COLUMN: Material world problems

I once heard we learn everything we need to know as children; at first I thought it strange, but now I understand.  Knowledge can be accumulated forever and quickly lost, but it is intuitive understanding that lasts for an entire life, maturing until old age. As children, we learn to share, then quickly forget as we grow. There is a cause for this, and this reason is a consumer economy based on competition between nations and companies. In place of this, it appears an access economy would better suit society – a true form of sharing and cooperation. By the end of this it should be clearer as to what I mean by this concept. Moreover, I believe you will, undoubtedly, see the implications as it concerns your life. I do hope you’ll consider it with an open mind.

To get a grip on this, you’ll have to know a little bit in respect to how money is created. Simply, money is created out of thin air (as necessitated by market demand). Money is essentially debt and more and more money is created as the economy grows. When money (capital or principle) is created, an interest rate comes along with it. With the creation of money comes the presumption to pay off both the initial amount and the attached interest rate.

The result is a vicious cycle of debt creation and payment. Because we cannot possibly pay off this debt, because there is literally not enough principle to do so, we end up creating even more money to pay the piling debt load. We go back and forth, attempting to keep this debt ratio stable, yet, as we all know, this cannot persist, thus bubbles burst and ceilings are reached. Collapses are actually natural to the system. We are literally living to pay off debt from car payments, school loans, credit cards, etc.

Money assumes scarcity; actually, it is the product of scarcity. However, in place of this, I see a world of abundance and environmental responsibility. One does not make any money by selling something that is long lasting, efficient and abundant – this is the problem. In fact, both styles and products are artificially made to go obsolete so you will buy more. Interestingly, the economy is so productive we need to consume more than we need. To achieve these ends, advertising and culturally instilled spending patterns infuse themselves into society.

If we look more closely, we notice this economic model requires infinite growth in a finite planet. We are essentially living in a fictional world, fictional in the sense that it bears little relation to a physical referent.

In other words, price does not correspond to the actual resources of the world, neither does it account for the destruction done to eco-systems or our health. For instance, while a McDonalds Big-Mac may cost only $3.50, the social and environmental costs it incurs are much higher, approximately $200, according to Patel Raj’s “The Value of Nothing.” In brief, the dollar amount you see in a store does not represent the actual cost of that product.

Most of our purchasing power goes into buying objects only to be soon thrown away. This orgy of consumption compounds upon itself as individuals become ensnared in the cult of things. Buying becomes sacred, a means of personal fulfillment. Not only is this wasteful, but also morally suspect.

A saner humanity would live in harmony with nature, in tune with the carrying capacity of the Earth. Furthermore, we would use these resources efficiently and responsibly. And finally, we would dissolve violence and usher in peace by way of sharing all of the world’s resources with all of the world’s people, since sharing engenders trust. I cannot see any other way to global peace and cooperation. If one wishes for peace this is the way.