Pt. 1 Money
Makes the world go round.
Is the root of all evil.
What is money? Money is defined as a means of exchange. It's a symbol. It represents a theoretical constant of value.
The Rise of Man and Money
One theory says that before money people bartered. They might exchange a cow for some wood. If the person with wood had no use for a cow then you had to find something else they did value. Money came along and changed this. You could sell a cow in exchange for some coins used to buy the wood (or sell the milk).
Another theory says that before money people used a gift economy. In a gift economy, people simply worked and produced. They ended up with a general mental form of money in which they kept tabs on who was producing and who wasn't and gave more to those who had given them more in the past. There is evidence of this being used in some modern hunter gatherer societies.
There is evidence for money in a commodity form as far back as 12000 BC. While it worked it was generally still barter. A society might have decided on rice as the commodity and you would then sell your cow for the rice and use the rice to buy the wood. Money in coin form arose about 1000 BC. Money in any form has been theorized to exist as far back as 30,000 years ago.
Interestingly enough, the idea of interest on a loan predates money in a coin form. This was around at the time of Moses. The code of Hammurabi allowed for interest on a loan and that was around 1800 BC. It appears in Vedic texts as far back as 2000 BC. This would date this practice to Babylon and Mesopotamia... the dawn of civilization. It is conceivable that it is as old as money itself potentially even being used in gift economy.
It's not difficult to imagine how this came about. Someone is hungry and desperate and needs food. Another person decides to help this person out, and recognizing their desperation, decides that their help should be paid back with additional payment (what a swell person).
The idea of interest made sense with grain as a form of money. You could take a seed of grain, plant it, and get 40 more seeds of grain. There is something that makes sense about the idea. If I can help someone out with grain I could have planted myself (or eaten) then I might want a bit more back as if I planted it. The idea loses merit when I have more grain than I can plant or eat. It certainly loses merit once coins are introduced.
 |
| Valentin De Doulogne's depiction of Yeshua's single act of violence in the bible, driving out the money changers. |
Money Becomes more Sinister
The idea of interest has been spoken against by the likes of Moses, Jesus, Aristotle, Mohammed, It is condemned by every major religion.
In modern society, just about every form of currency is currently based upon interest. It would seem that Alan Greenspan is trusted more than Jesus in the predominantly christian US of A.
There exists a fundamental flaw in the idea of interest. This flaw is that a human is providing value to society by having value. It's a tricky distinction to make, but a person is not their possessions. "Having" doesn't make someone valuable it makes them covetous. "Hoarding" is wasteful. Is society benefited by wasteful covetousness? Should someone get paid for serving this role? Who would pay for this service?
It is when taking a "big picture" view of the role of "loaner" and the damage that it does becomes most clear. Roughly 40 cents of each dollar spent goes to pay interest. If you spend a dollar on an ear of corn, even if you have no debt, If you look at money as effort, and many do (time is money), than 40% of the effort of each person goes towards supporting this system. It is about as wasteful as it gets.
Money is Us. We ARE Money.
Luckily the truth is that 40% of our effort does not go towards supporting this system. Something else is happening. We are not creating a 40% surplus for humanity which we offer up and burn. It's more complex than that.
The first thing that is happening is that the rich get richer. This is not some tax policy at work (although some of those don't help). Currently 62 people have as much wealth as half the world. That is the sort of exponentially disproportionate growth that only compound interest can create. The money is being stockpiled as digits on a computer or solidified into investments of property... far more than any one man could ever possibly put to good use. If these 62 people were to spend their wealth the world would see instant inflation making the money we currently use mostly worthless. Why do they have it if not to spend it?
The first world as we know it is terribly inefficient.
In the United States a lot of food goes wasted? Would you like to know how much? 40%
Consider our work commute. As the world has evolved the technology exists for a large number of people to work from home. Yet this commute still occurs for the majority of Americans.
We binge on food and then exercise to burn the calories.
We have the technology to become greatly more efficient in how we heat and power our homes not to mention greener. We cannot afford this technology.
