Was it better BEFORE money?

[Sym]

"Money makes the world go 'round." as they say.
I hate money!
I know, alot of ppl say, that only ppl with money say this, but I don't think that is totally true.
We do well. But we do so with balance, loans, interest payments, debt etc...all in the effort to eventually make MORE money, just like ppl with more or less money. There are times when we are not worried about money, but there are times when it dictates our every move and consumes our every thought.
Everything now revolves around money.
When you wake or go to bed is (from Mod. to Fri. or more) is based on when you have to work.
The hours you work, or even the job you take, and hate, is driven by the amount of money it brings in.
It determines your childrens futures via. if they can go to post secondary school, or where, or for what.
It determines if you get to spend time with loved ones, or enough time.
Money makes us feel secure, and insecure, depending if we have it or not.
MONEY!
One word. One THING, determines sooooo much about our lives.
And, in the interest of making money, we destroy so much.
We destroy entire forests to get lumber to make houses that cost so much that we have to go destroy something else for money to pay for them.
We route entire rivers and lakes to make power, to be able to go to work to make more money to live, and we do not think twice about the effects on us, or the world.
In the end, money will will suck up all of humanity and be the last thing standing.
Nevermind our ancestors digging up fossils of our era 10000 years from now. They will be digging up coins and trying to understand how this ONE little thing could wipe us out.
I pass by stranded motorists and tell myself I can't stop b/c I will be late for work. I charge the wealthier more than the less wealthy. I have even done less than a great job when times were hard, in order to cut costs and make a better profit. I don't do these things b/c I have no humanity. I do them b/c the world dictates to me, that I have to go make my share of paper.
It makes me sick!

I must have been born to the wrong era.
I like to barter!
I like to do favours for ppl and have them return them.
I trade my services(construction) sometimes for others goods and services.
Imagine, a world where I built barns, and you had cows (without Mad Cow Disease stemmed from mass production of feeding a cow another cow, and destroying its genetics causing deadly disease, all to get a better dollar for it!), and your neighbour grew vegetables, and the lady down the road had a clean river running thru her property (which was NOT 12 feet from yours!), and she let her neighbours take water from it!
OMG! It is crazy!
We can't image it anymore.
We can't b/c....why? No-one can put a dollar value on it?
Because there is no government regulations telling us that we have to give them 2 cows per 10 we raise, or 3 carrots per dozen we grow, or of ALL things, we have to calculate the amount of water we use, so we can be taxed on it!

Isn't this just rediculous??
A few years ago, I got out of business. DH and I found a "shack" in the woods. 20 acres of trees, no water, no hydro. That is why the realtor called it a "shack".
It had a well, and it was CLEAN!
I (The microwave Queen), and Queen also of everything that is convenient of "our time", told Dh I WANTED to pump my own water, raise animals, and grow food. I wanted to sew (although I can't), and trade with the menonites whatever we could not make ourselves. (Since these ppl seem to be the last of this lifestyle).
He said it would kill me. My family/friends lol at me.
I think to this day, and EVERY day, that money is what is killing us.

I pity the next generation(s). Part of my reason for quitting ttc was that I did not want to raise children in todays society.
You know you hate it when...

So...those are my thoughts.
I am very curious to others thoughts on this subject.
Maybe we could start a new colony of non-money driven people.
Or a new species of humans-lol

P.S - I hate the hypocrite that society has forced me to be again. I am back in business...and making my share of paper to go 'round, and despising every minute of it-Grr!

Sym

[Julester]

Sym, I totally admire your free spirit way of thinking and living. But NO running water?? YIKES, I thought I would die when we were a week without power after Isabel! I stated quite boldly that if I lived in the "little house on the prairie days" well I would have gotten myself run over by a horse and wagon...on purpose!

It is amazing how much we have come to rely on the luxuries of life in this day and age....and I do agree that we have been spoiled by it. It would be nice if people would do/give things to people in the bartering sense of it all......but unfortunately we are driven to succeed in finding wealth.....little do we know it is right in front of us by means of our family and friends.

