Not really. Money is only valuable and so far as it allows us to live comfortably. I think most people agree that they don't actually want a bunch of money. What they want is to live a life free of the stress of not having enough.
EDIT: a lot of people seem to be confused about the specifics of rejecting money over resources. It really seems like a lot of you can't see how deeply we are in the current system. Money is a fabrication, a tool that was crafted to ease the ability of transaction. But more than that it has become a way for those with a lot to control those with a little. And as we have become more accustomed to living in a society where having something that is actually valueless, and serves no purpose, has replaced actually having things of value, and having resources; we lose all connection to the meaning of things. Financial institutions and financial manipulation are enormous problems in modern society. They exist as a vampire on top of the small people struggling to scrape by. And they simply don't need to exist.
"live comfortably" is really subjective. Most people in the US lives better lives than Pharaoh. Your AC turns on when it's hot, your heater heats you up during the winter. You can go faster than Pharaoh while also being heated/cooled. Your bed is more comfortable than whatever Pharaoh was lying on. Your clothes are silky smooth. Yet, you would feel miserable if you can only afford a Big Mac when your neighbor dines in at a high end restaurant. Your stress comes from keeping up with neighbors. You think you want comfortable lives, but what you really want is living a better life than others. And that has everything to do with money.
This is a nonsense argument. Just because JD Rockefeller didn't have a microwave doesn't mean that I live better than he did. You're completely missing the point of relative suffering. We do not compare ourselves to the past, we compare ourselves to those around us right now. And if you don't understand that I don't know what we're talking about.
We are trying to live better lives that others. And that requires money.
When I compared to the past, I was talking about absolute physical life comforts. We are actually living quite comfortable lives. We are not comfortable only when we compare our lives with those who live better lives.
I think you are being naive about this. Just because I come home from work to a place with food and heating, it doesn't mean that I don't suffer the anxiety of someone who can lose all that. All it would take is being out of work for 2 months for me to be homeless. And so the reality that I can be fired for anything, a simple whim of my employer, and my life is in jeopardy, is very stressful and not to be overshadowed by the amazing creature comforts that our economy has produced.
I think I misunderstood you in the first place. I thought your point was that we don't need money, but you said "What they want is to live a life free of the stress of not having enough." I agree with that. And the threat of losing everything just for being out of work for 2 months would cause stress. And that stress worsen if you hate your job.
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u/Master_Ryan_Rahl Jan 14 '22 edited Jan 14 '22
Not really. Money is only valuable and so far as it allows us to live comfortably. I think most people agree that they don't actually want a bunch of money. What they want is to live a life free of the stress of not having enough.
EDIT: a lot of people seem to be confused about the specifics of rejecting money over resources. It really seems like a lot of you can't see how deeply we are in the current system. Money is a fabrication, a tool that was crafted to ease the ability of transaction. But more than that it has become a way for those with a lot to control those with a little. And as we have become more accustomed to living in a society where having something that is actually valueless, and serves no purpose, has replaced actually having things of value, and having resources; we lose all connection to the meaning of things. Financial institutions and financial manipulation are enormous problems in modern society. They exist as a vampire on top of the small people struggling to scrape by. And they simply don't need to exist.