Money

            With all due consideration, I now bring about the most insidious prized possession of society. And again, please keep in mind that I am not denying its existence, but rather its supposed connection to the Earth and our existence.
            However, before diving further into the depths of currency, let us take a break and contemplate some more. A good portion of my thoughts are based upon what has already been said by many inspiring individuals, and I would like to provide you with that same inspiration through this arrangement of quotes. Take your time, ponder over them at your own accord, and then go ahead when you are ready.

“Money often costs too much.”
            -Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Too many of us look upon Americans as dollar chasers.
This is a cruel libel, even if it is reiterated thoughtlessly
by the Americans themselves.”
            -Albert Einstein


“Superfluous wealth can buy superfluities only.
Money is not required to buy one necessary of the soul.”
            -Henry David Thoreau

“It is life near the bone where it is sweetest.”
            -Henry David Thoreau

“A wise man should have his money in his head, but not in his heart.”
            -Jonathan Swift

“Lack of money is no obstacle. Lack of an idea is an obstacle.”
            -Ken Hakuta


“Money: There’s nothing in the world so demoralizing as money.”
            -Sophacles

 

In case you have not thought about it before, how much of your life do you dedicate to pursuing more and more money? Now ask yourself, how much time do you spend enjoying – and I mean really enjoying – the fruits of your labor?
           In case you have lived a typical life like myself, it is not very much. And even when the free time is available, it feels like going to take a bite out of an overripened apple swarming with ants – as if my life has been completely eaten away, and there is nothing left to savor.
            Emerson explained this phenomenon very well with his quote above. We have a tendency to work for more than we get, that is, beyond the money that goes towards ‘living’ expenses. All of us can live (i.e. breathe, love, dream, wish and survive) very comfortably off the equivalent of $20,000 a year, and yet there are many, many people left unsatisfied making more than double, even five to ten times, more than that. Why? Because people piddle away all their extra earnings on all those extra expenses that arise from those extra goods, just as Thoreau succinctly put it with his previously mentioned passage out of Walden:
           
            “Superfluous wealth can buy superfluities only.
            Money is not required to buy one necessary of the soul.”  

Thoreau also gnawed away all illusions of material rubbish with his other quote about life being sweetest near the bone. So what if we don’t have all that extra skin and fat on our life? What really matters, and is usually most beautiful, can be found in the (responsibly) thinnest body of our existence – not the fancy clothes we wear or the items we attempt to adorn our lives with.

            All right...enough acquainting you with what we are talking about. Let’s get back to business. We are talking about the illusion of money, right? Well, then onward we go!
            Let us take a closer look at that dollar bill in your wallet. Take it out, take a nice long look at it, and then stop for a moment and think. Not about how we can’t seem to buy anything for a dollar (even at the dollar store), or how it’s only worth a tinkle of gas, but think about where it came from. I want you to directly ask yourself:

            “Where did this dollar come from?”

Where oh where did this green colored cotton paper rectangle with some funky dudes face on it actually come from?
            Take for example a walnut. You are walking along a nice nature path with your adored loved one…or just alone…and then suddenly this walnut appears. Being the curious person you are, you pick it up, look at it and think “Where the hell did this walnut come from?” So, your eyes begin looking around and before long, a nearby walnut tree comes into view. Having found your answer, you exclaim in an ecstatic pleasure of delight, “Ahh yes, that is where the walnut came from!” and then proceed to throw it back into the woods quickly as it was found, continuing along the path of nature with one mystery solved and many more to explore.
            Though unlike walnuts, money does not grow on trees! It is as much fact as it is an old adage, though haven’t you ever wondered where that money really does come from? I feel too many people stop thinking at the idea of money coming from hard work and perseverance, which is much further from the truth than it is close to it. Let me tell you, though – money does not come from the blood, sweat and tears we put towards a mindless economy of consumerism. It does not come from working – simple as that!
            So, where does this money come from? In order to find out, let us hop off that nature trail and follow the money trail for a while.
            Imagine we are employees at a restaurant and we just got paid, so we rush to cash our checks at the local bank. The bank gives us our money and we are on our way, thinking that our employer just paid us for what we earned (completely overlooking the idea that the money actually came from the bank).
            Now, we ask ourselves, where did our employer’s money come from? It came from the customers, right? Well, where did the customer’s money come from? The money they were paid from their employer. Shoot, that is a vicious circle, now isn’t it? But this is when we suddenly recall who gave us the money and realize our money actually did not come from our employer; it really came from the bank where we cashed our check!
            And so, where did the bank get the money? The Federal Reserve? Well, how does the Federal Reserve get their money?