We are using our efforts inefficiently. If we didn't, we would legitimately be creating a 40% surplus.
More interesting is WHY we are so inefficient. What causes this?
It helps to remember what exactly money is. Trees were not invented. Wood was not invented. A wooden house was invented. Making that house a home is not so much invention but a mental construct.
The same can be said for Money. From things like wool, pulp, cotton, etc. we get fabric. From fabric we can print symbols. Those symbols are representative of the mental construct of money. It doesn't exist. More precisely, most money is actually specially organized silicon
In that manner, Money doesn't exist. What exists is people with beliefs. What exists is action based upon that belief... and in our case this is highly inefficient action based on belief. Just like a house isn't a home unless we act like it... Money isn't money until we act like it. This action, creates very real power.
The reason this article dives into the history of money is that it is helpful to get an understanding of why it exists in the first place. Why did we dream it up?
First of all, for the vast majority of human history, the currency we used was food. This was very practical. We could eat our money.
Humans, like most species, require sustenance in order to survive. Our conscious time was spent assuring we had sustenance for ourselves combined with assuring we did not become sustenance for something else (including parasites). If we spent time doing something else (including creating sustenance for another) we wanted assurance that we would be taken care of. This was money. Even in a gift economy the gratitude of those we had given to helped assure our survival.
In that way, money served a single purpose. It allowed us to serve a greater communal good by easing our fear of death. Certainly people still died, but they didn't need to worry if they built a shelter for another human, they would go hungry because they hadn't found food during that time-period.
To this day, Money continues to serve this purpose.
However, this wasn't enough. Some people didn't have enough money and went into debt. At that point money morphed into power. If you had a means for someone to survive and they didn't... you could get them to do things they didn't necessarily want to do. You could get them to pay back more than you gave them. You could get sex, slavery, and the power to abuse.
In this way, Money morphed into a form of social order. Those that "had" were superior to the "have nots" which were subordinate.
Money became externalization which is another mental technique for fear reduction. We came to believe that humanity was master over nature as some certainly were master over other humans. This is not necessarily a bad thing as we became more connected and worked as one. Great things were accomplished. Humans built pyramids and bridges... roads, dams, skyscrapers, levies. The power has a tremendous upside and an insidious downside. Slavery, prostitution, human trafficking, and war were also byproducts.
While it isn't completely fair to credit money for hierarchies it is equally inaccurate to leave money out of the modern equation. Humans had a more natural hierarchy with smaller units such as tribes. Money allowed for the expansion of hierarchical systems beyond small units. When you look at large cities filled with chaos and strangers, a system of mental ledger would not be possible. While money didn't create human hierarchy, it did allow for it to expand. In this way government not only issues money but results from money as do the institutions
Evolution occurred from tribes to governments, from families to corporations, from teacher to institution. We follow leadership and it has clearly recognizable benefits and with these benefits it is easy to fall in line. However, something has been happening with modern life which has resulted in feelings of rebellion and despair frequently channeled into either apathy or political activism.
If you find any typos or wish for things to be rephrased please alert me.
It helps to remember what exactly money is. Trees were not invented. Wood was not invented. A wooden house was invented. Making that house a home is not so much invention but a mental construct.
The same can be said for Money. From things like wool, pulp, cotton, etc. we get fabric. From fabric we can print symbols. Those symbols are representative of the mental construct of money. It doesn't exist. More precisely, most money is actually specially organized silicon
In that manner, Money doesn't exist. What exists is people with beliefs. What exists is action based upon that belief... and in our case this is highly inefficient action based on belief. Just like a house isn't a home unless we act like it... Money isn't money until we act like it. This action, creates very real power.
Our Addiction to a Construct
First of all, for the vast majority of human history, the currency we used was food. This was very practical. We could eat our money.
Humans, like most species, require sustenance in order to survive. Our conscious time was spent assuring we had sustenance for ourselves combined with assuring we did not become sustenance for something else (including parasites). If we spent time doing something else (including creating sustenance for another) we wanted assurance that we would be taken care of. This was money. Even in a gift economy the gratitude of those we had given to helped assure our survival.
