Money
Seriously, what's the point? I do things that I do not want to do for eight hours a day, pay for the privilege of travelling to and from the location where I do these things, and what's the result? Some numbers increment in a computer that I don't own and that's tied to me only via a relationship of other numbers. These numbers then decrease in order to secure a roof over my head and enough sustenance that I don't die. Any excess numbers can be reduced an arbitrary amount in exchange for shit that isn't necessary for existence and that's available for free either on the internet or in a library.

Lots of people--almost everyone--wants to get more money, but I fucking hate it.

We are an infinitely creative species. Every single one of us has the power of a young god. When we focus, we can achieve anything. We have escaped the gravity well of our own planet. We have split the atom and created works of art so beautiful that strong men and women are reduced to tears.

And yet we squander all this potential, throwing our lives away in pursuit of incrementing abstract numbers that have no direct relevance to our own happiness. We could feed, clothe, and house every human being on the planet, forever, if we just got rid of the inequalities created by this toxin, this fucking cancer at the heart of our society. And yet we do not.

You're all going to disagree with me now, blame the inequality on something other than money. But that's the root cause, that's the man running the amusement park ride that we're all trapped on*: Money.

I'd apologise for length, but I'm not getting paid for writing it and you're not getting paid to read it.

* With apologies to Bill Hicks
(DigitalRaven will have to make do with gin, Thu 15 Oct 2009, 19:35, 13 replies)

^^^
Well.Fucking.Said.
(dchurch bah, Thu 15 Oct 2009, 19:36, closed)

Amen
I honestly believe we could achieve Utopia without money.
(trippeh, Thu 15 Oct 2009, 19:38, closed)

Startrek showed the way
The sooner we get rid of money, the sooner we can have Jean Luc Picard. Mmmm.
(stimpy, Thu 15 Oct 2009, 19:42, closed)

My thoughts exactly.
You get some incredible shards of logic flying back at you when you try to argue the point as well.

"You can't get rid of money, everyone would starve to death."

"Elaborate..."

"Well, no one would be able to buy any food without money."
(Dai Napoleon, Thu 15 Oct 2009, 19:46, closed)

but without money
how can we buy shiny baubles?
( Smash Monkey lowering the tone of the whole internet, Thu 15 Oct 2009, 19:46, closed)

or
buy petrol to get to work?
(dchurch bah, Thu 15 Oct 2009, 20:00, closed)

or cigarettes and alcohol?

( Smash Monkey lowering the tone of the whole internet, Thu 15 Oct 2009, 20:10, closed)

oh please
i can just see it now - a dyes it black, pony tailed and/or goatee bearded, fantasy art fanboi. 'nobody liked me at school but then i discovered computers and now think i'm Neo'. A jedi/martial art wannabe technohippy.

You have a 'comedy mug' and mildly alternative/hippy accoutrements festooned around your deskspace - the very deskspace you turn up at every day to earn MONEY. You get off on jap bondage and hentai.

You are nudging 30 but still wanna be down the union bar smoking roll ups with bits of hash stuck under your thumbnail.

If you dont like it all - get a better job or drop out properly.

And wear something other than black once in a while, Hicks was being ironic in the Long Rider hat and coat garb

FFS
( spimf ™ is whoever you want him to be, Fri 16 Oct 2009, 4:18, closed)

since this was first posted it has been even further edited to praphrase/steal Bill Hicks material
you have simply removed 'spending money on arms' simply for 'money'. if you agree with the mans thoughts, just post a link.

dont pass it off as you own... its Bill's intellectual property and (ooh the irony) his estate is due the money.

Bill Hicks: Life is Just a Ride
( spimf ™ is whoever you want him to be, Fri 16 Oct 2009, 14:16, closed)

^bang on the nail

(omnishambles ™ has been fucking things up big style since, Sat 17 Oct 2009, 16:43, closed)

Amen
(short version:) All the pointless replication of human effort that money causes is one thing, but also alarming to me is the resultant vast waste of finite and non-renewable resources, e.g:

- Plastic promotional crap really annoys me, because each piece of tat represents a little more oil wasted. I'd rather our species produced fewer branded "stress balls" and suchlike now, and instead found it a little easier to produce medicines in 30 years time.

- Electronics that break or become obsolete after a few years really annoys me; they could have been built better and lasted longer, but now they're just a little more rare metals which can't be fully recovered by current technology, even if the will were there.
(The Incredible Sulk Finally remembered his password on, Fri 16 Oct 2009, 8:57, closed)

I can't stop clicking this.

( rofl harris, Fri 16 Oct 2009, 13:30, closed)

What a lot of
bollocks.

If you simply said we don't need money and concluded with, "We can all go back to nature and hunt rabbits and forage for nuts and berries." i.e. you're advocating anarchy, then fair enough.

But the beautifully creative art and staggering scientific achievements happen because we all specialise in different things. Because the scientist spent his whole life working towards splitting the atom, they depended on someone else to provide clothing, food and shelter. And before they started making new and useful discoveries they were a student for decades taking up the time of others. Clothing, food, the expert teacher's time are all finite resources - how do we decide who's entitled to what? To allow this specialisation you need a societal system, which in turn requires money. No money -> no great art or science.

Money isn't the problem, it's what people choose to do with it that is.
( djtrialprice, Tue 20 Oct 2009, 16:51, closed)