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Live 1 Month Without Spending Money.

52 people said 'Do this!'

Comments / Votes

Bart
Bart
June 11 2012  | douglas macrae smith loves thisLoveUnlove

What's so bad about money? In essence it is not more than something to make trading goods and services more easy.
(I am not saying that some people do bad things with money)

JW
JW
June 11 2012  | LoveUnlove

True. I think that if you choose an idea to start with, it should be an idea worth copying by others. If you do this, and a lot of people copy it, it would harm the economy.

The Neut
The Neut
June 17 2012  | LoveUnlove

The economy harms in itself.

John Franco
John Franco
June 20 2012  | LoveUnlove

It will help us to rethink our consumerism

Bart
Bart
June 20 2012  | Philipp loves thisLoveUnlove

@john, i think what becomes visible of a plan like this is that in our society money is indispensable. Maarten will notify how complicated it will be to get food, get housing and other essential things. How is he supposed to pay his rent, electricity, phone, insurance?

I know Maarten is not much a consumer of luxury goods, he will barely see the effects of this idea on his consumerism. If you want to rethink consumerism, which is a good thing to do, maybe concentrate on making visible how much bullsh*t we buy. Do something on photographing and interviewing people coming out of the mediamarkt, ikea, etc.

The Neut
The Neut
June 20 2012  | LoveUnlove

I don't buy any of yours 2. ;)

John Franco
John Franco
June 21 2012  | LoveUnlove

@Bart, you are right; we need to interchange things to survive. We cant sustain ourselves for more than one day without other persons services and products like transportation, bakery, hair cutting, food, etc. Dont get me wrong, I dont support the idea of living in a cave, praying we dont get hungry - lol. I think the idea of living without money will make us rethink what we trade in the sense that we will become more aware of the two-way nature of every purchase instead of the automatic one-side paying behavior is now (I think money has reached a kind of blind side). If for a moment we become aware we are interchanging things, then we will value what we want and need and what others want and need. e.g. if I need bread I can give the milk I have to my neighbor (assuming he needs milk), but if I have a fancy watch and give it to my neighbor who is starving, no use for him neither me (I wont get bread). This will make impulsive buying fade away and so resources usage will get back to balance.

Bart
Bart
June 22 2012  | LoveUnlove

@John: I agree with the blind side thing. Money makes a lot of things invisible. However: doing a month without it doesn't show this very good. Maarten will probably be unhappy that he is not allowed to pay rent.

Maybe he could put al his spendings in a comparison to the source of his money. You can then ask: do i want to work half an hour, just for a bottle of wine? And then compare the costs of what you buy with basic things: bread, tomatoes. Do i want to buy a bottle of wine if I would also be able to buy three breads (one for yourself and two for people who needs it)?

But skipping money has another disadvantage: you would hardly see that with every bread you buy (say 2,50) you are also paying for education, health services, public transport, social services, developing countries (and unfortunately also for military services and asphalt). 6% of the 2,50 is BTW (VAT). And then the baker pays taxes (probably about 40%) on the money he earns.
So money is a good tool for letting people pay for community services. The more money you have, the more you pay.

I think nothing wrong with money, but with some of the people spending it. Use direct trading instead doesn't make those people better humans.

The Neut
The Neut
June 22 2012  | LoveUnlove

All I read here are sole contemoray non imaginative thoughts, which sound to me as to have been spoon fed to you.

anonymous user

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