Monday 5 September 2016

Starving The System


 

I often hear people say that we should create a new system that makes the old one obsolete. Of course this is true. However.... this phrase is often used as an explanation of why many people - even though they are opposed to the economic system and the destruction it causes to our fellow earthlings and ecosystems every day - still keep shopping and using money as a tool for fulfilling their needs (or keep doing other things that contradict their own values).

I find this decision remarkable and anything but rational, because while I fully agree that we should create a new system to make the old one obsolete, I also feel strongly that the people that have the power to change this (i.e. the people who have the most money) are unlikely to be willing to do so unless they are forced. And what better way to force them than to 'starve the system' as I like to call it: We need to stop feeding it from the bottom up.
 
So why not do both: create a new system and stop feeding into the old one.... starve it to death. That means stop using money to pay for the structures that are in place, as much as we can.

Maybe we fear that life will get uncomfortable... because life without money may be really uncomfortable.

Yes, we may need to change our lifestyles temporarily until the changes are complete. Yes we may need to let go of some comfort and embrace some much needed personal growth instead. Yes, we may lose some of the 'privileges' we have gotten used to, which -by the way- we can only keep getting with a very severe price-tag to the environment and our fellow beings.

On the other hand, if we keep consuming like it's no big deal, then nothing is going to change and we can come up with the most brilliant alternatives to our economic system that we can think of, but the people who benefit from keeping things the way they are (which also happen to be the people who have the most power) will do everything in their power (which is a lot) to stop any efforts of change.

In the meantime, there ARE alternatives to money. Which ones there are depends on your needs and your location. You will need to get creative. You can start small and increase your freedom from money step by step. You may need to resort to illegalities at times, but remember that it is okay to cheat or exploit the system, but never your fellow man. The system as it is right now exploits our fellow beings in every step of the way and it's legal, so 'legal' obviously doesn't equal 'right'. We all know that. Now let's act on it.


Life may temporarily become a little bit more uncomfortable than you were used to, but this will change very quickly. First of all on an individual level because you will soon find alternatives that are just as comfortable, more rewarding and more in line with your values than the way you were doing things before. It can be challenging but this is also exciting and fun. Secondly, things will soon get easier on a structural level if everyone chooses to follow this path in some way or other, because then the system will have to change. People in power will lose their power; it will be pulled from underneath them. We are the ones upholding their status. Once we all realize this and stop contributing, the system will be forced out of existence and a new one has to be put in place.

Also, this type of revolution is most of all needed in the 'materialistic societies'; mostly Western (or Westernized) countries, because they are doing most of the damage to our planet AND they generally also make it easiest to live without money. If you are living in one of those countries, you have a very important decision to make. It is really not even a decision: it's either changing or perishing. We, the people, have the same powers as the governments that claim to lead us and the companies that supply our needs and greeds: when we stop supporting those 'leaders', their power falls back onto us.


What are you waiting for? Find a way to oppose the system... and not just any system of course. Only the dysfunctional ones... until they function once again.

Peace out :)


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13 comments:

  1. Absolutely. Thank you for writing this. This is exactly what I've been saying to people, and getting ridiculed for saying, for years. Nice to know I'm not the only "crazy" one out there. ;)

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    1. That is great for me to hear too! We are not alone :)

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  2. Absolutely. Thank you for writing this. This is exactly what I've been saying to people, and getting ridiculed for saying, for years. Nice to know I'm not the only "crazy" one out there. ;)

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    1. By the way, it seems from your blog that you are also living without money, or with very little (on purpose). I would love to get in touch! Perhaps you can email me? Email button is on my page. Would love to know where you are and meet you if possible!

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  3. Great to hear that there are lots of people un this world who think so.
    Most of services or product need to pay their cost. We can eliminate this by creating services marketplace. Instead of money use point system. If you are in touch with very strong community please inform we can take initiative and start something new online which help us to achieve goal.please contact if you think this work. My Skype ID is prasnala .

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    1. I am web/software developer. 10+ years of experience as programmer.

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    2. I am web/software developer. 10+ years of experience as programmer.

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    3. Hi Baba, thanks for your comment. How would the point system work and how would it be different from money? I don't really think that anything that replaces money will work in the end, because it will end up being abused in the same way as money. I am also not convinced technology will save us. I am hoping more and more people will go for small self-sufficient communities. And of course world population should decrease drastically. Hopefully more people will start contributing to a sustainable solution with the decisions they make.

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  4. We are totally in synch! Very happy to discover your blog, mine is Worldatpolarity.blogspot & also proposes neighbourhood-village self-sufficiency taking money out of the system wherever possible... Would love to exchange ideas over email...maureen

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  5. We are totally in synch! Very happy to discover your blog, mine is Worldatpolarity.blogspot & also proposes neighbourhood-village self-sufficiency taking money out of the system wherever possible... Would love to exchange ideas over email...maureen

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    1. Hi - Yes that would be wonderful! And I am going to try to travel to Oz in December/January (by boat/train) - it would be lovely to meet you! Feel free to drop me an email at lroosen@hotmail.com.

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  6. Thanks for this – but unfortunately I read to the end expecting there to be some suggestions regarding how to live without money, and there were none. I realise there are many options out there and people are doing many interesting things. I know about quite a lot of these things, but I would be interested to know what you know about the alternatives that are out there. Any chance you could write another piece outlining these?

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    1. Hi Kerry,

      There is actually a whole section of the blog dedicated to this ;)
      Please check here: https://liselotteroosen.blogspot.no/p/living-free.html
      Good luck!

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