Money was once a brilliant tool, enabling greater prosperity for the species than perhaps any other human invention. It has become out-dated though. Today money is a shackle, enslaving us into a hypnotic state of social paralysis. It’s proliferating a civilization that is unintentionally harmful to itself.
We know that very different social systems produce very different versions of human nature. The underlying system we use today is money. Money determines how we allocate power and authority, how we make decisions, how we utilize technology, how we interact with one another, and how we interact with the Earth and its resources. It influences almost everything we care about – friendships, government, education, work, housing, war, and health to name just a few.
A future without money seems radical, no doubt, but just because it’s far removed from prevailing opinions does not make it a bad idea. Almost every problem we face can be solved by removing money. Unfortunately, we're mostly focused on the symptoms of money. Whether its terrorism, climate change, inequality, poverty, disease, or corruption, these are all fragmentary by-products of our organizational mother-ship – money.
Global studies repeatedly show almost 90% of us don’t enjoy our jobs. Despite this, we spend the majority of our adult lives doing them. Is all this work necessary to create a world we want to live in though? The short answer is no. The majority of today’s jobs contribute nothing toward producing the resources we need to survive and prosper. The majority of today’s jobs are fictitious manifestations of a society based on some pieces of imaginary paper (money).
While the book raises awareness of money’s inappropriateness at a fundamental level, it also demonstrates we can do much better. It details our ability today to produce an abundance of resources for all people in a largely automated manner by changing to a moneyless social system. In making such a change we’d gain the time and freedom to express our individuality and creativity, leading to a happier, more civilised, and more sustainable future.
Past failures will be examined, a new approach will be explored, a path to get there will be suggested, and projections will be made about the future implications of such a system. This book is a holistic all-encompassing story about us – where we came from, who we are today, who we could be tomorrow, and how we might get there.
The book is grounded in current accepted scientific understanding with over 500 references to papers, data, or literature. While the book is grounded in science, no single study can prove that money is the root of almost all our problems and the barrier to a better future. Money is too intricately weaved into our society and consciousness for one simple experiment to provide such proof. However, with introspection and philosophical arguments underpinned by evidence across a broad range of scientific disciplines, the goal is to persuade the reader of this reality. The goal is to persuade the reader that money is indeed the basis of almost all our problems, and without it, we stand on the threshold of a future almost beyond imagination.
The book doesn’t reveal any new primary research but it does reveal a big picture story that will surprise and excite many. We are moving toward a post-scarcity world. With every year that passes, the winds of social change gust a little stronger across the increasingly barren plains of capitalist idealism. A transition away from money is no longer a pipe-dream, rather, it’s a necessity. An increasingly urgent one too.