As a side thought, it is interesting to ponder that for the most part of human history which is estimated to have began 200,000 years ago, we lived as nomads and in small communities living off the land. It was not until between 6,000 to 5,000 years ago that the first human townships formed in Sumeria (Iraq) and the Indus Valley. The advent of agriculture brought about the development of these first townships in the world. Invariably where the ruins of the first towns were uncovered (in Sumeria and Mohenjodaro-Harappa), currency in the form of metal seals and coins were discovered. These early currencies made barter more efficient. At that time there would have been more aboriginal societies then towns. I can conceive that these first towns may have been experimental and obviously the experiment was a success with more and more people living in towns that became cities and ultimately Nations. In line with the innovation of cities and nations money evolved to its status as a measure of wealth.
Money would have started as a more efficient form of barter and perhaps without intending so money created the idea of wealth. Money can be accumulated whereas in barter trade, accumulation made no much sense. Accumulation of wealth by saving and storing money made quantifying an individual's wealth easy. Therefore the evolution of the classes rich and poor. Entire industries that have nothing to do with necessity but everything to do with luxury have spawned to further define the broad spectrum within these two classes.
Coming back to the thought of creating a more just and equitable society which is still the inherent goal of human societies, only to be held back by the addiction called greed, I don't think money is of itself evil. Money happens to be a very efficient way to satiate greed, self-interest and to plain show off. Resource exploitation, exploitation of labour, crime, degradation of the environment, inflation–all these can be traced to us in the upper echelons of power and wealth, and even the lower rungs of society. In general the trend of contemporary society pays only passing tribute to the humble, virtuous and generous whereas we are totally enamored by the glitzy high life of the wealthy and powerful. Case in point; most people admire Mahatma Gandhi–his thoughts and philosophy are often quoted–but how many of us aspire or are encouraged to live like Gandhi? Compare this with the desire to be the next Justin Bieber or Richard Branson and it becomes clear that the idea of reaching for the stars and success has been arbitrated to monetary gain.
No, I am not a communist, I never liked the idea of not being able to travel freely in the world. Communism is a failed social experiment that took the adage–power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely–and proved it absolutely. Many of the countries in the world that turned to communism in the early and mid 20th century espousing its ideal of equal distribution of wealth among the population ended up creating some of the most corrupt tyrant leaders in modern history. They scoffed at human rights, ruled with iron fists, enjoyed unaccountability and murdered dissidents. When greed infects communism its effects are far more disastrous compared to what it going on now in the name of capitalism. Though I am a socialist I am not averse to capitalism in its ideals of allowing people to accumulate as much money as they wish honestly as long as there are safeguards against exploitation capitalism.
Exploitation capitalism is greed for as much profit as possible with no regard for social responsibility. In modern corporations this exploitation is about getting away with paying as little wage as possible for employees, using the cheapest possible processes for making products even if it is dangerous and proven detrimental to the long term health of employees and the environment; and dumping polluting wastes from industry indiscriminately to eliminate the cost of treating pollutants to make them safe before dumping. Basically greedy capitalism cares only for bottom line profit margins no matter the cost is to the social and environmental fabric. In fact the problems caused by exploitation creates further capitalistic opportunities to fix these problems; unhealthy fast food–healthcare opportunities; over logging–very expensive flood mitigation solutions; too much fossil fuels–expensive carbon trapping solutions and carbon taxation or expensive electric cars. Business without social responsibility and allowing them to profit without social accountability is a big burden to the less wealthy society that supports for them. It is true the social responsibility cuts into the bottom line of profit, but the long term take away is sustainability and stability–the draw back nobody gets insanely wealthy.
Utopia is born of the notion that we are civilised and intelligent beings who are considerate and caring. It is the inspiration behind the formation of governments. Governments of Nations are usually formed on a base of positive ideals, and invariably one of these ideals is the eradication of poverty. Poverty is the universal devil that most all politicians whack to drum up support. However eradicating poverty is a much harder dream (some politicians will secretly say impossible) to accomplish compared to building a multibillion dollar defense system. This makes sense if we understand that in a society infected by greed, the fear of loss is a major concern, thus spending on defense, even excessively, makes good sense. Governments with military are strong on many fronts but seem hapless in implementing policies to make profiteers of society to have a heart. So while politicians continue to make poverty the heart of their stand their hearts seem more steadfast with the green of greed.
My thoughts on economy are inspired by economix–well worth your time and money!
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