subfever
Posts: 2895
Joined: 5/22/2004 Status: offline
|
Sorry for the delay Muse. I've fallen behind from back-to-back 12 hour work days here. quote:
OK, but all that is pretty vague and abstract (and in your last sentence, overstated). I'm asking what such a new allocation/incentive system would look like. In terms of incentive, we would simply follow whatever path we desired in terms of education, music, art, serving humanity through science and technology, etc.; without regards to payment or obligation of any kind. Allocation will be addressed below. quote:
Instead, we have the myth---yes, the myth--of national poverty, all while surrounded by wealth. In my opinion, the monetary system has been a myth for a long time now. Take the Great Depression for example: You still had the same workers, willing and able to work. You still had the same natural resources. You still had the same factories. So what was the problem? An invalid monetary system! And you are correct about the myth of national poverty. The same goes for other countries too. Every country now has debt. How can the entire world owe money to itself??? I think it’s clear that the monetary system is nothing more than an elaborate game! quote:
So I get where you're coming from--but you have a general idea, not yet a plan. How would we put this into practice? Even assuming no resisting obstacles, we still need some specifics about how it would work. It’s not hard to understand, once one grasps the realization that "possession" is merely restriction of access, and "a possession" is only as good as its utility. In a resource based economy, goods would be allocated as needed. Simply go to the distribution center and take what you need, and return it when you’re done… much the way we use a library today. The goal is to provide for all human needs, in the most sustainable method possible. Is it a sustainable practice for every person to own a car, when the average person only uses the car for 45 minutes a day? Is it a sustainable practice to ship food thousands of miles to market? Is it a sustainable practice to ship bottled water to faraway places that don't have salinization capabilities? Etc., etc. No, of course not. We could do much better by employing technology to its full capability, but we can't do this under the monetary paradigm... for if there's no profit in such projects, they simply won't be considered.
|