The World Without Money

It’s difficult to imagine the world without money, mainly so because it subconsciously rules our lives. To come to terms with this idea, you need to eliminate every idea you have that surrounds money. These are things like your job, education, your family, your friends, how you raise your children and how you live.

Money is the one of the world’s most controlling substances, alongside religion. The power that is has over every living person on this planet is horrifying, with its ability to create competition, greed, envy, poverty, crime and war. This is exactly how those in power want it to be. The monetary system is an endless cycle of inflation and debt, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. While the countries who own majority of the money in the world; the countries with those suffering in poverty get worse and worse. The most angering part of this is that a positive change is possible, but those in power do not want to lose their power, or their money.

I think the saddest and scariest part of its control over us is that when you try to imagine a world without it, you think, “How will I get this?”, “Can I still have a nice house and a nice car?”, “What’s the point in getting a good education if I can’t get paid for being good at something?”. Those are just some examples of how we are so consumed by this system, which is exactly how it is planned to be. I myself am guilty of having a similar train of thought when first considering it. The world needs to be about unity, working together for the benefit of our planet. It should be about doing what you’re good at, and every individual being given equal opportunities so that we can effectively create a society and sustain a healthy home for ourselves. The land is ours to live off, everything we need is already here for us. The monetary system tells us we must pay every time we want to plant a crop, we have to pay for things that literally naturally occur in our soils!

I also noticed a common trend when I was researching for this blog post, that when asked about the removal of the monetary system, people are quick to assume that it should be replaced by the old barter system. If you are not aware of barter: it is a system of exchange where goods or services are directly exchanged for other goods or services without using a medium of exchange, such as money. The whole purpose of this is to get rid of the concept that our objects must have value, and that some form of trade is necessary for our society. People are so consumed by the concept of money that it is hard to completely let it go.

I came across Michael Tellinger’s movement “UBUNTU” when searching up other ideas on ‘what the world would be like without money’. I was very much inspired by his speech on YouTube as it complimented thoughts I’ve had over the past few months, a topic that Sam and I have discussed on many occasions. Tellinger expresses ideas such as what kind of social changes would also accompany the removal of the monetary system. These are things like education and jobs.

“Let each citizen contribute their natural talents or acquired skills to the greater benefit of all in the community.” – Michael Tellinger.

Consider this: The current purpose for education (primary up to tertiary) is to prepare individuals for jobs; the primary school curriculum is organized specifically for teaching our children the basics necessary for their future education; high school preparing them for their future jobs or further education. Without the monetary system, what use is a structured educational system? When Tellinger said, “Do not send your children to school”, I was surprised and quickly opposed. I continued watching and applied some thought to it. The removal of money reduces the pressure to get education, thus reducing the pressure to get a job. His ideas were to teach our children from home, teach them how to look after themselves, cook, clean, grow crops and give them real life experience; and they will be rich in experience and far more beneficial to our societies. If education was an optional thing, and not just something that people thought was necessary for survival or to succeed at life, then people would choose the topics that they are really interested in. We would be surrounded by people who love their occupation, because it’s not “work”. People will be much more willing to help, to work harder and to spread their knowledge because they will be filled with passion.

“The governments and corporations have laid claim to our countries, our lands, our water, our minerals, our plants and animals, the airwaves, the coastlines and oceans, and they continue to make new laws, almost every day, that grant them more and more control over everything imaginable. The only conclusion we can reach from the current situation is that the government and the large corporations have stolen the country (land) from its people. All done quietly through lies and deception, feeding on the ignorance and good nature of the people”. – Michael Tellinger.

Though this idea is so fantastic, it seems beyond our reach as we realise the control the monetary system has over us is strong. Tellinger has his own simple plan for how this change could occur; starting with just one small town. As instant removal of money could put a very high stress on society, Tellinger suggests starting with just one town whose members will each commit 3 hours of work a week for 6 months, to produce food, clothing and other necessities. These hours of work add up and can result in a lot of production. They will then take what they need for themselves to survive, and what is left will be sold at a market for other towns to come and take advantage of. Because the purpose of this is to slowly remove money, they will lower their prices greatly so that those in the surrounding towns will come to them to buy their goods. Once this happens, the other towns will have no choice other than to lower their own prices, as they will be losing all of their current customers. This will then create a chain reaction, and eventually could result in a large area following a cheaper monetary system which then could be more easily converted to a non-monetary system.

