I keep seeing posts going around that are talking about money or lack of money, lol, and it seems to me that a lot of people don’t really understand what money actually represents. For example, I have seen this one going around quite a bit.
Sounds like a great idea right? See? We don’t need money, we can just exchange services. This post is the epitome of a lack of understanding of basic economics. First of all, this is not sharing. It’s it a form of payment for services rendered. Not a shock that someone promoting Socialism doesn’t understand basic economics. But that’s a rant for another time.
So I’m going to make this simple. Money doesn’t matter. All of us, or rather, each of us has only one actual currency. Time. Each of us has only a limited amount of time. This is truly what we are bargaining with. This is what money truly represents.
The expression “Time is money” is not wrong. Although it’s not entirely correct either. Money is really a representation of the value of what you used your time on. I.e. your investment of 100 hours of watching TV is not the same as 100 hours of learning a new skill.
That being said, we can’t forget that we spend our time on things far more valuable than money. Like our families for example. I mean that is why we say that we “spend our time”. It is our true and only currency. Keep that in mind when making decisions. How much of my time is this going to cost me and what is that investment of my time worth.
So what is money for? Why do we need it at all? This is what people are missing. The real answer is money gives us freedom. And I’ll use their very example to prove my point(isn’t that Ironic… Don’t ya think).
The only reason their example works is because both subjects are exchanging things they both need. But what happens if Jake is allergic to flour? Now, Jean’s offer is of little value to Jake. But what if Jean can give him something else that Jake can exchange for something that he can use? Yes this is what money is for.
We give people money for their labor(or the value of how they choose to use their time) so that they can buy whatever items they need/want the most. It’s Freedom. The Barter system is great but it’s quite limited; as you need to find just the right person that needs what you can offer any can give you something that you need. It’s clear that a monetary system is a much better way to go.
This seems like it should be pretty obvious but I think a lot of people forget that this is what money represents. It’s just a representation of your time. Your time is precious. Don’t spend your time/money frivolously. Equally, remember when you are paying someone for their time to be fair and honest. They are giving you some of their precious time. Respect that.
They thought it would work pretty much the same after WW2 in all communist block countries. It didn’t…