Society of Esteem

27 July 2009

Alternative money system: No Negative Money

Posted by Cecilia under: Economy .

“Negative Money” is not an ethical judgement, but rather the money system of interest and debt. The movement “No Negative Money” strives to has as its intention to eliminate poverty by making it impossible to hoard money and therefore to become rich.

The basic idea behind “No Negative Money” is that money can’t be stored away in banks in order to be used in later years. The whole stream of money would only run on cash. Each year new currency notes would be produced with the printed year for which they are valuable. People would be forced to spend their money before the end of each year because the old money wouldn’t be valuable in the new year.

The disadvantages are obvious.

People would be forced to buy useless items just for the sake of spending their old money. Debts still can be created by just transferring overspending from one year to the other. Poverty wouldn’t be defeated - but at the worst enhanced.

A society of esteem works without money at all. All citizens work for the good of all - seemingly for free because they don’t get paid. But at the same time they can enjoy the efforts of others through the valuation of mutual esteem.

Having products such as food or cars in a society without money could lead to hoarding. In a society of esteem this doesn’t happen because the motivation for hoarding - searching for esteem - is not present. People living in a society of esteem get esteem just for their being here and for their very own talent they give as a contribution for the good of all.

Wealth is a theme in a society of esteem for other reasons. Wealth is attainable for all citizens of a society of esteem - just for living and not for attracting esteem.