[MD] A society without money

[Woods Woods]

Ham:
Life is a struggle for all creatures, and only the fittest survive and 
flourish.  The disparity of wealth is as fundamental to a collective human 
system as Darwin's law of natural selection.  In a civilized society the 
rewards of industry are meted out to the industrious.  The ideal society 
would be a meritocracy where one's "marketable value" would be a direct 
measure of one's efforts and contributions.  To say that monetary inducement 
is not necessary for self-improvement, care of the environment, and the 
advancement of society is a naive assertion.  What you are advocating is the 
socialist ideology of redistributed wealth which Marx postulated as "From 
each according to his ability, to each according to his needs."  As we have 
seen from history, this kills incentive, fosters a dependent underclass, and 
leads to fascist statism at the expense of individual liberty.



woods:
    Many goods points here Ham.  I don't know what you mean or how deep your 
trying to take the "fittest survive and flourish... rewards of industry are meted out 
to the industrious."  I do notice effort involved.  Most definitely.  Values for sure.  What 
people value leads them a certain way.  But the disparity of wealth is not completely 
based on effort and trying to be successful according to what culture defines as 
successful.  The money system, the monetary system unevens the playing 
field right off the bat.  In a monetary system more money has to be with a certain 
group of people as opposed to the other people in the society.  This gives money 
it's value.  If everybody had the same amount of money or even came close to 
having the same amount of money then money would not have that much purchasing 
power cause everybody has it.  Some ways through this radio program a Currency Historian 
explains this.  It's a good program also due to it is current information and discusses 
what's happening in the global market.  But the discussion on how the monetary 
system makes some people have more money than others due to the monetary system itself (not 
strictly because of effort, etc...) is interesting.  Though I'm sure effort and willingness to be 
successful according to what the culture defines as successful enhances this unevenness.

Here's the link:

http://www.andygause.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=478


woods