I also wanted to introduce you to The Venus Project, founded by Jacque Fresco (1916-2017). I only recently found out about this project while watching the second Zeitgeist documentary. If you haven’t seen these films, I really recommend it. It will change the way you see the world and expand your knowledge for the better. They are available to watch on YouTube. Fresco’s idea is focused on a resource-based system, rather than a monetary system. This includes using natural energy and a very sufficient transportation system that would reduce pollution greatly. His ideas and plans show a very realistic perspective for a possible future. I recommend checking out the website (linked below) if you are interested in the aims of this project. To get an idea on his focus I will leave this quote here:

“The Venus Project proposes an alternative vision of what the future can be if we apply what we already know in order to achieve a sustainable new world civilisation. It calls for a straightforward redesign of our culture in which the age-old inadequacies of war, poverty, hunger, debt and unnecessary human suffering are viewed not only as avoidable, but as totally unacceptable. Anything less will result in a continuation of the same catalogue of problems inherent in today’s world.”

The removal of the monetary system will cause a chain reaction, followed by the reduction of crime, inequalities and war. These social issues are not products of human nature, they are products of a society controlled by a monetary system, and thus the first step is to remove the main controller of our people.

Money is the basis of all our social issues, including crime, war, poverty and inequalities. Why do people commit crime? Think about crimes such as burglary, theft and assault, these are all consequences of the monetary system. Referring back to one of my previous post’s “Correction facilities: Are they really correcting?”, I discussed how crime usually stems from a poor societal structure rather than a problem with the individual.

I said,

“Although people do have a choice, they may not be in the right positions to make those choices in the first place.”

Those who are pushed into poverty or poor lifestyles due to inequalities (based on ethnicity and wealth) are left with no other choice than to do what they have to do, even if this means taking it from others. It is easy to point the finger and say that this shouldn’t be the case, but how about directing our fingers to the institutions who allow these problems to exist? Assaults generally occur from being caught committing a crime or even due to discrimination. Take money away from the equation and there is no need to steal or fight, as everyone is given equal opportunity and right to what they need.

Inequalities occur largely due to money – consider our class system. Two Kiwi billionaires combined wealth is more than that of the bottom 30% of adults in New Zealand, and the top 10% wealthiest hold half of the country’s wealth (Stuff, 2017). It is hard not to be angered by the concept that there are two people with too much money, and there are 30% of adults who are most likely struggling, often with children in their care, yet will have to work 50 hour weeks just to keep up (barely). Those who are in power and have great wealth would prefer to be ignorant to the problems surrounding them, and are also those who will be opposed to the removal of the monetary system. Why? Because without their money, they have no power.  

What need would there be for war if it wasn’t to gain profit? What need would there be for envy if everyone is treated as equals and given the same opportunities in life, in which they are fucking deserving?

How about the legalisation of marijuana? Why do you think it took so long for countries to begin legalising it again? Was it really because of its effect and danger to the human brain? Or was it because they needed to find a way to make profit from it? Like legalising it for medicinal purposes for example, is it just another way for the health industry to make money? I am aware of its benefits for many people, but it’s not something that should be sold, because once again it grows in our fucking soils. They make it appear as if it is for the purposes of helping our people, when really it should just be free to those who really need it. Along with all other treatments, like cancer treatment. Sure, it doesn’t grow in the ground, but if the function of healthcare is really for the sake of the people, why is the cost of surgery to remove cancer range from $12,000-$30,000 in New Zealand, and chemotherapy putting people in unbelievable debt all over the world. Because things cost money, right? But they shouldn’t.

If it is really for the people, why do they keep people alive when they know they are suffering? Why do you think euthanasia is illegal in countries such as ours, the US and the UK? Think of the money they make from keeping people alive, even if their condition is terminal. Yes, people want to extend the lives of their loved ones and are willing to do everything they can to let this happen, but they are literally taken advantage of by piling endless costs on top of those who will sacrifice it all. People don’t want to die, or to see their loved ones die, so this is truly the most ideal system to have in place that is for the benefit of the monetary system. I’m not saying that doctors, surgeons and nurses are all in it for the money, they care about the people and want to help the people. They are unknowingly part of a system that only thinks about profit. The health system works for the monetary system.

“Our health care system squanders money because it is designed to react to emergencies. Homeless shelters, hospital emergency rooms, jails, prisons – these are expensive and ineffective ways to intervene and there are people who clearly profit from this cycle of continued suffering.” – Pete Earley.

Our world and our people are being hugely mistreated, all for the benefit of a small population of people who have somehow found their way into power through the manipulation of people, and money. Although seemingly far out of our reach, there is a possible more positive future ahead of us. All I can hope is that we will be lucky enough to witness these changes and be able to contribute to a better world. The resources existed before money did, so there is absolutely no reason as to why the world cannot be sustained without a monetary system.