Everything Should Be Free

[WyoSeeker]

Money has outlived it's usefulness and I think from this point forward everything should be free. Money served it's purpose of progressing mankind by facilitating commerce, but it's no longer making a positive contribution. In fact at this point it has become merely a tool for enslavement of the many to enrich the few and a justification for all manner of exploitation of the natural world we live in. Let's agree to just be done with it.

Think about it for a minute. My alarm clock goes off at 6am and I spend 50 hours a week of my life performing tasks in exchange for little pieces of paper. I know, these days they are just computer digits, but essentially everything happens because we agree to exchange pieces of paper (symbolically). The mines dig, the factories produce, the farmers grow so they can get little pieces of paper. Why don't we just agree to keep doing those things but eliminate the paper.

Now you might think that sounds crazy, but why is it? Ultimately when I get up and got to work in the morning I am agreeing to a social contract that says if I work I can get the food, clothing, shelter and healthcare I need to survive. If everything were free so those things were still available to me and in exchange I had to agree to new social contract that says I will continue working I would be fine with that.

And here's what would happen if everything were free. First there would be no need for taxes because everything would be free. There would be no need for insurance because everything would be free. Think about how much of your earnings go towards federal tax, state tax, sales tax, fuel tax, alcohol tax, cigarette tax, lodging tax, health insurance, car insurance, house insurance. Think about how much all the employers pay for insurance and taxes and how all that expense is rolled into every product you buy. If taxes and insurance were eliminated you could work 18 hours a week instead 40 to achieve the same lifestyle you have now. Wouldn't you agree to a new social contract that says everything is free and you only need to work 18 hours a week instead of 40? Damn straight!

Who's going to suffer from this? Well the leaches that contribute nothing real and only suck labor from the system will take it pretty hard. But with all those able hands available when the insurance companies shut down think about how much work could be done getting food and water to the billions that are dying for lack of those things on this planet.

That's the other thing that would change. If everything were free there would be no more reason to destroy the environment to eek out a quarter percentage point improvement in a companies stock price. There would be no need to track profits or buy and sell stocks. The only question corporate CEOs would face would be how can we contribute to humanity? No more thousand percent markup on lifesaving medication, no more slumlords profiting from horrid living conditions. No more reason to do anything other than create the sustainable world we all want to live in.

But if everything were free I can hear you say, wouldn't everyone want to own a yacht with gold plated urinals? Of course they would. I sure would! But it begs the question that if billions of people are starving to death and billions more are hungry and lack access to clean water and basic sanitation, shouldn't that yacht factory's resources be better utilized? If there's no longer profit in solid silver Mercedes Benzs why don't we just agree to let those factories make a product that better serves humanity? After EVERYONE has a urinal we can worry about gold plating them!

Consider Corningware. They don't make Corningware anymore, but that stuff was nearly indestructible. Dishes and bowls made out of that would last a lifetime. But products that last a lifetime don't fit the designed obsolescence model needed to generate recurring revenue. That's why you have to buy a new toaster every few years and that's why the auto industry operates on model years. We are not designing a product that does it's job well and lasts as long as possible, instead we do everything to create a consumption-disposal-consumption cycle that keeps the money flowing. If everything were free those companies could focus on products that serve mankind while minimizing the impact to our environment. How much more efficient would the world be if that mindset changed and we didn't care about revenue anymore but just designed products to work and last?

The fact is, we could easily create a world where the basic necessities of life - food, clothing, shelter, health care and education were freely available to every human born on the planet. And we could do it working half the time we spend working now. All we need to do is agree that from now on everything is free.

http://justnoisehmmm.blogspot.com/20...d-be-free.html

[damian]

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BP4gx4dMarI

Have you listened to any of Jacque Fresco. He has been promoting a "resource based society " for some time. He also says that we have everything we need to take care of everyone in the world right now. Check out his Venus Project, I think you will like what Jacque has to say.

[sjkted]

This is all quite true. Although, we still need a system to distribute goods and services. There is some scarcity in the system (i.e. I only have 24 hours in a day and want to spend some of it not working and sleeping), although not nearly as much as the fake scarcity that is built in through regulation and laws. The question is how do we transfer to a different system and what will it look like?