And lord knows that I could use some of that bartering stuff right now, as I am in the midst of construction on our new home.....rest assured, we spared a boat load of trees!

Julie

[BC-Tracik]

I too wish money didn't drive everything, I would love a bigger house so my kids could have more space to roam, but to do that I would have to go back to work and then I wouldn't need a bigger house because my kids would be in Day care and not home with me during the day.... it is a vicious circle. But we have given up some things so I could stay home, we grow much of our own Vegitables, belong to a Organic Garden where we pay for food in advance so they can plant it and then deliver it to our town, we owned 1 car for 14 years (just bought a second recently... though DH rarely drives his, still bikes and takes the train).... so we try not to work to live but to live to work.

I do not like to haggle, in Guatemala everyone says to negiate at the crafters market.... I just can't, unless I am obviously being given the "gringo" price.... why not, because the difference between $5 and $7 is so minor when I have so much more then the person selling the item to me. So I am guessing I would be a terrible barterer.

However, when I yern for the simple times I look at my church. When people need meals, help with house work, a project done, we just pitch in and do it... no tit for tat. You do it because you care for these people and they need your help and you have the time or resources to do it. When DS came home we had meals everyother night for 3 weeks.... I asked for a weeks worth and people decided we could use more because DD was having some difficulty adjusting to her new sibling so they just kept bringing them. That is what makes me sleep well at night and feel comfort that my children are growing up in the type of community and influences that are inline with my values and beliefs... that is really the best I can for them... and hope that helps to shape them into upstanding individuals that value more then money.

[BC-MAV]

Interesting thoughts!!! I think we can have the same things BEFORE money, plus even MORE things with money-LOL! WE have a nice house and cars (only buy pre-owned) but I also grow herbs and veggies in the yard and DS wears hand-me down clothes and 50% of his toys and books are used. WE have a shack on the bayou, but it has electricity and running water and 1 tv with 3 stations and all the modern kitchen conveniences. We prefer to BBQ and get around by canoe or walking to friends houses nearby. I'd love to have a farm!!!! I don't think money makes the world go round and I don't think money is the root of all evil. I think people make the world a better place and people can share their money with the less fortunate.

[Julester]

Mav, I'm coming for a visit on the Bayou!! Sounds like fun!!!

Julie

[BC-MAV]

The bayou is the closest thing to me having a "farm". DH, DS, and I all get in the canoe and go fish or go to my cousins (a 3 minute canoe ride away-LOL!). We eat crawfish boiled in pots on their lawn. We sit out and watch the birds and occasionally a log moves (alligator-LOL!). We listen to crickets at night. Then reality hits when we get back home!

[AngelaM]

Originally posted by Sym

I think to this day, and EVERY day, that money is what is killing us.....

P.S - I hate the hypocrite that society has forced me to be again.

Sym [/B]

Sym,

I understand the rhetorical message you are trying to communicate with your post but it also concerns me from the cynicism that I perceive in your message.

Money does not drive me. What drives me is being the best person I can be. Whether that means being a best friend to my neighbor, being the best wife I can be to my dh, the best mother to my children, or the best employee to my employer (which good work just so happens to usually coincide with good raises most of the time). It is simply not in my nature to be mediocre at anything I do. I'm not saying I'm perfect but I always try to strive to do the best I can with my abilities and when I fail, I dust myself off and go at it again.

Money does not control my happiness. Noone or nothing controls anything about me but me. If I am a hypocrite, it is because I choose (or allow myself) to be that way, not because anything "forces" me to be that way. I think Winston Churchill sums wealth up quite nicely for me:

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give."

I don't think money is what is killing us. I think a lack of a moral compass, lack of concern for our fellow man, and the quest for power are much more destructive to mankind as a whole. Money is a symptom, not the disease.