            That is the question that is the answer. The Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve gets their money from the Federal Reserve. Since this is the case, we have the Federal Reserve pointing at the Federal Reserve. Essentially, our money comes from the Federal Reserve that has a fancy printing press that prints the money we use. A printing press, you say? Yes, a printing press.
            Okay, so let us get this straight. Our money can be considered to have come directly from a printer, a printer that is fundamentally just like the one by our computers. And while I am not advocating ‘counterfeiting,’ though to get this point across, the personal laser jet printers of today are fully capable of printing money that is nearly identical to the ‘real deal’ (at least basic appearance wise, without those cute little watermarks and UV stripes).
            If this does not tell you something, then let me tell you some more. Somebody printed money for us, in some factory somewhere, and then had someone drive it to our local bank in an armored truck. Granted, this money is printed on super special ‘security paper’ that no one else has, though I myself could also make some special paper that no one else has, and start up my own damn currency business. But my money would not count for anything, now would it? And so what is the difference?

 That is precisely it; there is no difference, other than people pretending there is. The only difference between the money I would potentially create and the money someone else creates is in its appearance. Understand that our money is fundamentally the same as Monopoly Money, only the government is the Monopoly Man in control of it all, and our society is one big Monopoly game that has gotten so far out of control that it is not even funny anymore.
           Basically, our money is not a product of our labor, it is merely a product of someone else’s labor. We are taking a product from someone else and declaring it to be our own, and then using it, along with everyone else, in a universally accepted fashion. But just because everyone believes in it, does not mean it is true!

            Another thing to consider, think about how the majority of our money is transferred now – it is all electronic. Now tell me, when we log onto WellsFargo.com and look at the balance in our checking/savings account, what do we see (other than a balance quickly converging to zero)? In case you are a little farsighted, let me tell you. All we are looking at is a number, for example: $9,753.10. Got it? Just like the number on a calculator screen, that number DOES NOT have any physical relevancy to our body or world, whatsoever. It does not restrain us, it does not hold us back, it does not tell us what we can and cannot do. And yet everyone lets it control them and the life they live; everyone is mutually accepting a silly illusion and defending it with banks, guns and violence.

These same deductions can be applied to an economy based around anything our minds can conceive, whether it be pebbles/metal nuggets/walnuts/etc. but what remains is the fact that our ownership of these things is only what we pretend it to be. And with that little piece of poignant information, we can move mountains – faux as they may be.
           You see, we are working for an illusion, and that is precisely why the acquisition of money does not make one happy, nor do the things it can buy, for our ‘ownership’ of these things is also an illusion, as we found out in the Property section. None of these things belong to us – they are only here now for us to use. And let us now restate that for good measure:

We do not own anything here; everything is only here for us to use.

A seemingly small distinction, I know, though it is also one of the grandest of all.

When we understand that nothing belongs to us, including this junk we call money, we see that material items are not our primary concern here; the enjoyment of our life is, which is done by furthering our relations with each other, and improving upon our talents and abilities. And yes, while these activities usually do involve material items, they are of negligible secondary importance and are more of just an intermediary between the people we call ourselves.
           So, instead of pretending to produce goods for monetary compensation and societal ‘status,’ these goods should be solely produced for the satisfaction of their producers and recipients. And this is indeed how it can be – is satisfied people helping other people be satisfied through improving their lives.
            When we help other people live better lives, there is a satisfaction there that is so much more fulfilling than any ‘acquisition’ money can provide. And keep in mind, this is how it is now, and this is also why so many people find themselves unhappy – because MONEY DOES NOT PROVIDE HAPPINESS,
and it does not provide the means for achieving it.

            But what else is there to do? Have we no choice but to operate under an illusion, rather than have our economy collapse and our society burst into turmoil? Is not money the only way to ‘compensate’ a man for his labor, to organize ourselves by what we do? What other options are there? While at first, a solution to this problem may seem potentially inconceivable, there is an answer, and that answer is:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Education. Our solution is Education; the elimination of money, and have its ‘existence’ overwritten with Education. We are already operating in a world where money does not ‘exist’ and now the only thing we have to do is eliminate the illusion of it from our minds.

*Yes money exists, as stated in my Disclaimer, but not as we think it does. Remember, it exists as a product, yes, but it is a product connected with an idea, and these ideas have no bearing on the reality of our world.

However, without money, would anybody still want to work? Wouldn’t everyone just quit their jobs and free-loaf it? Quite simply…No. All that happens here is that people no longer pretend to be working for money, but instead, continue doing exactly what they are doing now – working for the sake of work.
           Regardless if we realize it or not, we are always working for the work itself – always have been, and always will. Precisely why and what we are working for in our universe's grand scheme of things is a whole other matter, but we are working.

 And while disillusionment is a most crucial aspect, we also need to be rigorously taught Moderation and Self-Control in order to make the elimination of money a success.
           You see, we are currently prodded along towards constant desire, always being coerced into wanting more and more, as though our unrestrained production and consumption is the solution to all the world’s problems. But look around – this gluttonous system is the cause of all our problems.
            And if we ever want to make any real progress, we need to reverse ourselves out of this greedy state and move on to the enlightened beings we can be. Granted, things may look pretty dim right now, but things can be different – that is, if only we try.

