Now, bear with me, because I know that the title of this thread probably made your stoned ass go "Food credits? Hahahahahahaha" I however am, in actuality, going to propose an interesting idea that i discussed with a few friends over a session the other day. So, I was thinking about how absolutely horrifying it is that life has basically come to revolve around money. Everything starts with money. Clothes, computers, pipes, bongs, rolling papers... none of it would exist without money because... well... money is the single motivation for everyone in the world to get, and hold a job. Without people motivated to work, there would basically be nothing to buy. My idea is: Food credits. Replace money, with food credits. A form of payment (as opposed to money) to workers for their hours and jobs. You work for food credits, and you get paid, in food credits. These credits are only able to be used for one purpose: to purchase food, which you NEED to survive. Just like money. Money itself is plentiful... which you use to spend on all the luxuries of life. All the things that aren't in a grocery store or a restaurant. Everybody has tons and tons of money because obviously money is no longer the motivating factor for employment. The loopholes that I can think of: 1.) Illegal drugs / black market would fall. (Unless you could trade food credits for black-market products) 2.) The system would have to be adjusted so that workers supporting children on their wages get paid extra food credits (a certain amount of extra food credits per child supported) 3.) The system would also have to be adjusted so that low-wage workers still make enough food credits to support themselves in terms of having enough food to not be uncomfortably hungry too much of the time. Pretty far-fetched idea. Basically where this derived from was my thinking about how it would be possible to eliminate the world's dependence on money. A difficult problem to solve, because it seems there always has to be a dependence on something. Help me modify my ideas and point out any more flaws that I haven't really thought of yet. If you see what i'm going for, maybe you can even come up with your own way to solve the problem. It's really quite mind-boggling, actually.
How about keep it simpler. All got basic rights, like education upto and including university level, healthcare no matter what and a guaranteed pension. And for those that do not work, one can get coverage for basic needs, like housing, food and social interaction. A payment per month. A civil stipend. Making special arrangements, like food stamps and whatnot, not only creates a lot of paperwork and waste in management, but also a stigmatization of the users of non-cash to cover basic needs. Capitalism works. Cash and credit society work. It got ills, but those can be worked around by social responsibility placed upon our political, capital and social system. Take care of all, but yet let all seek their own. Social democracy at work
Well thats easy, you break into other people's houses while they are out cashing in their food credits.
if i were going to be a socialist, i would say you get credit for the things you dont need to survive, and food and all that comes free.
but there's a major flaw in that system. the motivation to work has to be something that people NEED, whether physically or socially.
http://forum.grasscity.com/spirituality-philosophy/163337-ufo-contact-planet-iarga.html Very interesting, just skip to their society.
Sounds sort of like 1984. Also it seems like you just want to change the currency from paper to food. I like paper being our currency because it has absolutely no other use except for trade. Food has it's primary use in eating, so replacing the primary use of it, or if trade wasn't the primary use of our currency, would create problems, IMO. Your idea isn't that far fetched in my opinion. You've just changed the currency from paper to food.
Im not a fan of your idea to me it would just be a rose by any other name. we would still be wageslaves I think a system like Anarchy would be coo to see for thoese who know what anarchy really is and not the propaganda defintion.
Ya, I couldn't help but think about Iarga and their welfare system when I read this thread. @ J Dylan- if you want a better outlook on this type of idea where pretty much every question you could ask is answered it's that story. They combined the good parts about communism with the good parts about Capitalism and did away with all the bad in the process. It's so different that it should have it's own name... They call it a "socially stable super culture" but the system should have a name... It's based off of efficiency, justice, and freedom and their minimum wage is only 4 times less than the highest salary. They only have to work like 1 or 2 days a week and travel, study, and produce art the rest of their time. Could get old after awhile, but it would be a nice change to the current Earth system I think. We could always go back to every man for himself if we thought it too boring I guess. Very good ideas, very altruistic. Things necesarry for survival should be taken off a money standard and the government should be just a representation of the people instead of a controlling body. That way the welfare system is ran by the people and not the government thinking it knows what the people need. It would be very difficult to set up without needing it to survive- the people up top don't want to give their money away to see our race prosper or nobody can put it together without catching a bullet in their brain along the way. Your ideas are very sound and good natured, not far-fetched.
Not sure I understand the concept whether it's paper, gold, sea shells, plastic etc. credit is still credit... If you ask me society is fundamentally dependant on the issue of money, you can't even dream of becoming successful is you disregard it, hell you can't do anything without money. And it still remains the root of all evil, If the flaw of greed was removed from humanity we'd be able to progress in infinite possibilities both individually and whole.