--sjkted

¤=[Post Update]=¤

Have you listened to any of Jacque Fresco. He has been promoting a "resource based society " for some time. He also says that we have everything we need to take care of everyone in the world right now. Check out his Venus Project, I think you will like what Jacque has to say.

That is until the third Zeitgeist where he jumps off the deep-end and says that computers should be making all of the decisions because they're smarter than we are. The other thing I don't like about their world is it does not seem to have much respect for civil liberties. Although it seems like a utopia, it isn't a place where I would choose to live.

--sjkted

[lightblue]

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Re: Everything Should Be Free

i'd like to replace:"what do you do for a living" with "why do you live"...only then we could expect to get some sensible answers to essential questions ..

l

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[Rocky_Shorz]

I'm not proud to be paying 40 cents of every dollar I make to elites bankers for interest on money they created out of thin air...

The excise tax alone on everything we use is enough to run our government 100%...

no sales tax is necessary... no property tax, gas tax or any other non legit taxes need to be collected.

Bring back the Greenbacks...

[dddanieljjjamesss]

Hey man, food comes free from the earth. You don't need to work for it unless you're trying to feed more than yourself. Nobody needs to continue doing their job.

When things get back to the way they should be, I'll be a happy hunter, gatherer, and tradesman.

[shadowstalker]

Posted by dddanieljjjamesss (here)
Hey man, food comes free from the earth. You don't need to work for it unless you're trying to feed more than yourself. Nobody needs to continue doing their job.

When things get back to the way they should be, I'll be a happy hunter, gatherer, and tradesman.

Makes sense to me let the elitist keep there gold, we really don't need it.

[damian]

I have not seen the third Zeitgeist yet, didn't know it was available before January. While I think that some of these ideas are somewhat altruistic, I think that if we could figure out how to start heading in the direction of spreading the wealth and taking care of the have nots, based on the resources that are available to everyone and belong to everyone, what a better world it would be. A world where 28,000 children under the age of five die every day is not a world of equality for all.

[Bill Ryan]

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Here's what money is - and here's what the problem is.

Let's assume there's no money, and we have a bartering system instead.

I have a sack of apples. I want to trade them for a sack of your potatoes.

My apples are ripe before your potatoes. So I give you my apples, and you give me a signed piece of paper saying you'll give me your potatoes when they're ready.

While I'm waiting for your potatoes, I don't have any apples any more, but I have your piece of paper promising me the potatoes.

Now I want to buy some wheat. I'd actually rather have that than the potatoes, so I can make apple pie.

So I go to the guy with the wheat and explain that I don't have any apples to trade, but I have my piece of paper promising the potatoes. That works fine for him, because he wants potatoes (luckily).

The paper is what money is.

There's no escaping it when there are multiple buyers and sellers with buyers' and sellers' needs not all occurring at the same time.

That's all fine, of course. The real problems come when the "money" is backed by gold or silver (or anythng else of real value) and then that gold or silver is stored in a bank for security, and the bank then decides it can lend money to people, charging interest for that service.

For a full explanation of how we got from a three-way barter system for exchanging apples, potatoes and wheat to the current global financial network, watch this very clever, simple end enjoyable cartoon, MONEY AS DEBT:

[Fredkc]

A Fable.

Once upon a time...
there were three buddies. they all worked at the same factory.

One Thursday night, after work, they decided they'd all stop off at the pub for a "quick beer". Six hours later, the three of them stumbled out of the pub, said good nights, and headed home.

Friday morning, Joe and Steve awoke to incredible hangovers. My God but they felt ghastly! Still, being good workers they girded their hangovers and trudged on into work. When they got there, they noticed that Fred, who lived closer than they, had not reported in. In fact, Fred did wake up in time, but decided that the burden of having a hangover, and working was more than he could bear.

Joe & Steve spoke of their friend's absence to their other friends at work that day, and it escaped no one that when the whistle blew that day, the same sized paycheck awaited everyone, including Fred!

Monday morning guess how many people showed up to work?
One. Fred, who wanted his check.

Tuesday morning guess how many people showed up to work?
None.

