The Purpose of Money
What is the purpose of money?
This question has many theoretical answers but only one practical one–it’s to get what we want.
So the question really is what do we want.
And what we want depends on what kind of person we are.
If we are greedy, violent, and selfish, we will do many underhanded and dishonest things to get money. This will include creating a monetary system where whatever government we are living under will allow us to accumulate more and more wealth to our advantage and to the disadvantage of our neighbor. One good way to accomplish this is through a private banking system that creates money through lending it at interest.
If we are kind, altruistic, generous, and loving, we will create a monetary system that will allow each member of the community to create, produce, acquire what they need to live, provide for the future, prepare the way for the next generation, etc. This can be accomplished through various democratic methods such as government infrastructure investment, guaranteed education and health care, a basic income guarantee or citizens’ dividend, low-interest lending for beneficial purposes, etc.
In fact it is the duty of any responsible government to provide a medium of exchange for all citizens to use in the trading of goods and services as well as monetary “tickets” for everyone to use in gaining access to the benefits of the societal commons–land, resources, utilities, etc.
A monetary system that benefits mainly the controllers of society leads to the theft of the societal commons by the few to the detriment of everyone else.
The problem is that most people live at such a low level of consciousness that the higher purposes of life are overwhelmed by base motives. This is what most urgently needs to change.
In January 1986 Cook became the first NASA official to testify publicly on the space agency's prior knowledge of flaws in the solid rocket booster O-ring joints that destroyed Challenger and took the lives of its seven astronauts. He told his story in the book Challenger Revealed, published in 2007. Publisher's Weekly wrote of the book: "Easily the most informative and important book on the disaster."
Hi Richard
I hope this message gets out to the unconverted and uniformed especially your President who is screwing up big time. Either your model or mine would do the trick but getting politicians to glom unto these ideas seems to be next to impossible.
Comment by David Boese on August 11, 2009Thanks, Richard!
Comment by Denis on August 11, 2009.
EVEN the monetary system has real basics
that (as I try to convince the many of
‘good will’) is as basic as simple
exchange without various strings attached
(like interest/usury).
.
Your short article cuts through what amounts
to a self-anointed ‘priesthood over money’
group who use complication and obfuscation
to muscle out the mass of humanity much
as the ‘Pharisees’ blocked the common
folk from their creator!
.
Sincerely, Denis
.
Thanks, Rick, for cutting through the noise and addressing some fundamental questions.
What is the purpose of money? is, in my view, another way of asking about the meaning and roles and relationships between individuals and society. What kind of society do we, as individuals and together, want?
Another way of framing these questions is in terms of time. Do I view and concern myself primarily with the short-term, my immediate and material satisfactions and perhaps those of my children, or do I seek a more expanded and extended vision, a life and society that somehow continues, perhaps indefinitely. The short-term focus of conventional economics and politics is harming people, society, and our planet.
When everyone has a “ticket,” I believe, a guaranteed basic income of some sort and amount, more of us will recognize our common concerns and interests. That, to me, is a prerequisite for democracy and spirituality.
Steve Shafarman
Comment by Steven Shafarman on August 11, 2009Richard,
Concise and yet penetrating analysis. Yes, we need an approach more like the Scholastics used when making decisions about our monetary system. I also want to thank you for introducing me to the thought of C.H. Douglas and his Social Credit when I read your interview with the newspaper in Texas. Someday I believe Douglas will be thought of as one of the world’s greatest contributors for good.
Steve Hummel
Comment by Steve on August 12, 2009Thank you Richard for your continued dedication to monetary issues about which your insights and proposals are of tremendous value to our Nation.
We the people are at war. The battle is and always will be between tyranny and liberty. Our Republic was founded upon sacred documents, a gift of extraordinary men who understood tyranny very well. The Constitution must be our blueprint for victory in our battle against the system of debt slavery monopoly which you have so eloquently exposed.
The first purpose of money must be as a weapon in the defense of liberty. A monetary system by and for the people must be built in this Country and it must be an impenetrable fortress to the parasitic forces of tyranny. The foundation of that fortress must be the United States Constitution. If the foundation contains flaws or has been damaged, we must repair and underpin before we erect the superstructure. In this effort, we need to make common cause with all patriots.
Comment by Bob Walton on August 13, 2009Richard, I just found your site through your review of “The End of Money…”. Excellent, I’m very glad to have discovered it.
A comment on money.
Money is a claim on the future.
This claim can increase or (in the case of fiat money) decrease in value depending on economic, technological and political circumstances.
As you have pointed out here and in other articles, we have a corrupt monetary system that must be dismantled. It is impossible over the long run to have debt be the basis of wealth.
Keep up the great work!
Comment by Chris Kitze on October 16, 2009