About Money

I rarely keep track of current events, least of all global affairs. Today I learned that Greece was on the verge of bankruptcy. A nation, or at least a government, can go bankrupt...


The concept of money, and the perceived necessity of it, is something I have for the longest time failed to understand. Where the hell does it all come from? What's it based on? I remember it used to be based on the value of gold a country had deposited, or something like that. Then, in the U.S. at least, there was 'fiat' money - pieces of paper that had held value because the government said it did :/


The United States is in a tremendous amount of debt. Over 7 trillion last time I paid attention? (which, I admit, was a very long time ago) Yet, it continues to spend money it doesn't have and borrow from other countries, themselves in considerable debt. And they sell bonds, basically loans, with the dubious promise of paying them back with interest, if and when they build up enough revenue to do so, in the process only increasing the debt. Is this about accurate? How does this money circulate? How do these countries continue to lend and spend money they technically should not have? I may just be showing my naivety towards global economics. If there's someone out there who can shed light on this to me, by all means.


And then you look at the microeconomics. Hundreds of thousands of people spending beyond their means. People who can barely keep track of their expenses to begin with, and then buy things they can't afford, take out credit cards and just start piling debt. And trickle down economics, was it? You know what people with money do when they get more money? Use that money to try to get even more money. CDs, properties, stocks, invest invest invest.


Money and how it affects the society we live in - to me it seems one of the most illogical concepts of our current existence. Sometimes I am just baffled to the point of being made dumb. Everyone wants, and everything costs, and so a system has been set up where an arbitrary tangible item holding intangible value has been made a necessity of everyday living. And it has been accepted by the vast, vast majority of sentient beings.


I wish I had an answer, a solution to this broken system. Here, I break my tendency to speak passively. This system is broken, and it makes no sense to me, and I am dumbfounded how it makes sense to anyone else. In fact, I don't think it does. People only try and invent ways to validate it. Some are pretty creative about how they do it, even childishly so.


I don't have an answer. Only an ideal, and a useless one at that. I will not share it, no one will find any validity in it. I will be the first to admit that it will never work. For it is, in essence, a socialist ideal, and there is no hope for socialism in this world, not with the current state of society.


I am not stupid enough to think I could live without money. I recognize its necessity, but only because the entire world assumes it, and live blindly according to this assumption.

Here, I Play the Role of 'Relative Nihilist'

Never mind that everyone has an opinion. Here's mine. If you see fit to look at it, remember to take it for what it is. At the least, don't take it for what it is not: mandate; policy; Holy Scripture; etc.

I've never been a fan of popular belief. I hold the belief that a million people can indeed be wrong. There is evidence in history to validate this claim.

If I were to put a label on my particular mode of thinking in any way, I feel 'Relative Nihilist' would be among the most fitting. To get it down pat would take a great deal more qualifying adjectives - best to keep it simple.

As regards metaphysics, I am a bit of a nihilist. For better or worse, I see no purpose in this life - no divine hand or will or supernatural power shaping the course of our existence. It is what we choose to make it, or choose not to make it. I would like to think that this is for the better. I am the master of my reality, insomuch as I am able to control it. On a short tangent, I realize there really isn't much that I can control. Choosing to accept this is also my way of coming to terms with my reality.

As regards ethics, I am a relativist. Well, this doesn't apply to my own morality, only to my view of morality in general. What I deem right may not particularly be right by you. So know that when I say 'my own morality,' I mean exactly that.

As regards politics, I can't stand them, least of all the entire process as it exists today. I would prefer to avoid it completely, only that to do so seems very irresponsible. This is the system I have to live in, and barring a cataclysmic event or two this is the system I'll continue to live in. Suffice to say, I favor a system that doesn't inhibit a person's ability to decide for themselves. This also means not imposing my beliefs on others.

I don't mean to preach. I'm not looking to debate. I will not suggest any particular course in policy. I only realize that I have an opinion on almost everything, and I felt compelled to share it. Feel free to question my true motives, cuz I will do the same.

Enough rambling. With that, I feel I've set the right course for this little endeavor. Moving on...