“Capitalism does not permit an even flow
of economic resources.
With this system, a small privileged few are
rich beyond conscience, and almost all others
are doomed to be poor at some level.
That's the way the system works.
And since we know that the system will not
change the rules, we are going to have to
change the system.”
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
At every point in human history, people have
publicly and boisterously claimed that “the
current system is the best system and there
will be no better system”.
Kings and Queens would proudly proclaim supreme
autocratic power by divine right with their
subjects having no rights to limit their power.
Monarchs were chosen by God himself and therefore
Absolute Monarchy was seen as the one and
only true way of ruling a nation.
Feudal Lords would openly proclaim that they
were the protectors of the peasantry (that
is, the working class who swore allegiance
to their Lord).
Feudalism was by far the most fair and efficient
way to manage society.
But in reality, peasants were being exploited
for their labour and were kept in line through
strong-arm tactics and threats of violence.
Unsurprisingly, these systems failed, or at
the very least, evolved.
Their proponents were wrong.
There is always a better system.
It’s just that at any point in history,
it’s very hard for people to see.
Currently, the world is pretty much in a universal
state of capitalism.
Even the biggest communist countries are still
essentially capitalist.
Proponents argue that capitalism is the best
system that has ever existed (and they may
well be right).
“It is the most efficient and fairest system
for all in society”.
That sounds very much like the ruling kings
of old.
Of course it’s not the best system, just
as feudalism wasn’t the best system.
The difference between feudalism and capitalism
is that workers in a capitalist society are
in theory free to work for themselves or for
others as they choose.
But in reality, most workers have as little
control over their lives as did their feudal
counterparts.
Essentially in a capitalist system, we choose
our Lords instead of them being chosen for
us (at least, to some extent).
If you work for a company, you must do what
that company ask of you.
Failure to do so will result in you losing
your job and income, potentially sending you
and your family into poverty.
Capitalism, in my opinion, is just a nicer
version of feudalism.
We are essentially peasants in suits.
Of course the ruling class will have us believe
that this is the best system.
Why?
Because they maintain control, and from their
perspective, that’s what this is all about
— control and power.
But for the majority of people, capitalism
does not serve their best interests.
It’s basically just feudalism in disguise,
except perhaps we have nicer shelters and
more food (if you can call what we eat “food”).
You are still bound to work for your rich
masters, whether that be your boss or your
mortgage lender.
You’re no more free than say a cow put out
to pasture.
That is, you’re free to roam around and
eat as long as your boss gives you permission.
“Excuse me, sir.
Could I please have some time off over Christmas?”;
“Well, we’re kind of busy over Christmas
with the new merger.
But things should settle down by about February.
You can have some time off after that, okay?”;
“Okay, sir!”.
But just like all other systems that came
before it, capitalism too will someday die.
It won’t be a quick transition just as Feudalism
didn’t disappear overnight, but it will
happen eventually.
People are already becoming fed up.
The wealth divide is growing.
The super rich are getting too greedy.
The peasant class are getting poorer.
Something is bound to change.
But what will change?
What will replace capitalism?
Here’s my prediction.
Eventually, the need for money will disappear.
I’m not talking about cash, I’m talking
about the concept of money.
If there’s no need for money, there’ll
also be no need for paid employment.
How will money disappear?
Well, with the continuous rise of technology
year-on-year, eventually most physical and
laborious jobs will no longer be performed
by people.
There will be a time when food production
is 100% automated: Solar-powered drone pickers
and planters; Robotic packers and driverless
trucks; Vertical farms on every street corner.
There will be a time when the cost of food
production becomes pretty much negligible.
The same will happen with transport.
There’ll be free-to-use driverless transport
networks.
You just pull out your phone, push a button,
and within a minute or two, a driverless electric
vehicle picks you up.
In this environment, who would bother owning
a car, especially if laws have been put in
place to actively disincentivise car ownership?
When it comes to shelter, there will probably
be a time when quality housing is provided
to anybody who requires it.
I know it’s hard to see now in our current
climate of unaffordable housing and property
bubbles, but I think people in the future
will look back at our housing system and laugh.
“What do you mean people had to get into
debt to ‘buy’ a house?
Didn’t everybody just have a house?”.
In our current capitalist world, if somebody
is unable or unwilling to work and has no
income or family to support them, they often
have no other option but to sleep rough on
the street.
Homelessness is a real issue in our modern
capitalist world.
Tell me one country that doesn’t have a
homelessness problem.
But yet, at any point in time, we have an
abundance of shelters simply sitting unoccupied.
