What if??

I’m going to pose some “what if” questions to my readers, and I ask that you think about them for a while.  These questions are based around the topic of:  What would happen if we no longer based our lives on economic wealth?

And I don’t mean merely as individuals, but as a global society.  This is a hard thing for us to fathom because for countless generations we have all been taught that everything has an economic value.  Money is a measurement of success. We go to work and do our jobs because that’s what allows us to purchase what we need to survive and to enjoy our lives, and it’s really hard to stop thinking in terms like that. But what if money didn’t exist?  What if you could get anything you need and want for free or barter?

At first I thought, yeah but who would ever do a lick of work again to build all the goodies we could now suddenly get for free?  But thinking of it some more, this is how I think it could actually possibly work.  The first thing that would happen almost immediately, is that people would no longer drudge off daily to jobs that they might not particularly like. Instead they would migrate to doing what they love to do – and because it’s something they love to do, it would no longer be “work” to them.  People who love to write – would write things . People who love to help others – would help others. People who love to invent – would invent things. People who love to design – would design things. People who love to build – would build things. People who love to teach – would teach us. People who love to farm – would feed us.  (and People who love to take photos – would take photos of us.)  😉  etc…

Then I thought, yeah, but what about all those nasty jobs that no one loves to do? (Collecting garbage on the back of a truck when it’s 15 below zero comes immediately to mind.) Who’s going to “love” doing that for us?   Well…  Maybe because money is no longer a motivational factor (AND also no longer a limitation), maybe mankind would finally be free to create solutions for those “nasty jobs!!” Right off the top of my head, robotic trucks that collect the garbage no matter the weather?  Or maybe it would be eliminating garbage altogether somehow?  Mankind would be free to explore all ideas now.

I know what you’re thinking, yeah but who’s going to pay for all this? Who’s going to supply the materials?  Do the research? And that’s where you slip back into thinking in economic terms again.  Remember, money doesn’t exist and isn’t needed. As a global society we would create and build for the pure joy of doing what we love to do, and to achieve greater knowledge as a species.

Honestly… I don’t know if it would ever work or not, but I do believe that the most important obstacle to it ever succeeding now, or far into the future, isn’t one of figuring out who would do what in this new society, but it would be the resistance to loss of power for some people.  Money is like a drug we are all addicted to. We all need it now to survive, but it’s also a measure of success, and more importantly, power!  The more money you have, the more powerful and influential you are.  To suddenly go to a global society where money is totally irrelevant would mean that for the first time everyone would suddenly, and truly, be equal to everyone else.  The richest man in the world, and a “poor” black female in some far away African community – suddenly are social equals with the same opportunities available to each of them, and I suspect the people of power would not like this sudden change at all.