Re: Bartering in a cashless society

[Anonymous <nobody@replay.com>]

At 07:46 PM 2/17/99 -0500, Rabid Wombat wrote:
>
[snip]
>
>>  (2) The impact of new technology is labor reduction.  Any work that
>>      people don't enjoy doing, can be eliminated.
>
>In every society, someone must still pick up the garbage.
>
>You don't really work for a living, do you? Must be in academia.

I don't think realism as applied to our current system/society/
consciousness is really the intent of such observations.  Obviously,
given the way humans behave and think today, the way they are
taught to behave and think, such a society would never exist.  I
think that's the point that was being made.

But such a world *could* exist.  Of course, trying to change the realism
of today into the realism of tomorrow will involve probably hundreds of
years of work.  But you have to start somewhere, and that somewhere
is mapping out a plan of what you want, followed of course by a plan
of how to get there.  

Unfortunately, I don't see anyone mapping out  plan of how to get there,
because most people assume that it "can't be done."  The reason most
people assume as such is because most people are incapable of
even thinking past their own lifetime, much less through the lifetimes
of dozens of subsequent generations.  Either they can't, or they just
don't care to.

Is it any wonder that so many science fiction writers have depicted
a history where small groups of intelligent people have seceded
from "normal" society to pursue such plans?  And who ends up
surviving, ultimately?  The point is, you're not going to take this current
world of people and change them.  But all it takes is a few people to band
together who believe, pursue their goals, pass their goals on to the
generations they create, and the world will change.  

Let's face it, the only way to the next step of human evolution is to destroy
the precepts of one having power over another, in favor of our species
working together towards a common progression.  You can say that's
dreamy, philosophical nonsense, but the writing's on the wall.  Without
making that leap of logic and action, eventually our entire species will
die.

In short, try thinking outside the box.  Maybe you think you do.  Maybe
your box is just bigger than you'd imagined.