In that way, money served a single purpose. It allowed us to serve a greater communal good by easing our fear of death. Certainly people still died, but they didn't need to worry if they built a shelter for another human, they would go hungry because they hadn't found food during that time-period.
To this day, Money continues to serve this purpose.
However, this wasn't enough. Some people didn't have enough money and went into debt. At that point money morphed into power. If you had a means for someone to survive and they didn't... you could get them to do things they didn't necessarily want to do. You could get them to pay back more than you gave them. You could get sex, slavery, and the power to abuse.
In this way, Money morphed into a form of social order. Those that "had" were superior to the "have nots" which were subordinate.
Money became externalization which is another mental technique for fear reduction. We came to believe that humanity was master over nature as some certainly were master over other humans. This is not necessarily a bad thing as we became more connected and worked as one. Great things were accomplished. Humans built pyramids and bridges... roads, dams, skyscrapers, levies. The power has a tremendous upside and an insidious downside. Slavery, prostitution, human trafficking, and war were also byproducts.
While it isn't completely fair to credit money for hierarchies it is equally inaccurate to leave money out of the modern equation. Humans had a more natural hierarchy with smaller units such as tribes. Money allowed for the expansion of hierarchical systems beyond small units. When you look at large cities filled with chaos and strangers, a system of mental ledger would not be possible. While money didn't create human hierarchy, it did allow for it to expand. In this way government not only issues money but results from money as do the institutions
Evolution occurred from tribes to governments, from families to corporations, from teacher to institution. We follow leadership and it has clearly recognizable benefits and with these benefits it is easy to fall in line. However, something has been happening with modern life which has resulted in feelings of rebellion and despair frequently channeled into either apathy or political activism.
Money's Pain
To blame money is entirely unfair. Money doesn't exist. Humans exist. Each time I have hinted at the dark side of money the truth is that it is not a monetary problem. It is a human problem.
Stories of corruption and abuse litter the news. Stories of even worse corruption and abuse little the blogosphere but never make it to the news.
Each time we see people attempting to root it out. We like to pretend that there are simply bad people out there and if we catch them then it'll all be OK. We like to believe that that these people are fundamentally different and uninspired by our same basic desires and feelings. We tell ourselves the person next in line for the role will be different. Perhaps we blame some form of religion, race, culture, or any other irrelevant factor in an endless list.
It is as if we don't wish to recall the path to power and wealth nor what history has shown becomes of those who obtain it. Revolution occurs and so the ones replacing those formerly in charge begin on the same path.
Part of the human condition means that even the most well intentioned seem to fail to handle power. A concentration of power like such was not intended by nature nor does it seem to serve much good. Humans have recognized this and attempted to set up systems to limit power. Governments have checks and balances. Corporations still answer to the law. However, these have greatly eroded in modern times. Further checks would only erode again.
While eliminating money or changing this is a part of the battle, as the origins lie there, more is required. The power of money has leaked into various aspects of society. Power lies not only in money but in positions and prestige. The current system has allowed for power to stagnate in these positions.
There is more inaccuracy left out of the very system. No one ever owned anything so much as they had claimed possession. No human has ever owned anything any more than a bird owns a branch of tree in my yard. Ownership simply keeps us from fighting over resources. It's a way to outgrow our own personal desires while recognizing what is best for our neighbors and environment. It gives us a sense of order with an unfortunate side effect of entitlement. With entitlement, comes abuse.
Pt. 2 Money Changes
Money's mutations
There have been a good number of people recognizing the need for monetary reform. Money is going to change because it is inevitable.
Bitcoin is among the most recognizable names when it comes to alternative money systems. Bitcoin is a form of digital currency based on block-chain technology which requires constant authentication of increasingly complex code to show the validity of "coin". The flaw made with bitcoin was the assumption that the problems have arisen from a central governing authority. Yet bitcoin has become another case of the "have's" and "have not's". Currently, 99% of the wealth int he bitcoin community is owned by 1% of the population. It's even worse than USD. It continues our inefficiencies as there is a massive amount of computational waste involved.
