Future Space Place

This might sound like a sci-fi fantasy indeed, but what I dream of, and what I think is actually possible, is a world not only beyond money but beyond any type of "trade" or "exchange" system, ultimately. Creating our own currency or system of exchange, or more like many different systems working side-by-side, might be an intermediate stage. However, ultimately we'll even transcend all of that, and truly become a world in which we are all One. If we are One, then why does trade or exchange make sense? Do you have to buy something from yourself, or sell something to yourself? If we are all the same consciousness, then why can't we just live in the same energy?

This is basically what hunter and gatherer societies do. Granted, we're talking about small groups of people. But they live together, work together, and share everything without any type of monetary system or even barter. Why? Because they're all part of the same family, living together. When you live in a house with a family, you generally don't have to trade or barter with anyone per se. You all just share, and you all pitch in.

People say, "If you had everything you needed for free, then you wouldn't be motivated to work and would just sit around on your butt all day." Yes, laziness is a factor. However, this again isn't a problem in hunter/gatherer societies. In these societies, nobody says, "I don't feel like hunting anymore," or "I'm not to going to help build shelters anymore." No! You have an innate sense that everyone needs to work together to survive, and therefore you help out.

But the beautiful thing is that with modern day technology, we could all live comfortably and only have to work for maybe a couple of hours a day. Much of the work we do could be done by machines, including the agriculture of organic crops. Also, much of the work we do is wrapped up in government, bureaucracy, and the monetary system, and therefore all of that work and "red tape" could be eliminated as well.

Some people may ask, "But what about the fact that some people are smarter than other people? What about the scientists and engineers who design the machines, as opposed to the rest of us who simply help to operate and maintain them? Shouldn't people who contribute more be compensated with more? Don't people need some motivation for using their intelligence and skills?"

Pah, I say! The monetary system has taught us that some people are better than other people, and that some people deserve more than other people. The monetary system has taught us that our skills and talents are commodities to be sold, and indeed you have to sell them for your survival, and therefore you can't just give it away for free.

First of all, I'm not necessarily saying that everyone would have to have the exact same standard of living. I'm just saying the everyone could have a very good standard of living, and that nobody should be in want of anything in terms of basic needs and comforts (food, shelter, clean water, electricity, basic health care, etc.). Second, I argue that people are already motivated by all kinds of things besides money. People are motivated by wanting to do things for fun, wanting to express themselves, and wanting to make the world a better place for others. People do a lot of volunteer, for example. Or think about the artist who creates a sculpture just for fun, or the computer nerd who creates a new type of software just for fun. Most scientists actually don't get paid very much, but love their work. Even if you find the cure to some disease, you might win an award but you won't necessarily ever be rich. To say that people are only motivated by money is absurd.

Furthermore, laziness is largely a by-product of living in the system, and your body's inherent rebellion to being a slave.

The Venus Project shows a world that is extremely advanced technologically, and it's within our reach. Right now, our technology is being held back by the monetary system. We are way far behind where we could be, given the technology that we actually do have. However, we still have to go through intermediate phases.

In terms of an intermediate phase, what I envision is something of a "hybrid" world. In this world, there will be a return to nature, but not a complete loss of technology by any means. We'll just have to restructure our lives in some ways. For example, we might lean more toward local farming in which communities grow their own food, or using public transportation systems instead of so many individual cars. Of course, we'll need to start utilizing alternative sources of energy. But at first, while we're still in an intermediate phase, we may also need to reduce the amount of energy being used.