(no subject)
I've always had trouble understanding money. I'm not really ashamed of this. I feel like I'm confused in a good way about something worthy of my confusion. I suspect that the wiring in my brain which causes the confusion will eventually hit the jackpot and start pouring out economic insights. Oh, y'know, that was a financial metaphor. Good for me.
So, I guess it's like this. There are a bunch of farmers, they all make food and then they eat it. They also make their own clothes, build their own houses, etc. One day a farmer goes, "You know, I'm not really that into farming, but I love making clothes. I would be stoked to just spend my time making clothes for everyone in town, and I know they'd like that, too. The problem is, if I did that, I wouldn't have time to grow food, and my family would starve. It'd be nice if, after I made them clothes, the folks in town could repay the favor by giving me some of their food. Hey, they would even have time to grow some extra food and give it to me, because they wouldn't have to spend time making clothes. That sure would be sweet. Too bad there's no way of ensuring that kind of reciprocity. Ah, well. I guess I'll get back to farming." But, lo and behold, along comes money (somehow). It's pretty much an agreement society makes with the would-be taylor, it's a promise that her contributions won't be forgotten. It's a way for society to say, "Yeah, dude, go ahead and make us the clothes, and then we'll owe you one. Next time you need something, society will have your back."
What's baffling to me is that there are times and places where the economy is stagnant; where there are plenty of natural resources available, plenty of people anxious to work with them to make products, plenty of people anxious to help others, and plenty of people wanting those products and services, and yet no one does anything just because the bureaucratic means to ensure reciprocity is temporarily unavailable. It just seems like money isn't a thing like water or coal that an entire society should be able to run out of, rather it's an acknowledgment of the fact that people should take care of each other. This makes economic depressions seem almost like mass hallucinations, albeit with disastrous real-world consequences.
So, I guess it's like this. There are a bunch of farmers, they all make food and then they eat it. They also make their own clothes, build their own houses, etc. One day a farmer goes, "You know, I'm not really that into farming, but I love making clothes. I would be stoked to just spend my time making clothes for everyone in town, and I know they'd like that, too. The problem is, if I did that, I wouldn't have time to grow food, and my family would starve. It'd be nice if, after I made them clothes, the folks in town could repay the favor by giving me some of their food. Hey, they would even have time to grow some extra food and give it to me, because they wouldn't have to spend time making clothes. That sure would be sweet. Too bad there's no way of ensuring that kind of reciprocity. Ah, well. I guess I'll get back to farming." But, lo and behold, along comes money (somehow). It's pretty much an agreement society makes with the would-be taylor, it's a promise that her contributions won't be forgotten. It's a way for society to say, "Yeah, dude, go ahead and make us the clothes, and then we'll owe you one. Next time you need something, society will have your back."
What's baffling to me is that there are times and places where the economy is stagnant; where there are plenty of natural resources available, plenty of people anxious to work with them to make products, plenty of people anxious to help others, and plenty of people wanting those products and services, and yet no one does anything just because the bureaucratic means to ensure reciprocity is temporarily unavailable. It just seems like money isn't a thing like water or coal that an entire society should be able to run out of, rather it's an acknowledgment of the fact that people should take care of each other. This makes economic depressions seem almost like mass hallucinations, albeit with disastrous real-world consequences.