Money is too often not just a part of the conversation, but is the center and deciding factor of the conversation. Too soon these discussions will be moot, as the runaway climate disaster becomes a free-fall into extinction. Money will not matter one iota. Zip. Nada. Absolutely no value. Nobody will take your money in exchange for their labor or other resource. How many years from now is that likely? A few years ago I would have given us at least 20-30 years, but my armchair-anthropologist’s leanings are within 10-15. Regardless, that time is coming (thanks Angmar for your post 8/14/22), and most likely will be long past any hope of humans survival for the next generation. Knowing money will not matter at all in the near future might scare the crap out of you – actually I would be surprised if it didn’t. Many of us have our ‘life savings’ in the form of money (or other monetary equivalences, such as stocks & bonds or other investments where you have nothing of physical value). I am one of those people, who has worked very hard my whole life to get to the point of retirement. We all take living with a monetary system as a given, as it has been with us our entire lives.1 Our country – indeed almost the entire world – has used a monetary system (or barter) for thousands of years. Unfortunately, we have reached a point where money has become a huge ‘cost center’. It is eating up resources at an unprecedented pace. Can we do the smart thing now and remove money from our society in time to make a difference for the planet? Will it make a difference?
First, we need to see and understand the many ways money is a burden on society:
Natural resources used for money (the cash and coins). The 2022 currency operating budget is $1,060.0 million. (over $1 billion)
Minting coins is much more expensive. Every penny and nickel minted since 2006 has cost more than the coin’s face value. Producing these coins is obviously a direct burden on our economy. A penny cost $.0241 to mint in 2022. That is just the minting cost. Additional costs include distribution (circulation), accounting, culling older coins – not to mention the $.01 increase in the debt of the U.S. for adding a penny to circulation.
Maybe the internet age will save us all of these printing costs! Unfortunately…
Energy consumption for cryptocurrencies to exist is enormous. From Columbia University’s Climate School:
“Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, currently consumes an estimated 150 terawatt-hours of electricity annually — more than the entire country of Argentina, population 45 million. Producing that energy emits some 65 megatons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually — comparable to the emissions of Greece — making cryptocurrencies a significant contributor to global air pollution and climate change.”
Corrupt Governing is so rampant at this point – so damned common it has become expected. Removing any monetary advantages for being part of a governing body would quash this immediately!
Classes in our country in which, supposedly
"… all men[sic] are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."
Do we still “…hold these truths to be self-evident”? Does “consent of the governed” revolve around how much wealth they have? Is that really an argument? Mitch McConnell would laugh so hard it would knock the pointy white hat with eye-holes off his head! Would Charles Koch fall off his massive pile of money in hysteric laughter while his brother David does somersaults six feet under?
Pollution is continuing to kill our planet’s ability to sustain us. Continuing to add pollution due to whimsical, useless, and poorly made items which end up in landfills after they have served their lack of purpose. So much plastics are still being produced when there is no need. The public didn’t ask for plastic bottles for our drinking water. Nobody clamored to have a ‘fidget spinner’ before they were laid at our feet. Entirely too many examples but you get the idea. If there were no monetary incentive to produce items – no profit to report to shareholders – a huge amount of wasted manufacturing and pollution disappear.
Wasted manufacturing is obvious from the example above. These are human resources and natural resources wasted. These are building and energy put to use on making items of no value. With that we can see more natural resources being wasted, beyond just the manufacturing of physical and electronic money. Another obvious example is the ‘planned obsolescence’ of so many things. Of course money is the motivator, as without a potential increased profit there is no good reason for the manufactured waste. ‘It broke right after the warranty expired’ is so common it is cliché.
More energy is wasted for every monetary transaction. Even transactions done purely in cash (excepting illegal ‘under the table’ transactions) will have an accounting at the end of the day. How many transactions happen for a credit card (cc) payment? I count a minimum of five. You/retailer, retailer/cc, cc/you, cc/retailer, you/cc.
Crime is often caused by money or a lack thereof. “U.S. retail businesses lose about $40 billion annually [in 2014] because of the theft of cash alone”
Incarceration for crimes of money averaged over 220,000 out of 1,300,000 (17%) for the years 2014-2018. This does NOT include the roughly 190,000 incarcerated on drug charges.
“The US currently [2021] spends over $80.7 billion a year to keep Americans locked in public prisons and jails.”… “The total annual spend on private prisons and jails is $3.9 billion.” (www.screenandreveal.com/...)
Gambling not only causes the gambler many personal problems, including despair, depression, stress, divorce, homelessness and more. 20% of the electricity consumed in Las Vegas is attributed to casinos.
My time, your time, everyone’s time is being wasted on budgeting, planning, saving, worry/stress, accounting and managing this idea of a thing.
Entire government sectors such as the IRS, SSA and VA would cease to exist.
My time, your time, everyone’s time is also being wasted by pop-up ads, telemarketers, junk mail… Our entire existence seem to have evolved to one big stream of advertisements to spend money. How much time would be saved on an average day if the sales and marketing disappeared?
These costs – the raw materials, labor, production, distribution, collection, disposal and managing – are staggering, but absolutely pale in comparison to other costs of money. How many people commit suicide due to ‘money problems’? How many struggle every day of their lives to have enough money to get to the next? How much divorce, theft, bankruptcies, incarceration, or killing are due to money? Is it really an asset? Does it help society more than it hurts us? How many lives are being ‘ruled’ by this imaginary resource? It does not exist. Money is just an idea of value assigned to it. Assigned to it.
Section of comic relief / sarcastic absurdities
Although there might seem to be many reasons to abandon money and the idea of currency and a monetary system, there are also many arguments to be made for keeping it. Some of the strongest reasons follow:
- We can’t do without money — it is essential to any civilized society.
- Well, everyone knows the earth if flat! It always has been and that won’t change!
- The pandemic is over, go back to work, go back to school, we don’t need masks — never did!
- Waddaya mean we are causing climate change? That is a hoax! The climate changes all the time — always has.
End sarcasm
Yes, we ARE taking that job away (from existence) because it wastes time. In fact, over 20% of the United States’ work force are devoted to money. Instead, they could devote their work hours now available to other more important work, and there is a LOT of need. The list of jobs whose function is devoted 100% to money is long.
- Sales
- Marketing
- Advertising
- Telemarketers
- Lobbyists
- Anyone employed in insurance, banks, stock market, hedge funds, financial advisors or credit industry
- CFOs, CPAs, CMAs, bookkeepers and payroll employees…
- Financial advisors
- Portfolio managers
- Tax assessment, collection, tracking, etc… at federal, state and local levels
- Many or possibly most lawyers, paralegals, judges
- Security professionals of all types
- Hackers/Cyber criminals
- Loan sharks
Not dealing with junk mail, pop-up ads, checkout lines, or choosing between food, rent, heat or clothing would be a bonus.
So is money worth these cost? Is having a common way to trade outweigh the strain it puts on society? Can we live on earth as a society that does not have need for money? These are the things that keep me up at night.
Could the amount of natural and human resources saved make the difference, or be a part of the solution? Any other thoughts on how to drastically reduce our carbon footprint? I believe money is one potential avenue. I know we really need to focus on the cure. Accepting the reality of the situation and making the most rational decisions possible. I hope there is still time. There isn’t another option.
“Simply put, we are not in this thing alone.” — Chidi (character) from season 2 finale of The Good Place
1Abortion has also been legal for many of us our entire lives, but that is essentially gone.