In your ideal economic system, would there still be economic differences?

In other words, would some people still make more / have more than others?

Bryant
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income inequality than to other industrialized countries.

Nice going, Republicans and DLC, with all your outsourcing and favoritism toward the rich.

And no matter what the regulations, capitalism will always have its haves and have nots. It's inherent to the system. What matters is how you take care of the people that the economic system fails.

They just wouldn't be rich enough to buy the government. And NOBODY would have to worry about their healthcare. NOBODY. Not a first responder, not a soldier, not an office worker. No one.

there always be recent immigrants and young people coming into work force. You cannot expect them to compete in economic well being with experieced people who were working for 30 years in some line of job and became well payed experts.

Everyone would have food, shelter, medical care, comfortable clothing, and enough energy for heat or cooling to keep them healthy and comfortable.

"Dirty" jobs would pay more, not less.

I wouldn't want an economic system. You want a pyramid? Build it your damn self. You want a factory? By all means, but you're going to have to build it, maintain it, and produce the products yourself.

No common currency. Frankly I'm sick of living in a world dominated by green tinted pieces of paper(or whatever color they'll be when our dollar is no longer king) that has no real value of any kind, other than burning it to keep warm(if you have a big enough pile). A world which, before that, was based on gold, which you can't eat, drink, or even burn. No plastic credit either.

No mass production. No globalization.

Down with the whole bloody thing guvna.

That doesn't seem practical.

Bryant

You do what you can, or even want. If you need help, that's great. The bonds of relationship that can be created through cooperation can last a lifetime. However, economies of scale are not about relationship in that sense. Economies of scale are about distance, separation, division, etc. It's about turning everyone into a cog, an interchangeable part, an expendable number. That's why jobs can be done anywhere in the world now, because there is no "anywhere" else anymore. It's all the same. It's about the job getting done, period, end of story. If you have to kick out a single mother of 2, or a father with a wife and baby, or an old timer, or whoever, but the job still gets done, that's all that matters.

There are 6.5 billion+ cogs on this planet. If THAT is practical, then either shoot me now, or wait 'til we get home(I'll be Daffy, you be Elmer. Bugs being the system that gets away with it all by playing us both for fools.)

Your argument reminds me a lot of my Libertarian/Ron Paul supporting friends.

Frankly, I disagree with many of your basic premises:
The dollar (or other currency) does have worth/value in that it is worth exactly what someone will trade for it. The gold/silver standard is equally worthless in the sense that those are just rocks that people (rich people) mine and sell to you and tell you how rare and expensive they are.

As you said, you cannot eat, drink or burn gold, but I fail to see the value in that over any other form of currency.

Furthermore, we grow as a species and a culture by sharing: sharing information, labor, warnings, knowledge/wisdom, and skills. To suggest that the ills of human nature - the same ills which have plagued every human endeavor and philosophy throughout time - would disappear with the onset of privatized money is ridiculous.

Your idea might work in a village, but not in America, unless you feel that the Feudal System had its merits. I'm sorry if it feels like I am attacking you - I am not. I am curious though as to just how much you have honestly thought this through, versus how much you have gleaned from watching badly-researched internet movies and Libertarian "free market" propaganda.

Yes, globalization and mass production have their evils, but they also have their benefits if done correctly. If you honestly wish to live in a place with absolutely no modern conveniences (which I can sometimes understand), then by all means go do so, but please leave the rest of us to try to solve our problems and go on evolving. Do not assume that everyone is a Luddite or that we all want to return to the "good old days" of 1910.

In fact, if what you say is true, then perhaps you should lead the movement yourself, and go buy an island somewhere - without credit or money - and go make your millions in coconut husks. Good luck!

"The dollar (or other currency) does have worth/value in that it is worth exactly what someone will trade for it. The gold/silver standard is equally worthless in the sense that those are just rocks that people (rich people) mine and sell to you and tell you how rare and expensive they are."

What someone will trade for it...voluntarily. If you're bascially forced to live with it though from birth, how much worth could it really have? Other than to keep you from being able to control your own life.

"As you said, you cannot eat, drink or burn gold, but I fail to see the value in that over any other form of currency."

If I'm understanding that right, I think that's what I was trying to say.

"Furthermore, we grow as a species and a culture by sharing: sharing information, labor, warnings, knowledge/wisdom, and skills. To suggest that the ills of human nature - the same ills which have plagued every human endeavor and philosophy throughout time - would disappear with the onset of privatized money is ridiculous."

Privitized money? You mean as in different currencies for different countries?

I'm also not saying anything about the ills of human nature disappearing. Utopia does not, has not, and will never exist.

"Your idea might work in a village, but not in America, unless you feel that the Feudal System had its merits. I'm sorry if it feels like I am attacking you - I am not. I am curious though as to just how much you have honestly thought this through, versus how much you have gleaned from watching badly-researched internet movies and Libertarian "free market" propaganda."

I'm not about the markets, much less a Libertarian one. I guess it would depend on what you mean by free market though.

"Yes, globalization and mass production have their evils, but they also have their benefits if done correctly. If you honestly wish to live in a place with absolutely no modern conveniences (which I can sometimes understand), then by all means go do so, but please leave the rest of us to try to solve our problems and go on evolving. Do not assume that everyone is a Luddite or that we all want to return to the "good old days" of 1910."

It seems to me that globalization and mass production are working exactly the way they're supposed to. Even if done "correctly", the actions will still have consequences. We still exist within physical reality.

"and go on evolving"

Off topic a bit, but how do you view evolution? A straight line forward? Does it have a destination?

"In fact, if what you say is true, then perhaps you should lead the movement yourself, and go buy an island somewhere - without credit or money - and go make your millions in coconut husks. Good luck!"

A) I wouldn't want the power to lead a movement. People are free to do as they like. Am I trying to do certain things myself? Yeah. It's tough, ups and downs, just like everyone else. I may not even succeed. In fact, I most likely won't. Only human.

2) "and go buy an island somewhere - without credit or money - and go make your millions in coconut husks"...that's very funny.

who forces you to live attached to money? No one, really. Yes, you need money to survive within society (and even somewhat outside of...), but you do not have to be a slave to it either. And yes, I have been too poor to rub two pennies together before, and yes it sucks, but I made the decision to not let that rule me entirely, either positively or negatively.

Are you suggesting we barter real goods and services directly? I love doing that, but it is not always feasible, and anyway, that is what currency is, although symbolically - or rather adding in a middle man. I work to get money to exchange for goods and services. Don't get me wrong, I would enjoy a certain amount of self-reliance and direct bartering, and working for my own food/shelter, but I also have recognized that not only is that not possible for everyone.

My being able and capable, but choosing to remain in society and to contribute to society allows those who are unable (permanently or temporarily) to at least have some form of food and shelter. It's just the cost of living in a functioning society, as far as I see it.

But perhaps I don't get what you mean.

And for the record, I may go live on that island myself - it's starting to sound good sometimes! :)

Made my jaw drop, actually.

yes, I am fine with people earning rewards for good ideas and hard work.

Sadly, that's not the way it works now, as we have folks who bust ass almost 24/7 for little reward, and we have those who were born with a gold-plated mansion and have never worked in their lives.

Personally, I've always been convinced that those who think there should be no differences whatsoever and that everyone's economic situation should be identical, have all sorts of seriously magnified control issues, and should seek therapy.

Just sayin...

People who worked harder or had more in-demand skills would make more money. That seems fair.