I agree with a few statements above especially the no rules system, if we are getting out of one then why the hell start another.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sjkted
My idea for how communities could operate in an economic sense is that each community would have 25-50 members. Each of the adult members would have some type of lead position (i.e. construction, medical, mechanic, gardener, etc.) which would be self-appointed. The community would produce its own food and be self-sufficient with energy and water. Members would provide basically unlimited services to each other without need for immediate payment or reciprocation.
The community would have reciprocal agreements with other local communities (i.e. we trade 1/3 of our wheat harvest for 1/3 of your milk production or we trade 20 hours of our member's labor each month for 20 hours of your member's labor). Other outside goods/services that could not be bartered could use gold or silver or the like as a currency.
One reason why we don't see this happening right now is that this is not quite as efficient as using money. In many ways, it would be harder to make this work, but IMO it would be much more effective in serving each member's needs. I think that if the money issue was out of the picture the dictators in each group would settle down, as there wouldn't be any incentive to "game" the system or take advantage of others.
|
Lovely idea and may work easier then you might think, my neibours and I have exchanged garden produce and some services for years without any bartering or expected payback. One neibour was going to pay silly money to have their car repaired, cost was cut with my free labour, some months after this my satelite dish got moved by a football, within 2 hours it was realigned without me walking out the house or climbing a ladder.
I have supplied eggs ( duck and chicken ), potatoes, tomatoes, pakchoy, cabage and sometimes even meat ( either my own birds or a handout from a friend farmer of pheasant, and they return of their own free will cucumbers, lettuce, raddish, marrow, squash blah blah blah. You see where I am going here, it does and will happen naturally as long as people wish too.
We just need to forget where we are at the moment and start a new.