People have used some sort of monetary or bartering system for thousands of years. In some cultures grain was the money, in others pretty shells.

The reality is that we never do something for nothing, especially if we don't like it or don't want to. Even things we do for enjoyment we'll stop doing if we no longer get enjoyment from it or any other reward.

We'll work to be able to eat and drink, because we have to in order to survive. We'll work to keep ourselves safe and sheltered, then we might work towards comforts and other things we enjoy when these basic needs are met.

A society where everyone gets an equal share no matter how much they contribute will only end up with enforced measures you'll need to meet in order to get that share (the stick) or the offer of extra benefits for those who contribute ( the carrot). Otherwise those doing the work will stop doing it. I believe that's why communism inevitably and rapidly evolves into a dictatorship and in order to control the masses you have to treat the controlling group (government workers) in a superior way so they will enforce measures to hold onto that superior position, as they do in China. There is quite the pecking order there. Look after your enforcers and they will help you keep everyone else in line.

Congratulations @cmplxty! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain And have been rewarded with New badge(s)

You have been a buzzy bee and published a post every day of the week.

_{You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word STOP}

Maybe it's a bit of both. One of the reasons why we've become prosperous compared to past generations is the individual aspect that allowed people to give their best work and get rewarded for it. But this system for the most part nowadays is broken, the gap between the haves and have-nots has increased considerably, also. I think of a post-monetary world as a world where modern day forms of money may become obsolete and be replaced by something else, maybe credits. But the means of control, as in controlling the population will still be on the hards of the very few who are servants/puppets of the powers that be. Maybe the means of control will be sophisticated set of technologies that act as a giant basic group where every aspect of human life operates :)

I think fiat is going to be around for quite a while yet.

Hmm I don't think we need to derive meaning and value from work.. Ideally if the stars are aligned, that's good.. Otherwise, if it pays the bills and allow me to pursue my own passions and hobbies outside of work, it's a trade off that I am willing to accept.

I guess we managed before money and could find a way to do it after, although you are right, how to wrap your head around that one, what would it look like?

I did chuckle at your Stockholm syndrome analogy 😁 It is scarily accurate.

Money is countable so provides a decent way to measure value and progress so I guess it is a good a way as any to know when you are doing well or not, I lost the game so, so long ago, it's not even funny.

You and I know though, that value is a subjective term, and the things we derive true value from are not the Benjamin's, it may appear that way when, caught up in the moment or playing the game, but we are both smart enough and of the right mindset to know where it is really at.

A little while ago, I was laid on a bed feeling like I was gonna die, but survival instinct told me that I wasn't actually gonna die, it just felt bad at that time... A doctor or more accurately a consultant came and talked to me in a very matter of fact way and said Mr Wood, I will do what I can, but there is a strong chance that you will die!!!

He wasn't comforting, or consoling but direct and I have always liked him for it and still do, but what I can tell you is that in the hours that followed a raft of things were organised and prioritised in my head and I remember the over arching realisation about money, it doesn't matter... Everything I had aimed for, dreamed of and thought I wanted didn't even register a flicker on that scale of priorities...

The only time money came in to it is when I thought about m'lady and I thought Crap! She can't afford a funeral, and what's she going to do for money???

Then I realised she would be so unbothered about money after losing me and that kinda stuff would work out somehow anyway, it always does...

Less than 3 weeks after being 'outta the woods', I was released from prison hospital and within days I got sepsis and apparently wasn't expected to pull through again and all I wanted was to spend as much time as I could with m'lady and my daughters, it was like a bolt of lightning struck me and I genuinely understood things, except the wolf in the bed opposite, surrounded by pink sparkly orbs (I had a VERY serios fever, I should point out!!!)

This is not intended as a spiritual awakening tale, replete with the very secret of life contained within, just an experience I had which felt more real than most of my life in the previous 52 years.

Now then... If you offered me $1 million, would I accept?

ABSO-BLOODY-LUTELY!!!

And if you have that lying around and it has no purpose you should totally do that whole offering it thing 😁You see I have never perceived money to be evil, despite the obvious evidence of evildoers with money and how they act.

I see it as a tool that magnifies, if you are good at heart, you can do really good things with money the opposite is obviously true. As you inferred societies without money or more likely with socialism, do not inspire the creators to create as everybody winds up with the same amount anyway. That monetary measure is removed is progress is more difficult to measure. Even if satisfaction to the task is the measure, the state will likely seize your life's work and divide it among the masses equally, of course 😛

That was a long way to reach this conclusion... I don't bloody know the answer! 🤣