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As I began to write this article I found that I had run into yet another duality ( I have in other writing described dual archetypal forms and functions as being a basic primal way the universe works and very integral to what it is ). All this began to pop out at me again as I tried to describe what I thought was wrong with money, and why money has been falling apart lately.
I came to feel that the current form of money is competitive, abstract, a mere quantitative commodity, non-local, and non-personal. And I came to feel that that was Ok as long as there was also a kind of "money" that had opposite characteristics. I think we need for some "money" to be cooperatively-created and cooperation- fostering, money that is less abstract, that is more quality-oriented, money that tends to stay local, and finally, money that has a personal aspect to it.
Our current kind of money is such a convenience. But although it has a near-infinite fluid exchangability, it is for the same reason prone to a near-infinite inflatability. And it can deflate as well. It's value is just too arbitrary and abstract. Barter is the opposite. It is cumbersome in the extreme. Barter is one kind of home-grown money one can use and it tends to stay local and not wander off.
Abstract paper money also has great gather-ability. Because of the top-heavy way our economic/political system is, this kind of money wings its way to the top waaaaay toooooo fast. The extreme fluidity of money lends wings to a lopsided system making it much more lopsided. Paper money and its fluidity creates a negative feedback system where the top-heavy system gives expression to top-heavy money which gives expression to a more top-heavy system and on and on. And the speed at which things are getting top-heavy and horribly out of balance seems to be increasing. This distortion within money is increasing so fast that the abstract representation that money is, is warping itself out of existence to some degree. The arbitrary abstract symbol for wealth, a bunch of paper, good only for the exchange of real wealth, can get so terribly abused it turns to nothing but an abstraction and not a real representation of wealth at all. If the abstraction called money gets too sick then there is not way to exchange the real wealth made by hardworking honest people.
Paper and digital money can fly around the planet very fast. It can fly out of "here" and over "there" with too much speed. Barter by its nature must be mostly local. Barter keeps our money "here". The local nature of barter keeps it grounded. As such it is much more dependable. Perhaps if we had two kinds of money that enabled us to more integrate the two sides of basic cosmic realities then we might have a chance to use money without being so burned by it.
Barter, itself a complement to money, has itself some complementary characteristics. Its local nature increases our personal interactions. And that has two sides. Some people are dishonest and getting to know a lot of local people can have its risks. But having a community that isn't really a community but only a group of strangers can be much more dangerous. When times get rough it is a good thing to know who you can trust. With some barter going on, over time you get to know and understand people you have dealt with that have proven themselves time after time. When the majority of the people realize, with this way of exchange, that acceptance into a local ring of interaction could be vital to their survival, there is little crime. Until recently the bigger money system worked so well we could get along without local barter/money and local trust making it possible. But times are changing.
Is This Legal?
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