[BobbyO]

Quote by: grandpa I may not agree with every point you made, but overall, you address some really good points. I hope my responses help you understand ahy I think the current scheme for social organization has poisoned all life. The system as we know it implies the need to make resources and services unavailable to the public unless they have money. Here I agree with what Noam Chomsky has said: "We have not developed the cultural and moral resources or the democratic forms of social organization that make possible the humane and rational use of our material wealth and power." Abtract principles and overarching authority prevents this from taking place. I don't think I've advocated a total breakdown of human knowledge. In fact, I've encouraged the opposite. I fail to see how all knowledge could simply disappear, or all the desires to repair what is broken around the house would vanish. I think getting rid of money could be helpful in project planning, but it would require a more scientifically-minded appraoch to a given situation. For example, one needn't spend money to do something--whether we are talking about construction, destruction or picking up tidbits of knowledge. That is a fundamental fact, whereas spending money is socially conditioned. That the profit motive undermines people's ability to pursue their naked interests is simply irrefutable. Rather than develop the skills they want to have, people may find themselves routinely doing tasks nobody actually has to do do, like maybe serving popcorn at a movie theater or making Telemarketing calls just to get money to afford whatever those interests are. These are unnecessary hurdles, and dangerous ones to social development and sometimes even to survival. Or one can learn basic plumbing skills, which seems possible for most people. When it comes to fixing a situation, it obviously depend on the individual initiative to ask "If not Now then When? If not ME then Who?" But the point again is that a landlord isn't necessary to either do it yourself or get outsidee help. Again, you assume that this fundamental problem can be easily solved. your desire to believe this doesn't make it so. But the easiest mechanism could be procximity, or how about free housing cooperatives that encourage everyone to learn plumbing and other skills? So it doesn't just come to a sense of doing what is morally right, but of doing what is practical for its own sake. I think you underestimate human mechanical intelligence. I once fixed a guitar without knowing hardly anything about how they work, so I know that even the less machanically inclined can work things out. Sure, there may be times when we turn to outside help, and money may be involved, but it makes little sense to not be pacified and content with the illusion that money and related authorities are absolutely necessary. In fact, there are plenty of situations that seem to occur randomly which render using money impractical or impossible as a solution. Grandpa h.

Chomsky's comments are interesting. But what he says is basically what the anti-capitalists always say: capitalism isan inefficient way of producing goods and services. Then they proceed to be totally indifferent to describe a different solution.

The solutions presented by yourself are not solutions at all. It would seem to compound the problem. People learn basic household skills because it is in their best interest to do so. It is cheper, it costs less money to install your own plumbing then to hire someone to do it. Eliminate a money system (which you have called for) and suddenly that motivation is eliminated. Why waste time installing your own plumbing when a certified, well trained professional can do it at no cost to you? But again, why should that plumber spend his time installing your plumbing, and not somebody else's? That you might be closer? Of what relevence is functioning plumbing to the closeness of its installer? You suggest cooperatives where everyone becomes a plumber, or at least learn baisc plumbing skills. But what if I do not wish to spend my free time fixing plumbing (what authority would exist to tell me I must?) And in any event, is it not more sensible to have trained professionals doing such work, then partially trained apprentices?

I find Chomsky's comments meaningless. A plumber (or anyone else) cannot fix all things at the same time, Which means services will ALWAYS be withheld for periods of time, regardless of the system. That will never change. So any system will need to figure out the best ways to allocate the use of the plumber's time and labor. The money system is the best, most rational, and fairest way to do it.