In my village we didn't use money

When I was in Afghanistan, most people didn't use money, we traded necessities.

That is how we live, that is how we are suppose to live.

One person made cloths, if he needed food he would go to a farmer and swap his cloths for food, if he needed Jewelery, he would go to a Jeweler and swap his cloths for Jewelery, if he needed help with renovation, he would go to a builder and swap cloths for his time.

It was a wonderful life.

People weren't obsessed with money, there was no banks, forget about ATM, not even in the main town.

My family grew wheat, I remember the little trader next to our house, you could find many different things that the boy was ready to trade, like leather, sweets etc..

Different people went to him and traded with him, he kept some for his own needs, and he traded the rest. Great life to live, no worries, no obsessions, you work and live with your family, not miles away in another land, or work with complete strangers most of the day, most of the year, then go home pretend that they are your family.

The life that we are living is what the corporations have built, where most of the day we work away from our loved ones, then go home see them for dinner for couple of minutes then fall asleep.

How is that family? How is that a relationship? How is that a life?

We are living in an illusion, even our kids, our kids are taken away from us most of the day, when they are home they are tired, they are either gonna be busy doing home work, or fall a sleep or watch TV.

WOW, what a life.

No wonder why old people die alone, I mean forgot sakes, this happen in my old neighborhood in Blockhousebay, an old lady dead for 3 weeks, and no one was there to know she was dead, I don't remember how they found out though.

This is because there is no true relationship between families anymore, they are trying to isolate us so we become better slaves.

Just a little rage I had to take out..

Thanks for your time.

oz

reply to post by oozyism


Lets all be traders and start a farm. No offense but the reason why this worked in Afghanistan is because they are living in the dark ages compared with the rest of the world.


Poor infrastructure and a divided war mongering people is what Afghanistan is really about. Just like Africa this part of the world will never get its act together. Hmm trading also works in Africa.

I bet you fell better after getting that out..
I endorse the barter system as often as i can..
It's a wonderful thing. Find your local community message board and get it going.
I often post things I could use and ask people to tell me their interests or needs
and you'd be surprised. I traded a computer monitor for a fender guitar last week.
I have also received fresh fruit and vegetables from local farmers for computer work,
dog walking, house sitting etc.It's a win/win.

People!!!!! Stay local, you'd be surprised what your neighbors and yourself can do!

reply to post by oozyism


Not to be crass, at all... But in this Utopian world you speak of, would you have had the resources to post about it on ATS so that we'd all know your story?

Idealism is a wonderful thing, and I think that an agrarian / barter oriented world is a heady temptation. But, then again, I am sort of attached to my tech toys and I rely upon modern things literally to pay my bills.

I do, however, Oozy, admire your attachment to family and to community. It is truly commendable.

~Heff

Originally posted by Subjective Truth
reply to post by oozyism

 

Lets all be traders and start a farm.

No offense but the reason why this worked in Afghanistan is because they are living in the dark ages compared with the rest of the world.


Poor infrastructure and a divided war mongering people is what Afghanistan is really about. Just like Africa this part of the world will never get its act together. Hmm trading also works in Africa.

I got news for you, it works locally as well.
I also use something called freecycle.. It's a yahoo group worth checking out.

My local seafood store barters with me, and its catching on more and more where I am.

reply to post by oozyism


I understand your anger, and we could all certainly learn a lesson about want and necessity but money itself isn't the problem; money is just a more convenient form of exchange.

This was at some point forgotten and people began to see wealth and possessions as a status symbol, thus the hoarding of wealth, the ideas of wealth building more wealth, maximizing profit per production.

There is nothing wrong with money when people realize it's just an economic lubricant and not defining of their character.

reply to post by Subjective Truth


I have traded my IT knowledge with a builder.

I asked him to make me a deck, and I will setup his wireless network in his house, connecting all his appliances.

I don't think your brain is capable of seeing beyond money.

How much have you save?

I mean how much do you owe

That's life right

Originally posted by oozyism
When I was in Afghanistan, most people didn't use money, we traded necessities.

That is how we live, that is how we are suppose to live.

One person made cloths, if he needed food he would go to a farmer and swap his cloths for food

sweet story, Oz. I wish everyone could see things that way. But the way the western world has been conditioned....and even my little corner of the world...nobody wants the farmer's collard greens. It's too much effort to wash them and cook them. And people have desensitized their taste buds. They would all much rather prefer Burger King and fries to something pulled out of a garden with dirt (ugh) on it!

I think people are too conditioned into the monetary system and would be quick to put a monetary value on their homespun items which would be comparable with market prices around them. Then you would have those saying "my cloth is worth more than what you have to trade" etc. That's why coinage was needed to balance out those discrepancies. And suppose the goods one needs is not to be found locally? Then you have the cost of travel to trade. So perhaps a trading post could offset that problem. The trading post merchant needs to be compensated for his time and overhead and being available in his shop. So now, we need a profit margin. See, it just goes back into a circle of commerce again.

Originally posted by oozyism
reply to post by Subjective Truth

 

I have traded my IT knowledge with a builder.

I asked him to make me a deck, and I will setup his wireless network in his house, connecting all his appliances.

I don't think your brain is capable of seeing beyond money.

How much have you save?

I mean how much do you owe

That's life right

Please dont take my words personally. I am sorry if I offended you. But the way the world is set up right now trading can only work on a large scale in parts of the world were there is little infrastructure and industry.



