has been used since man first began. I hear my nanna telling me stories about when she went to the market and swapped a hen for some straw or sommit around those lines!! I beleive that that is how it will be!! Crime will still be about though. In early christian ireland Cattle raiding was huge and farmers kept their cattle inside the house with them at night (not just irelend i know but i picked that because i did an essay on it).
I think meglet is going down the right lane!! Bartering has been used since man first began. I hear my nanna telling me stories about when she went to the market and swapped a hen for some straw or sommit around those lines!! I beleive that that is how it will be!! Crime will still be about though. In early christian ireland Cattle raiding was huge and farmers kept their cattle inside the house with them at night (not just irelend i know but i picked that because i did an essay on it).
Can i say something quite interesting about money and happiness??
Im in my last year in uni and recently checked my bank account!! I freaked because i have hugely over spent and only have 300 pound to last me til the end of may. I also run a car which is essential for me to get to and thro from uni so i still need to pay for that. Also other bills aswell. My bills leave me with very little to live on during the week but i spent a shole day going through my weekly spends and completely cut down in my grocery shopping, using the car, going out etc and found i could just make it if i kept to my VERY tight budget. When i first did this i was worried that i would become really depressed and down in the dumps cos ive had to give up so much.
However ive realised that NO, im actually much more motivated and much happier cos ives stopped and thought to myself about just what i do have. I also feel much more motivated to see if i can really stick to my mad no spending budget because ive had to cut out on all the expensive makeup that i have worn for 15 years and really changed my kind of lifestyle. Im actually finding it strangely exciting because of the mad change. Does this make any sence??
Im in my last year in uni and recently checked my bank account!! I freaked because i have hugely over spent and only have 300 pound to last me til the end of may. I also run a car which is essential for me to get to and thro from uni so i still need to pay for that. Also other bills aswell. My bills leave me with very little to live on during the week but i spent a shole day going through my weekly spends and completely cut down in my grocery shopping, using the car, going out etc and found i could just make it if i kept to my VERY tight budget. When i first did this i was worried that i would become really depressed and down in the dumps cos ive had to give up so much.
However ive realised that NO, im actually much more motivated and much happier cos ives stopped and thought to myself about just what i do have. I also feel much more motivated to see if i can really stick to my mad no spending budget because ive had to cut out on all the expensive makeup that i have worn for 15 years and really changed my kind of lifestyle. Im actually finding it strangely exciting because of the mad change. Does this make any sence??
The problem with running around and killing cattle is that you have to get there first. If you don�t then you might have to go without food from the meat and clothing from the hide. If you are going around killing cattle willy-nilly (i.e. beating everyone else to the game) then it is likely that many of them will start to want to kill you.
Also, how do you catch and kill the animal in the first place, you would either need to develop the skills to make your own hunting weapons, or strangle/clobber with a rock someone who already possesses them. What then? The possibility of someone else hitting you with a rock or strangling you to get them from you?
Thus it would transpire in order to survive you would need a skill that is transferable or relatively unique to your own particular environment. No good running around naked if you live in the bleak cold north. So you might require clothing. This might be down south, where there is already an abundance of people chopping up animals and using the skins themselves.
What choice then? Do you find someone who can make weapons go down there kill them all and take their animals? Fine for winter one, but after that? Thus it would seem the necessity of trade is evolved. Much better to sell your skills/goods to the south to ensure a regular supply, possibly even bridge the trade gap between the south and those even further north, near the sea � they might be able to provide whale or seal blubber and meat, essential for the harshest winters, which would not normally be accessible to you. They may have a very good way of hunting them, that it would take years for you to learn.
Admittedly tribal warfare has existed for an age, but in parallel, trade has existed for over 150,000 years. Yes money/cash is not essential to survive, but you need to be able to trade something in return for survival, even if that is the services of a marauding barbarian.
Also, how do you catch and kill the animal in the first place, you would either need to develop the skills to make your own hunting weapons, or strangle/clobber with a rock someone who already possesses them. What then? The possibility of someone else hitting you with a rock or strangling you to get them from you?
Thus it would transpire in order to survive you would need a skill that is transferable or relatively unique to your own particular environment. No good running around naked if you live in the bleak cold north. So you might require clothing. This might be down south, where there is already an abundance of people chopping up animals and using the skins themselves.
What choice then? Do you find someone who can make weapons go down there kill them all and take their animals? Fine for winter one, but after that? Thus it would seem the necessity of trade is evolved. Much better to sell your skills/goods to the south to ensure a regular supply, possibly even bridge the trade gap between the south and those even further north, near the sea � they might be able to provide whale or seal blubber and meat, essential for the harshest winters, which would not normally be accessible to you. They may have a very good way of hunting them, that it would take years for you to learn.
Admittedly tribal warfare has existed for an age, but in parallel, trade has existed for over 150,000 years. Yes money/cash is not essential to survive, but you need to be able to trade something in return for survival, even if that is the services of a marauding barbarian.
A society without money is depicted all the time in sci fi shows like star trek etc and I suppose they are the utopian aim of socialism. In order for that to happen wealth, infrastructure and social attitude must first have been created earlier so that money is not necessary, Eg "Each according to his needs .......etc". So you can arrive at the stage where the needs of all are satisfied and everyyone pitches into society with their own abilities, whether it's star ship captain or the barber. In return money becomes irrelevant. All the above is of course impossible and the reason why and also why socialism/communism cannot work, is that it requires human nature to be fundementally changed. good question, I think though that for civilisation money is needed at least initially, if we can find systems that make it irrelevant then great.
You can't do everything yourself, so you need to exchange something to get help from others.
Money is better than bartering because:
a) You might not have the thing that the other person wants
b) Money can be stored, goods for barter are often perishable.
c) Money is more easily transported
d) Money can be "virtualised" promisary notes, lead to bank notes, cheques etc.
All of these things make transactions much more efficient than barter.
Imagine you want Timber and have goats, you have to find someone who'll take your goats for timber- maybe the nearest guy doesn't want goats, then you have to get the goats to him etc. etc.
Time spent doing all of this is time that could be spent building a house with your timber, adding value and creating wealth.
So such a world would have a much slower economy and people would be poorer.
However a world without financial derivatives....How could we survive?
Money is better than bartering because:
a) You might not have the thing that the other person wants
b) Money can be stored, goods for barter are often perishable.
c) Money is more easily transported
d) Money can be "virtualised" promisary notes, lead to bank notes, cheques etc.
All of these things make transactions much more efficient than barter.
Imagine you want Timber and have goats, you have to find someone who'll take your goats for timber- maybe the nearest guy doesn't want goats, then you have to get the goats to him etc. etc.
Time spent doing all of this is time that could be spent building a house with your timber, adding value and creating wealth.
So such a world would have a much slower economy and people would be poorer.
However a world without financial derivatives....How could we survive?
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