Bitcoin is among the most recognizable names when it comes to alternative money systems. Bitcoin is a form of digital currency based on block-chain technology which requires constant authentication of increasingly complex code to show the validity of "coin". The flaw made with bitcoin was the assumption that the problems have arisen from a central governing authority. Yet bitcoin has become another case of the "have's" and "have not's". Currently, 99% of the wealth int he bitcoin community is owned by 1% of the population. It's even worse than USD. It continues our inefficiencies as there is a massive amount of computational waste involved.
While bitcoin and many of the other projects recognize a general problem, there continues to be issues. One of the main issues has been distribution. If you want bitcoin you can get it by A. mining for it (essentially impossible without investing major money in custom ASIC) or B. buy it (from the 1%). In other words, you can buy in or you can buy in.
There have been a few innovative solutions attempting to solve some of these issues with bitcoin and other similar projects. Since bitcoin, it's been difficult to sell any altcoin (cryptocurrency similar to bitcoin with various changes) as anything but an investment. For the most part, the interest in bitcoin has not been a result of understanding the beauty of any system but rather in understanding it's value as it relates to other currencies.
Ultimately, people believe in the USD and other relatively more traditional currencies. They believe in the system of power and control that they represent. They believe in their armies and their police force. Even with corruption, it is what people believe in.
Ultimately, if you don't have bitcoin, you have the same debt problem. It is a good example of a revolution.
Money's Inevitable Evolution - Tandem
The Tandem Project Cooperative is an initiative, run by the people, to design an alternative economic system replacing many of the monopolizing traditional institutions. This includes money, law, education, and corporate systems. This article is focusing on the monetary portion
Tandem's version of money is designed to be an evolution of money. We are looking for it to do things that haven't been done before.
Tandem seeks to solve the issue of distribution by offering a credit to authenticated users. Everyone will have this same credit.
Tandem seeks to solve the problem of debt and interest by allowing money to decay, both on the positive and negative side of the equation.
Tandem seeks to solve the problem of inflation by never actually making any money. The total amount of money will always be 0.
Tandem seeks to solve the problem of waste as people will not need to overproduce. It won't be critical to keep your balance above 0. You can have months where you are down.
Tandem seeks to solve the problem of waste by hoarding by incentivizing people to spend when they are both positive and negative. If you are positive your money will decay. If you are negative your debt will decay.
The money will be, in a sense of how you would think if USD, worthless. No one will want it. You will want to get rid of it. Unlike similar cryptocurrency, we arn't asking anyone to buy into this.
This is because the value of the money will be functional. It returns to the roots of money. You use it as a means of exchange for goods and services. You get what you want and the other person gets what they want. You need to continue to produce value for your community if you want to continue to have more privilege than others. Instead of being a shrewd investment it's a wonderful tool as compared with money in other forms.
Consider that the intent of money is to be used as a tool for exchange. If you cannot buy what you need, and you are having trouble finding people to get their needs met by you, then the current tool isn't doing the job. If you had a hammer that couldn't drive nails into wood you wouldn't be very happy. Money needs to facilitate exchange, even if someone is in debt. It should also incentivize spending, even if someone is in debt. It's a better tool for the job.
Consider that the intent of money is to be used as a tool for exchange. If you cannot buy what you need, and you are having trouble finding people to get their needs met by you, then the current tool isn't doing the job. If you had a hammer that couldn't drive nails into wood you wouldn't be very happy. Money needs to facilitate exchange, even if someone is in debt. It should also incentivize spending, even if someone is in debt. It's a better tool for the job.
No one is owed money because everyone is owed money. There is no lender or debtor in the singular and so there is no one feeling entitled to abuse anyone (or conversely, if the debt isn't paid then the debtor isn't being abused). If people stay in debt... it's ok. However, they'll have more ability to climb out of debt than the crushing and punishing system most currently use.