Either it’s somebody’s investment property,
or an unused government building, or a holiday
home.
We have plenty of food to go around as well,
but if somebody walks into a shop hungry and
with no money asking for food, the inevitable
reply will be, “Sorry mate, we’re not
a charity!”.
People may even call the police on you.
To be fair, in many countries, it turns out
being a prisoner is often better than being
homeless.
At least you get free food and a place to
sleep.
From this, you may even argue that capitalism
is actively encouraging criminal behaviour
(at least to some extent).
The point is, there’s plenty of resources
in our world to go round, but as a rule, capitalism
does not give stuff away.
Proponents often say that capitalism is the
best way to distribute these resources, but
I say that’s rubbish!
If it were the best way to distribute resources,
then surely everybody would have all the resources
they need.
Obviously, that’s not the case.
Something is broken and therefore there is
no doubt in my mind that capitalism, like
every other system that came before it, will
be replaced.
As I said before, it won’t be a quick transition,
but it will happen gradually over the upcoming
decades (or if you’re more pessimistic,
over the upcoming centuries).
Whether I’m still alive to see a moneyless
society, I don’t know, but I’m fairly
certain that’s where we’re ultimately
headed.
Some of you might be asking, “If there’s
no money, what will motivate people to do
anything?”.
Well first of all, what is money?
It’s really just an idea.
The physical paper and coins that we pass
around to each other have no inherent value.
Governments have given it value, but as we
all know, you can’t eat money.
It’s all kind of random anyway.
If you happen to be born in a poor country
or into a poor family, you have no choice
in that matter.
The same is true if you’re born into wealth.
So if money is just one idea of many, then
surely there are lots of other ways to motivate
people?
In my experience, I feel that most, if not
all, people have a natural drive.
They certainly don’t just do things because
they get paid for it.
In a moneyless society, there will still be
people who want to become engineers and
programmers and all the rest of it.
There’ll be people who want to make YouTube
videos (or their equivalent) just for the
fame, attention, or recognition.
Whether or not they have to pay for their
food or computer does not change the fact
that they want to make YouTube videos.
Sure, in a moneyless society, you might get
some people who just want to hang about and
play video games all day long, but I think
that’s certainly the minority and I think
most people would grow bored of that quite
quickly.
People will still be motivated to get out
and do stuff just as they are today.
People will still want to lose weight or become
fit.
Some people will still want to teach others
how to lose weight or become fit.
Architects will still enjoy designing buildings.
Computer programmers will still enjoy programming
computers.
It’s just that there’ll be no need for
them to pay for their electricity and internet
usage.
I think one could argue that a moneyless society
would be much more efficient than a capitalist
one.
Think about it.
There’ll be a whole raft of industries that
are no longer required.
Things like banks and insurance companies,
the tax office, Centrelink.
Nobody will need to go on welfare because
everyone already has access to everything
they need.
If you look at the Australian stock exchange,
a good proportion of the major companies are
in finance.
In a moneyless society, they’ll no longer
be required.
There’ll be no need for physical labour
as all physically demanding jobs will have
been automated.
Communal and societal goals will become much
more prominent.
“What should we do to improve the city’s
recycling program?”; “How do we make the
transport network more efficient?”.
As there is no money, technology would be
in the public domain essentially eliminating
the need for trade secrets and intellectual
property rights.
Duplication of effort would be minimised.
Companies would no longer need to fight each
in long-drawn-out legal battles, which only
puts more pressure on our already strained
legal system.
Ultimately, people will work together to make
the best phone, the fastest computer, or the
lightest aeroplane components.
In our current system, companies actively
don’t work together.
In some cases, they actually go out of their
way to hinder their competitors.
Think advertising campaigns and legal battles.
This is not efficient and is a complete waste
of resources.
Anyway, that’s my prediction of our post-capitalist
society.
I know what many of you are saying.
It’s too idealistic.
Humans are greedy.
A free society will never work.
Some people will just take take take and destroy
it for the rest of us.
Perhaps, perhaps not.
I feel that over the upcoming decades during
the gradual transition away from capitalism,
people’s ideals will also change.
Just as a peasant in a feudal society could
never have predicted that people will one
day have work rights and employee entitlements,
so too many of us can’t foresee a society
which provides everything to its citizens
without monetary exchange.
A peasant could never have predicted that
one day workers will be allowed to walk into
a so-called supermarket and buy a block of
delicious chocolate for literally a couple-of-minute’s
wage.
So what do you think?
Is there some merit in this prediction?
Do you think capitalism will eventually die
off?
If so, what come’s next?
