The beginning of the end for money?

From the Independent Online (30th Jan 2006):

The most potent threats to life on earth – global warming, health pandemics, poverty and armed conflict – could be ended by moves that would unlock $7 trillion – $7,000,000,000,000 (£3.9trn) – of previously untapped wealth, the United Nations claims today.

The price? An admission that the nation-state is an old-fashioned concept that has no role to play in a modern globalised world where financial markets have to be harnessed rather than simply condemned.

Read the article in full:
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/article341967.ece

I’ve always thought that the idea of a world without money as seen in the popular Star Trek series was always an ideal that would be hugely difficult to transition to – especially since the world is so dependent on the stuff in the first place, and many of the organisational structures in place today exist solely for the purpose of generating more of it. However, I couldn’t see how the world moved from where it is today to the way it was in the Trek future; although not being a total Trekker I’m sure I missed something in the background material somewhere.

In essence we are at the opposite end of this spectrum that moves from out-and-out capitalism to potentially out-and-out altruism (if that be the right word) where people make things not because they will get paid, but because they can and want to. These things are then adopted by or passed on to others who need them – for example, a team of people make cars because they love to do it and these are then picked up by people who want cars to drive. They in turn work at producing something else which is picked up by another group of people. Ultimately, everybody is occupied doing something that furthers and benefits society, from production of goods through to the provision of services. In effect, this is their way of “paying” for those goods services because they are contributing to society, although the notion of “currency” is not what we’re talking about here in that a person would be expected to work X hours in order to “earn” product or service Y.

It’s a pretty uncertain future for sure, but the UN’s proposal to remove the barriers between nation-states and take the next step towards true globalisation where we all play together instead of just saying we play together (but we’re really only in it for our own gains) is a step towards the Star Trek ideal where money may, one day, be abolished and we all live harmoniously in balance with each other and our planet. Without the desire for more of that thing called money, much of our brain’s creative power could be unlocked to think freely and create greater things from which we could all benefit, instead of spending time thinking about how to maximise profit in return for restricted value; The desire for money, and the insecurity that a lack of it brings cause reactions that are not motivated towards the collective benefit, but instead for the individual, and so the dependence on money itself – to a degree – creates a self-destructive environment.

The UN’s idea of countries being able to file for the equivalent of Chapter 11 bankruptcy to avoid painful financial death (such as Brazil which was once a great producer but is now crippled with debt) is a good idea, but, as with some unscrupulous companies, could some countries adopt a similar fiendish strategy that they cause their economies to tumble and so defraud the richer nations of the money that is in circulation? Probably not because you can’t just go and start another country somewhere else under a different name and hide the money somewhere else, but I’m sure this loophole to prevent corruption will bear much scrutiny before the idealistic plan even moves forward – such is the nature of the world.

I suppose the old expression of “work to play, play to win!” would become “work to play, play because you can!”

Something to look forward to for sure, but a concept I’m sure many won’t get for a very long time.

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