The money isn't here to allow anyone to get rich. The money exists to allow you to take care of your needs. The USD and other government currencies are often lacking here as our society produces in excess while many people go wanting. If you wish to continue to use USD or Bitcoin/Altcoin within the Tandem system you can. This more traditional version of money doesn't fit the defined purpose of money. You can't simply trade to have needs met and then take care of the needs of others. There is a fear associated with spending money. You can't go negative and are always wanting to be more positive.
Tandem money will be based upon time. 365.25 will be the credit offered, which is equivalent to days in a year. A value for this 365.25 will be decided upon by voters. The rate of decay will be based upon standard deviation from the mean (subtracted by 121.75 divided by 365.25 which would force it to fit a "normal" bell curve). The greater the standard deviation, the more quickly things decay. This way, should there be a great concentration of wealth, it would quickly correct itself with greater decay. If there is a normal distribution the decay would be very small (with a minimum of 3%(this can be voted on)). The math is based upon what is seen in nature and is intended to be harmonious.
Tandem money will be based upon time. 365.25 will be the credit offered, which is equivalent to days in a year. A value for this 365.25 will be decided upon by voters. The rate of decay will be based upon standard deviation from the mean (subtracted by 121.75 divided by 365.25 which would force it to fit a "normal" bell curve). The greater the standard deviation, the more quickly things decay. This way, should there be a great concentration of wealth, it would quickly correct itself with greater decay. If there is a normal distribution the decay would be very small (with a minimum of 3%(this can be voted on)). The math is based upon what is seen in nature and is intended to be harmonious.
In the beginning, people will most likely see this as a discount for belonging to the group. Goods and services will be offered through the cooperative and people will be able to pay in a given amount of Tandem money based on their settings. They'll pay 15% in Tandem money, and it can be seen as a 15% discount. They'll need to offer this discount so they can continue to get the discount they want. It compliments the money currently being used. No one needs to make any drastic changes in their life. The more needs fulfilled within the community, the greater any given person CAN buy into this system. Should the community reach sustainability, it does not need to compliment anything and can stand on its own.
In time, it will be seen as more than a discount. It will be seen as holding the inherent value money requires to be successful. When that happens, it will change the way people see their world. Unnecessary power structures will erode. People won't go along with them because they have to but because they want to. In that way, offering the Tandem alternative not only offers a better way of life for those involved. It forces those not involved to adapt and create a better system.
It further gives people some things to believe in. Tandem's goals include not only currency but replacing various other forms of power and control. People can believe in the authentication system. They can believe in the method of making laws. They can believe in the system. They can believe in how much more plentiful their lives will become. They can believe in how they will feel compared with using USD or bitcoin. (Links will be added here as articles are made about the other aspects of this project)
The incentive, the way to build value, should you have more business than you can handle... one would set up cooperatives to gain help and share; or set up an apprenticeship to gain royalties. In this way, you can become stronger and you make those around you stronger. It degrades the illusion of competition. Everyone wins. You gain wealth not by hoarding the money but by having a steady stream of wealth coming at you based upon the others you helped strengthen. While some may have a difficult time understanding this transition and are addicted to the idea of gaining a large amount of power, the truth is that this system was not even benefiting those we would perceive as being on the "winning" end of the equation.
In this way, the evolution of money looks at what is fair for humanity rather than any given human. Humanity gets stronger, more efficient, and more unified. It understands that the person loaning grain thousands of years ago... they made humanity better because there was a lot more grain to go around as a result. It motivates this sort of sharing behavior but removes the ability to hoard this benefit.
This is the inevitable evolution of money, and if this project does not succeed then something will pick up where this left off. The current systems are build to fail eventually. Each time they do then the powers that be find a way to extend and pretend. Each time it gets a bit more broken. In the meantime, those working with an alternative such as Tandem Money will thrive. Time will show the difference.
This is written not to tell you what we will do but to tell you what you can do. Join us, and you can help in a variety of ways. You can add to discussions to help shape the project. You can contribute directly by helping to write software or financially to support the work. You can spread this knowledge so others may make their own choices.
If you find any typos or wish for things to be rephrased please alert me.
