ù Quoting Bob Rudolph from a message to Ryan Bagueros  ù 
BR> No it doesn't.  What do you use in place of money? Remember, money 
BR> was  invented so that there would be a medium of exchange that was 
BR> predictable,  quantifiable, and which lent itself to measure and 
BR> standardization.  it has  worked for hundreds of years.  Now it's 
BR> stupid?
First of all, I question whether or not we can say that it has "worked" for 
years. Money and the quest for more of it has meant a history of genocide, 
war,
oppression, etc. 
Second, even there are many, many examples of a non-money system, based 
on mutual aid. The independent/DIY culture of the 80's and 90's proves most 
of 
this, providing computer services, food, music, books, software, radio, 
basically anything - all without profit in mind. This is not to say that 
these 
things do not have limits, but they are necessity-imposed limits, not 
artificial limits construed out of profit interest.
BR> If they really had more power, how come it's never been exercised 
BR> against me  or against anyone that I know?
But, of course, it is all the time! What do you think happened to the unions 
(I'm referring to the good unions, who were not just interested in keeping 
their own bloating system going)? Anyone you know ever been drafted? Ever 
wonder why you pay so many taxes? etc etc - everything I've been talking 
about,
police brutality, everything, is all part of this. It is so often exercised 
that you take it is a fact of life rather than something that is being 
actively
engaged in!
BR> Can you refer me to anything that rpoduced automobiles, telephones, 
BR> radios, or  computers under the system that you espouse?  I thought 
BR> not.
I can refer you to instances when workers have gone on strike, and taken over 
a
factory and made it into a collective rather than a capitalist money mill. Of 
course since corporations own the industry (i.e., you can use your brain and 
hard work to make an agrarian society from scratch, but someone along the 
line,
building a factory from scratch would mean purchasing expensive equipment) 
there are less (but far from none) instances of that. 
--- FMail 1.22
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