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With a bit of luck the least well off will end up seeing the truth in the money game - they can't win, no matter what they do. This actually goes for many (mayb

With a bit of luck the least well off will end up seeing the truth in the money game - they can't win, no matter what they do. This actually goes for many (maybe even most?) people, except for the small_number%. The best way to play the game is not to play it at all - avoid loans, avoid debt, avoid a dependency on money whenever possible. Use the money you make to reduce your dependence on future money by acquiring means to increase your independence. For some this will be hard - if you live in a city there is only so much you can do - while for others it is easier. Barring a revolt of some kind (war, revolution, catastrophe, take your pick) or a radical change in the concept of money, more and more wealth will be concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. Increased automation will reduce the number of ways a large part of the population will be able to make even a semblance of a living wage. If there is no system in place to take care of these people - most likely in the form of a base living wage provided by some authority - they'll revolt before they starve. And who are they? Are you one of them? If not now, maybe soon? So... like Tic-Tac-Toe, the outcome of the money game is known before the game starts. They who make the first move, win. You probably did not make the first move, so you won't. Best not to play, then? This does not mean you should avoid money at all cost, it just means you should not follow it. Don't count on making more tomorrow than you do today. Don't base your plans around the money you'll make or that which you accrued. If you have money, use it to reduce your dependency on future money. Buy land if possible. Use money to become energy-independent. Try to become less dependent on automotive transport. Don't get insurances for anything which you can do without. Learn to produce, not consume. Be creative. Entertain yourself instead of being entertained.

ZenoArrow 12y ago
> If you have money, use it to reduce your dependency on future money. Spot on. People talk about the rat race. Just like any race, the idea is to finish first, but that doesn't mean working your arse off until you pop your clogs, it means stopping running first, or at least that's how I see it. The financial game is rigged. Consider, a bank wants to lend money to help you start a business, because it thinks you'll be successful. The benefits to itself if you're successful are twofold, you pay back the loan with interest, and the money you've used to pay off the interest has come out of the pocket of savers, so less interest to pay out to them too. A term you'll hear in the banking world is 'liquidity', which describes how easily money flows through the system. The goal isn't to make other people rich through savings, the goal is to get everyone spending, and make sure they get their cut. If their plan backfires and people stop spending and start saving, we have a deflationary recession, governments start implementing austerity measures, and all that's really happened is people being more careful with their money. Then there's the whole game of infinite growth on a finite planet, but I imagine that's backwards enough for everyone to see. There will be another economic revolution, within this century I'd imagine, Jah knows what it'll look like but we won't keep our current system forever.

ZenoArrow 12y ago

> If you have money, use it to reduce your dependency on future money. Spot on. People talk about the rat race. Just like any race, the idea is to finish first, but that doesn't mean working your arse off until you pop your clogs, it means stopping running first, or at least that's how I see it. The financial game is rigged. Consider, a bank wants to lend money to help you start a business, because it thinks you'll be successful. The benefits to itself if you're successful are twofold, you pay back the loan with interest, and the money you've used to pay off the interest has come out of the pocket of savers, so less interest to pay out to them too. A term you'll hear in the banking world is 'liquidity', which describes how easily money flows through the system. The goal isn't to make other people rich through savings, the goal is to get everyone spending, and make sure they get their cut. If their plan backfires and people stop spending and start saving, we have a deflationary recession, governments start implementing austerity measures, and all that's really happened is people being more careful with their money. Then there's the whole game of infinite growth on a finite planet, but I imagine that's backwards enough for everyone to see. There will be another economic revolution, within this century I'd imagine, Jah knows what it'll look like but we won't keep our current system forever.