If money didn't exist, could life carry on as normal....?

Question

Deep I know but Hypothetically. If you took away the need for money, meaning everyone would have the same things.......... and everyone worked to the benefit of developing the human race and their own personal development of knowledge etc, with no worry of paying bills/living. How would you do it........?? Could it work...?? If it worked what kind of a world would we live in...?? Example of which is - There would be no limitation to the development of a cure for cancer as there would be no limitations of funding to consider. Therefore a cure would be found quicker because they wouldn't have to wait for the next cheque......!!!!!

Answer 1

While people who accumulate money tend to use it to bolster their own well-being instead of society's well-being, that is not really the only limitation on the system.

Whether or not you use money, for example, there ARE only so many doctors, researchers, hospitals, drugs, and everything else you need to discover a cure for cancer. And any resources you use for cancer research are not going to be available for AIDS research or malaria research (either of which kills more people per year than cancer). Someone will still have to decide where resources are used. It is just that (hopefully) such a person will be societally-minded instead of personal-benefit-minded.

Arguably, you don't even need to get rid of money altogether to do this. The money is just a resource tracking system. The problem you are having is really with how certain decisions are made and why.

Yes, if you eliminate money together it might be easier to avoid duplication of resources as several companies try to race to a cure before anyone else does, or to avoid a total lack of resources on important issues that just aren't likely to be very profitable (those places with lots of malaria also tend not to have a lot of money). But again it is not necessarily the money itself that causes this... even in the current system governments pay companies to produce socially beneficial but unprofitable products (such as flu shots).

Instead of trying to eliminate money, it might be more productive to work on that overarching control scheme. Just expect those who are enjoying their free reign now to fight you tooth and nail to keep it...

Answer 2

Yes, there have been experiments with barter systems that appear to have worked. However, if someone for example fixes your roof and you have no items they want, how can you pay if you don't have the skills they require (they need their PC fixing), without getting complex? Eg.
A. fixes roof for B.
B. has nothing A. or D. wants. But does have what C wants.
C Doesn't have what A or B. wants, but does have what D wants.
D wants something from C. and a skill A wants.

So, A works for B, B pays C, C pays D, D works for A. However, this is reliant on trust and there are always those who'll abuse the system. Or confusion as to what labour is equal to other. Is a day's labour fixing the roof in the rain worth 10 mins fixing a PC?

Most countries have now disposed of most of thier gold reserves for "virtual" currency, based on the internet (effectively "nothing").

Answer 3

The human race, along with every other race of creatures on this planet, managed perfectly well without money for a very long time. Then there was encampment, the system of exchange was developed, and just look at the mess the planet is in now. I think every living thing on this planet would be infinitely better off if we were to scrap the idea of exchange completely. Please don't tell me you're one of those people who thinks that the only thing that inspires anybody to do anything, is the thought of financial reward; because if you are, then you are wrong! I, like a great deal of other people, think that this society is awful.

Answer 4

In my opinion, life could carry on as "normal" due to the fact that before money was introduced to the aboriginals of North America, that civilization did run and thrive on a system that used bartering of services and equal goods to maintain an equilibrium between the peoples and the earth......so YES, it IS possible. If it worked in the past, why not again for the future?

Answer 5

There were a few systems that tied it - communism, socialism, etc. In addition a lot of religions profess to have equity as a fundamental value and right. However such rights also place a duty on the rights bearer and there's the rub !

I guess if money didn't exist then whoooose you've just done away with the root of all evil !

Answer 6

I believe it's called communism and I'm afraid it wouldn't work. It's a nice idea but people always need something to strive for. Although I hate the idea of some people having nothing and others being sickeningly rich (by this I mean footballers and celebrities etc on a ridiculous wage which I think is over inflated), I would find myself at a loss to know that no matter how hard I worked I would not be any better off from it. Equality could not be reached fairly because there are some people who have no interest in working or contributing, and that would not be fair on those who do. Also I don't believe that skilled workers such as doctors should receive the same as a shop worker for example. I see where you're coming from, but to my mind it's just not possible.

Answer 7

Barter trading with modern goods is likely to become more complicated and unpractical especially when you have to pay for services.
It will never work in cities and developed societies. Disorder and disappointment result as all banks,stock exchanges and established institutions would close down. There will be no motivation to work hard and society will regress.

And i am sure all 1st and 2nd world countries will not welcome that because that would mean reverting to a Simple Life (Paris Hilton leading the way?) in countryside living, barter trading with simple goods like cattle, clothing and food,etc going back to olden days.?A very very sad thought my friends.......

Answer 8

It is called communism and it does NOT work. Humans need an incentive to work. In general we need to have a belief that if we work hard we can get more. We need to believe we have a chance to better ourselves.

If you to not have a merit system, then many of those who could help to advance society will not. From thier POV, if I bust my butt and still won't be able to get more for my children, then why bust my butt?

For inventiveness, you would have this general idea, this idea sounds cool. Now some will develop the idea simply because they would have fun doing it. However for more complicated solutions (requireing research and development) where would you get the capital to have your idea developed? If you had a cure for cancer, it would take billions to develop from scratch. (building research facilities and then building production facilities)

How would you get teh cure for cancer from idea to implementation without a barter system in place to get the resources you need? (money in its base form is a barter system)

So, in summary, if you are dealing with living breathing sentient being, NO an advanced sosciety can NOT exist without money.

Anthoer example. You need engineers, highly qualitifed technicians and doctors to maintain our society. These skills and trade take a great deal of time and effort to develop. Why would people go through the effort to develop these skills if they have no reward for doing it? Who would take the time and effort to teach and train these people if they recieved nothing for it?

Why would anyone do any more than the absolute minimum if they got nothing back fo rthier efforts? If you say you owuld but do NOT work for free, then you are NOT being honest.

Answer 9

Theoretically, of course it could... scraps of paper do not really make the world go round. Of course in reality we have spent so much time building up the importance of money and possessions and eccentricities that to break ourselves of the habit now would not be easy. Also, think of how many people who would resist this... suddenly no one would care about hollywood, beverly hills, manhattan... or anyone in those areas and that just would not do for people who have nothing else in life to offer than bank statements to show the measure of their importance...

Answer 10

I think life would be much easier without money because everyone would be equal (no wealthy people and no poor) but life might get a bit boring since we would all have the same things and nothing different from anyone else.