Here ends Utopia.

Fred

[Rocky_Shorz]

Posted by dddanieljjjamesss (here)
Hey man, food comes free from the earth. You don't need to work for it unless you're trying to feed more than yourself. Nobody needs to continue doing their job.

When things get back to the way they should be, I'll be a happy hunter, gatherer, and tradesman.

one problem...

if you take the world population and divide the land usable for growing, each of us would have 12 square feet...

That wouldn't produce enough Tomatoes for me much less everything else I need to live for a year...

on top of that my thumb isn't very green...

[Ross]

Came across this and its 12 years old.

Consider the global priorities in spending in 1998
Global Priority $U.S. Billions

Cosmetics in the United States 8
Ice cream in Europe 11
Perfumes in Europe and the United States 12
Pet foods in Europe and the United States 17
Business entertainment in Japan 35
Cigarettes in Europe 50
Alcoholic drinks in Europe 105
Narcotics drugs in the world 400
Military spending in the world 780

And compare that to what was estimated as additional costs to achieve universal access to basic

social services in all developing countries:

Global Priority $U.S. Billions

Basic education for all 6
Water and sanitation for all 9
Reproductive health for all women 12
Basic health and nutrition 13


Go here for Poverty Facts and Stats:

http://www.globalissues.org/article/...acts-and-stats

[Fredkc]

Money: (n.) An infinite divisible means of exchanging value.

Nothing more. It isn't Satan, it isn't the ticket to hell.
It is nothing but a means of exchanging value.

The devil doesn't arrive until you let government play games with the value of money
Fred

[ponda]

One interesting observation that i have noticed from my limited travels is that the happiest and most generous people were often the poorest

[Rocky_Shorz]

The elites will tell you that is why they are poor, but to those who are awake the poor are the richest people in the world...

I'd take a golden heart over a golden pocketbook in a moment...

[dddanieljjjamesss]

one problem...

if you take the world population and divide the land usable for growing, each of us would have 12 square feet...

That wouldn't produce enough Tomatoes for me much less everything else I need to live for a year...

on top of that my thumb isn't very green...

We build up, or out, with green houses.
The basic premise that I was getting at is that food grows.
It doesn't need to derive its value from anywhere else because its value increases naturally.

[ponda]

Posted by Rocky_Shorz (here)
The elites will tell you that is why they are poor, but to those who are awake the poor are the richest people in the world...

I'd take a golden heart over a golden pocketbook in a moment...

very true Rocky

[sjkted]

one problem...

if you take the world population and divide the land usable for growing, each of us would have 12 square feet...

That wouldn't produce enough Tomatoes for me much less everything else I need to live for a year...

on top of that my thumb isn't very green...

I haven't heard this statement before, but I'll take it at face value.

It sounds like we need a lot more hydroponic gardening.

--sjkted

[Rocky_Shorz]

and where will you keep your cows and chickens on your 12 foot plot... and don't forget about feeding them...

sorry to say but the world can never support 7 Billion people independently...

Of the world's total land area of 150 million km2 (16 X the area of the US), much is not suitable for agriculture. Arable land comprises 10% of the total. Permanent crops are 1%; meadows and pastures, 24%; forest and woodland, 31%. The remaining 34% is land surface that supports little or no vegetation: Antarctica, deserts, mine sites, urban areas. Nearly all of the world's productive land is already exploited. Most of the unexploited land is either too steep, too wet, too dry or too cold for agriculture. In Asia, nearly 80% of potentially arable land is now under cultivation.

In Global Change I, we saw that the ecosystems of the world varied greatly in their net primary production (NPP). Isn't it surprising that some parts of the Earth's land surface are much more productive than others. Most of the "good bits" have been in agriculture for a long time. Some of the remaining land surface, such as tropical rain forests, is highly productive under native vegetation (hence not much use for feeding people), and, at least with the farming methods of today, not very productive when converted to agriculture. In fact, cropland per capita is declining world-wide, as agriculture land is degraded, or urbanized. Increasing the yields from available farmland appears to be the key to increased food production.

full story

[KosmicKat]

In addition to what has already been said, I would suggest googling "Freeconomy Freeconomics"