Let’s think about economics for a moment: there are various instruments and forms of ‘value’ that are arbitrarily assigned to arbitrarily chosen symbols or objects that can be used in exchange for goods, services, trades, etc. Stocks, bonds, shiny rocks dug up out of the ground, mashed, dried, flattened and colored wisps of processed wood pulp, discs of refined metal ores, pretend ‘money’ dreamed up out of the ether of cyber networks – how is any of it significantly different from the wampum, cacao beans and grains of rice that were used as currency in past cultures?
No difference at all. It is an artificial system, imposed because of a lack of trust and goodwill, inflicted upon us by greedy, suspicious folks with mega-issues who project their own deviousness in matters of trade, upon others and therefore insist on a form of accounting that they can keep in their sight and in their grasp.
For lack of this ‘money’, people sicken and go without medicine, they hunger, starve and die, live in extreme poverty, exposed to the elements and left to suffer and die, children are bought, sold, violated and murdered.
For want of this ‘money’, babies are injected at birth with poisons that hospitals know full well will result in injury and even death, our venerated senior citizens are abused and languishing in ‘nursing’ homes, despite money having been collected for their care.
For want of this ‘money’, wars are inflicted upon far-off lands, to seize resources that make a very few people even more bloated with ‘money’ than they already are, bombs are hurled, buildings collapsed, environments are irradiated and floods are unleashed, because at the end of it all, it puts more ‘money’ in the pockets of a very, very, very few people.
Some would say that “Money is the root of all evil.” It actually isn’t. It’s the absence of love that is the root of evil.
We’ve already seen what the use of ‘money’ has done to our world, now how about we take a look at how LOVE, in place of ‘money’, would affect our world and our lives?
Imagine for a moment that in an instant, all the ‘money’ disappeared. In its place, hugs would be substituted.
Yes, you read that correctly – HUGS.
Hugs are now the lingua franca of finance and economics, the currency of trade, the unit of redemption for every kind of transaction under the sun.
Want a new tv? Walk into a shop and offer a hug (or a gesture of goodwill and respect, for those who are touch-averse). You walk out with a tv and both you and the shopkeeper have a warm glow in your hearts at having received a boost to your endorphins and the myriad other positive emotional, mental and physical benefits that hugs provide.
In an instant, there is no need for theft – what would a wanna-be thief do with 80 tv’s? Sell them? For what? All he’d get for them would be hugs and those are now free for the asking! So no more need for theft. Need food? A hug is the payment of choice. Even online transactions can use hug emoticons – those brighten up the screen when you see them, they’re so positive and cheery!
With all these hugs going around and bolstering the ‘economy’, folks are much more emotionally satisfied, less lonely, mentally more stable…what need for drug addiction or alcohol dependence? No need for a war on drugs, heck – between the decrease in theft and the steady decline of addictions, and all the resultant crimes – soon the court systems won’t be as overloaded and the prisons will no longer be filling up with increasing numbers of inmates. In fact, all those convicted of drug possession and thefts could probably be let loose, because it would be very unlikely that they’d backslide in the new ‘economy’!
No more homelessness, no more joblessness (Did you know that even now there are people who earn ‘money’ by hosting ‘cuddle parties’ and offering ‘hug therapy’?) What to study in school? Whatever brings joy to your heart! School is free in exchange for hugs!
Why not have job festivals where local vendors, artisans, practitioners, etc offer demos of what they do and offer internships to potential apprentices! Oh look, Tony the Cheese Shop owner is looking for an apprentice to train because he’d like to retire and become a juggler! I’ll sign up for that! After an apprenticeship has been completed, Tony can just hand over the keys to his establishment and his apprentice will now own the Cheese Shop!
Why not? It really IS that simple!
No crime, no hate, no politics for money, no holding back someone of promising skills, abilities, talents just because they can’t ‘afford’ the training or because the occupation doesn’t pay the same as the 3 other jobs a person would need to juggle to keep their family barely surviving.
Just people – happy, healthy, kind people, doing what they love, without artificial limitations holding them back from achieving their potential. Families without abuse, work environments without exploitation, a world without ‘money’.
Hug-onomics – it’s where we’re headed as a Global Society, and it’s a lot closer than you might think.
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“Hug-onomics” is copyrighted 2017 by L.D. Golubchik, all rights reserved.
(Pronounced “HUHG-oh-NAH-micks”)
