>From: "David McNab" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
>From: "Travis Bemann" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
> >Can you THINK outside of your Libertarian/"anarcho"capitalist box for
> >a second?! Anarchism (not that "anarcho"capitalism shit, which really
> >isn't anarchism) is socialist, but does not use government (socialism
> >is worker control of the means of production, not necessarily the
> >welfare state).
>
>I certainly do acknowledge the evils which have been wreaked on society in
>the name of financial greed.
>But I'm not sure I'd want a society without money (or similarly convenient
>means of exchange which negotiates relative values of goods and services).
That's the thing...
Even if we were to see capitalism destroyed, there would still be people out
there vying a trade, creating wealth via their own labor, and trading it off
via some form of currency, be it, gold, wheat, green pieces of paper, sex or
physically laboring for the benefit of the trade.
Capitalism wasn't killed off afterall...
>I don't have a lot of money, my financial state could be described as
>"comfortably adequate", but I do appreciate the presence of a money system.
I've got a car loan to pay, insurance to pay, rent, and quite a few other
things, which, if I didn't work a single, "green piece of paper" paying job,
I'd be doing odd jobs of varying value-creation, for a multitude of
debtors/creditors, and basically being torn to pieces trying to keep up.
The capitalist business I trade my time for makes the supply/demand curve a
lot more comfortable, and my greates abilities are the major source of my
funding, where raking leaves and patching the roof would be a poor use of my
time and resources in order to meet my rent obligations. I think a
capitalist system is beneficial to me, and a money system, whether or not it
is corrupt(besause that is an entirely seperate issue) is also highly
beneficial. I try to ue alternatives to cash, like favor for favor, or
"egold", or trades, like this Playstation game, for that playstation
controller, and that memory card. Overall, I think a monetary system, and a
capitalist economy is beneficial to all. Susceptibility to fraud, abuse,
and powermongering can be removed if enough people care to find the
causes...
>Money gives choices, and facilitates a level of freedom of association or
>non-association.
>Without a money system, we're back in the days of barter or community
>distribution.
There is nothing wrong with barter. I take stuff I call "junk" to the local
"Flea market" all the time, to trade it for stuff I don't call junk, and
both parties benefit if a trade is made. It would be inconvenient to try to
barter for a car, with other items, since currency, in whatever widely
accepted form it takes in a certain time period, is much more convenient.
It's just bartering at the lowest common denominator. That greenback you
have was earned by building someone a computer, while mine was from
troubleshooting a product to be incorporate into one...
>With barter, how the hell can you trade as conveniently as with money?
>For instance, a rice-grower has harvested crops, and has rice to share. A
>builder is feeling horny. A prostitute wants a new sound system. A sound
>system provider wants new furniture. Prostitute can meet builder's need,
>but
>(having already renovated her house), doesn't need building services. Sound
>system vendor can't help her, since he's happily married. Builder is no
>good
>at making furniture. So how does fair exchange happen here?
Creative thinking, and a good sales pitch... gotta open more doors, but I
agree that currency is more convenient. I won't stop using other forms of
trade, but when things get too disconnected, money brings it all back
together again.
>Community distribution? <snip> People grew to hate
>the forced interdependence and the lack of privacy.
Seems to have been an excercise in futility, then. Anarcho-collectivists?
Isn't that just another word for a Communist community where EVERYONE is
part of the government?(sad attempt at a joke, no offense intended).
>David
Mikus
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