The key is to not focus on the money. The money flows in one direction, but the economy (things that people choose to do; where they spend their time, how they

The key is to not focus on the money. The money flows in one direction, but the economy (things that people choose to do; where they spend their time, how they get around, etc) flows in the other direction. In some sense, money is a symbol which represents real economic activity. From there. Looking at just the real life things that are happening and deliberately leaving out any mention of money: - there aren't enough places for people to live near jobs. Employers have a hard time finding workers, because workers can't afford to live nearby. Productivity suffers. - people have to spend a long time commuting to their job, which means they spend a lot of time in their cars. Big waste of time! - the housing that is out there, is very old and not suitable for many people. People who should be living alone in a small studio take roommates and live in a single family home, because there is no inventory of studios for them. People's lives are worse because of this, their built environment isn't what they want it to be. - people who want to start a family and live in a small house on their own, can't. the only houses they build are too large for what new families need. So people delay starting a family, because the housing that should be there isn't there for them. Fewer kids. - because it's hard to find places to live, people are less mobile. when they find a place, they hold onto it longer, even if it's suboptimal for their situation. So people stick around even if it sucks, because there's nothing better out there. - places that have prestige jobs see the bottom % pushed out because there's only room for top % employees. Those places get "hollowed out" with the bottom % taking long commutes or living in suboptimal conditions to be near the top %. Social segregation, which leads to cultural disconnects. - parents don't have a place to go once their children are grown up and have moved out. Our built infrastructure doesn't suit them. So they stay put and get lonely. - because everyone has to drive to work and can't walk, small businesses that depend on foot traffic don't work any more. Big businesses with office parks and the money to build parking lots in suburbs have the commercial advantage, so they prevail. etc etc. Completely removing the whole concept of "money" from the conversation, makes it abundantly clear that we are making bad choices about our built infrastructure, over and over again, to all society's detriment.