I would love to live in a world without greed and corruption. I am a slave to a system that does not care about me at all. I would love to be able to take more then a day off every month but I cant. I would love a simple life I dream about it all the time.



I hope this gives you a little insight into me. And once again I did not mean to offend you. I am sorry.

How would you trade soft goods for hard goods? I think going back to barter would just drop living conditions. How would a modern society make the transition? It could only work in a very small scale.

Originally posted by 547000
How would you trade soft goods for hard goods? I think going back to barter would just drop living conditions. How would a modern society make the transition? It could only work in a very small scale.

Actually that is not true, it can work on any scale.

Money is not real, that is why we are having all these problems, because we are trading with something not real.

I mean common, the American government is printing money from thin air.

Pure trade is trading real things, corporations shouldn't exist, since they exist they have locked us in the matrix. We are stuck, they are the slave masters, no one can deny it.

Life can be quiet easy with real trade also, you just have to think beyond money.

What about people who don't produce tangible goods? People with soft labor as opposed to hard labor? Somehow I don't think the butcher would have any use for a website or learning the general form of relativity.

I'm not a slave to the corporations. They are my slaves, because I am their customer. If their goods are crappy or too expensive for the value I give them I would not be buying their goods. If I like something I will buy it, and they will have served me.

reply to post by 547000


You think the corporation spend millions of dollars on ads for no reason

Then again you know what I mean.

The best thing about this system is, that people are living in an illusion, that they are not slaves.

I remember when i was younger and my parents ran out of business in our food trailer we had loads, i mean loads of restaurant utensils.

Something that you would look at and say "This has no use at all unless you own a resturant, and they would only buy it for money new."

My sister, a hippie type girl went to this one resturant and explained how we went out of buinsess and were offering up a "Trade" for the plastic cups/spoons/forks/spices/flour for some sort of store credit.

We ended up getting like $80 at that resturant with our useless stuff.
It was a breakfast place.
It felt good every morning of that week before i moved to have a free breakfast.

And thats what it felt like. A free breakfast.
Because if they didn't accept the trade, we would be left with those useless cups/spoons/forks ect ect.

No thank you.

I would rather have 50 dollars in my pocket. Lets say I have a product and needed meat and those who grew the meat didn't need my product?

I would then have to find out what he needed and keep trading products until I got what he needed to get my meat instead of giving him money and him giving my meat.

Bartering is a good idea on a small scale, thats why craigs list is so great, but on a large scale you need money. Thats why some form of money has been used throughout history.

All you guys are missing the OPs point. You're so ingrained into the system that your brains can't fathom the idea. In a corporate world barter isn't feasible, true. They are just too big of monsters to satisfy with a barter system. What we're talking about here is a trade off. A currency gives you luxury items. It gets you a TV and Xbox, but you enslave yourselves for those things. A barter system gives you local communities, actual working social structures where for the most part everyone gets along. Everyone's basic needs get met and you lose the need/desire to hoard! You only worry about food/water/shelter/clothing. That's all you need. It's the desire for more that has enslaved us all.

On the surface, is it primitive? Sure! But is it all really worth it? Is it worth working until you drop dead? Worth having all this BS in politics and financial manipulation? Give me a community where I make/grow/build things and I'll be happy. For all the troubles that come with it, I'd give up electricity, internet, TV, genmod foods, chemical additives in food and everything else in a heartbeat. Hell, give me 10 acres to survive off of without fear of it being seized for failure to pay taxes and I'll become self sufficient. At this point I just want out of this mess of a system. All I want to do is live.

reply to post by oozyism


So what? They have the freedom to spend money on ads. I'm not being coerced to buy from them. I choose to.

If I want a product and it's reasonably priced I'll buy it. How have corporations "enslaved" me? If anything it's given me higher standards of living because I can buy good things for a reasonable price. They serve, and I'm the client.

Originally posted by oozyism
reply to post by Subjective Truth

 

I have traded my IT knowledge with a builder.

I asked him to make me a deck, and I will setup his wireless network in his house, connecting all his appliances.

I don't think your brain is capable of seeing beyond money.

How much have you save?

I mean how much do you owe

That's life right

Thank you. Not much I can say about the responses to this thread.

My hubby says the downfall of America is the elimination of the Front Porch.

reply to post by oozyism


All great points. I think the balance is somewhere in the middle of bartering and money. Certainly in a fast society like ours carrying stacks of clothes down the street while you travel is not preferred. I want to be able to travel across the country without stacks of clothes to trade. Also since machines make most things now, there is little markets for someone trying to make their own way without money. I think our problems are a whole system problem where money is king over family. Profit drives us into slaves. We slave away our whole life and maybe just maybe have something of value to leave behind for our family. Not the world I want to live in. It must change.

Social reform, anyone?

I'm sorry, but sometimes I just get so frustrated. I come onto sites like ats and see everyone complaining about their lives and how the government is making a mess etc etc. I'm all for thinking for yourself, don't get me wrong, but why don't people do some thing about it? I know that a select feware trying to make a difference, but I'll bet the vast majority closes their browser and doesn't give these topics another thought until next time they log on...

I'm not asking much, just for people to be a bit more proactive, rather then just have this as an anonymous Internet persona.

Just think about it
~Para