            But unfortunately, barely anybody is trying. Almost nobody has faith in human nature, and it got this way because of exactly that – not having faith in human nature. Underneath it all, we secretly condescend upon others, expecting the worst out of them, and we take advantage of their ignorance. But just think if we actively expect the best out of everyone, including ourselves, if we teach them, if we constantly promote the best in everything we do; we could lure this progress out of everyone by providing the means to do so.
            For example, we assume in some dark corner of our mind that people would endlessly take if no limits were imposed on them – but why would they? What would make a person want to take all the things they can get? The only reason would be because they think it benefits them. However, does it really benefit them? Does having a ton of goods really benefit a person? No, no, no – repeatedly, no. If we are taught moderation and prevent ourselves from excess, through knowledge that excess is of no benefit, then we only take what we need.
           
           However, right now, people do not know this because they are taught to constantly strive for all they can get, so they also may very well never know this. That is, unless they are educated and they contemplate the thought, realizing through deductive reasoning that yes, indeed, one is better off unhindered by the burden of vast multitudes of corporeal goods. And even if a person were to abandon the ideals of self control and moderation, they would soon realize the consequences after having drowned themselves in overindulgence.
            After all, it is currently like this anyway, and money is not truly helping against any overindulgence whatsoever. Money is only further propagating a terribly sick and underachieving economy that is striving precisely for this overindulgence. And through this, people are sacrificing the ultimate ideals of responsibility and quality for reckless quantity, just so some people can live a more ‘prosperous’ life based upon an illusion.
            But this whole ideal of churning out more and more in the name of ‘profit’ is so backwards that we are still trying to adapt to it as if it were indeed forward! Yet, by nature, we can all feel this is wrong; much like how we can feel that walking backwards is not what our legs were designed for.

A prime example of this is with the whole unemployment dilemma. Currently, the question is “How do we create more jobs?” when it should be “Why do we need to create more jobs?” You see, if we would actually consider it, we would find that we do not actually need to create more jobs because we do not need to further the already out of control explosion of consumerism.
           It is a false assumption that everyone needs to be working. Our economy is still thriving, even with unemployment reaching record highs, because we are able to produce what we need by only using a fraction of our population – which should come as no surprise, as we never need everyone doing the same thing at once.
            This is just like the adage of having too many cooks in the kitchen – fifty people cannot be tending to a stove at once, just as billions of people cannot all be working to make what we need.
            Really, we only need a fraction of our people providing us the means to live – that is the beauty of technology. This is what our intelligent minds have worked so hard to achieve, to release us from the burdens of work. And we should not be ashamed of this, but should be proud and learn to enjoy it.
            Technology has proven that what we reap is not actually always what we sow, but what a few of our fellows have sown with the help of some fantastic machinery designed with the help of many people that have come before. And keep in mind, this is not a bad thing – just imagine if we were all in charge of our own twenty acres of farm land, our own manufacturing plants, our own wells and fuel refineries – this would be extremely taxing on our environment, not to mention that cities like New York and Las Vegas would cease to exist!
            All we need to do now is understand that our existence is not dependent upon an economy oversaturated with the commerce of goods. We do not always need to be selling things and buying things just to live.
            As we found out, life is even simpler than that. We are just working to work, to keep ourselves busy. Our existence and the advancement of it does not rely upon us stuffing our mouths with money or shoving it into other peoples pockets...no, this exchange is completely unnecessary.
           
            What happens in ‘transactions’ of material items is that two people merely agree that one has ‘worked enough’ to ‘acquire’ a good.
            Though, what defines ‘working enough’ or better yet, ‘working enough to eat’? I mean, some people manage to inherit thousands – even millions – of dollars for no other reason than having been born, while a lot of others who work themselves ragged each day are left starving.
            And why is it like this? It is because our society has instated a severely corrupt way of rewarding each other. We tell someone that they deserve something because of the amount of illustrated paper rectangles they have in their pocket, and we tell people they are not worthy of anything if they do not have any paper rectangles at all.
           But what even makes a person’s work worth anything? What makes anyone’s work more or less important than another’s? As we can see, ‘working enough’ is extremely ambiguous and cannot ever really be defined. We try to define it, we try to reward those we think we ought to reward, but we truly do not have the capability to. And how can we adhere to something like that? Well, quite honestly, we cannot.

Money does not resemble work or a person’s worth at all. Our work cannot be converted into money, our products and craftsmanship cannot be transformed into paper rectangles with pictures of men and numbers printed on them, and these paper rectangles cannot be reconverted into our livelihood.
            This is only more reason why we must rely on Education, because it provides us with a reference base of what we know for certain. We know what needs to get done, we know what we can do, and we know what we need. And through our Education, we can prove our need for something based upon our ability and discerned motivations. The rest will work itself out from there.

(Continue to Authority.)