Trade is an important part of humanity. In the past, we used to trade directly with each other, but the system wasn't perfect and money was invented to solve the problems. However, money became a problem in and of itself.
As our selfishness grew and as our obsession with money grew, new problems arose - greed, theft, corruption, bribery, fraud, embezzlement, harmful trade, over-consumption etc. This is where we find ourselves today, isolated and unhappy.
Our internal qualities have to change from selfishness to bestowal. We have to seek to benefit others instead of ourselves.
We have to connect with each other in mutual concern and responsibility, and become genuinely concerned for each other's welfare and well-being.
The quality of bestowal will become our new currency, the currency of connection. Money will no longer play a pivotal role in society, the most important thing will be the reciprocal connection between us. We will be fulfilled by good relationships.
The Quality Of Selfishness
Today, we're all immersed in the quality of selfishness, seeking to benefit ourselves with no regard for others. Our selfish behaviour harms us, others and all of nature.
A World Without Money
In the past, money didn't exist. We used to trade directly with each other, for example, food for clothes etc. The system wasn't perfect, there were a few problems.
First, if I grew potatoes and I wanted a blanket, I'd have to trade my potatoes for a blanket. Potatoes are heavy and it would be quite the feat to haul a sack of potatoes around.
Second, I'd have to find somebody with blankets who also wanted potatoes. This match would be hard to find - they may have blankets but not want potatoes, or they may want potatoes but not have blankets. So I'd either have to settle for something I really didn't want, or I wouldn't trade at all.
Third, there was the matter of prejudices. Even if I found the perfect match - someone with blankets who also wanted potatoes - they may not like purple people and I'm a purple person, so they may refuse to trade with me.
The solution to these problems? Money.
A World With Money
Money became necessary to solve the problems that people faced.
First, it was light and easy to carry around. No more heavy potatoes.
Second, it opened up trade. I could sell my potatoes for money, then use that money to buy whatever I wanted, blankets, spices, other food etc.
Third, money neutralized people's personal prejudices, it became an intermediary between people. Even if people didn't like each other, they'd still trade for money.
While money solved some problems, it created others.
A World Obsessed With Money
As our selfishness grew and as we became more obsessed with money, money itself became the problem.
Greed
Trade was no longer about meeting our basic necessities, it was now about getting rich. Even if our basic necessities had been met, we still wanted to make more money.
Motivation And Reward
Money became a means of reward and motivation. People were rewarded with money, even if their efforts were harmful to themselves, others and all of nature.
As such, it also became a motivator. People were motivated to make money by whatever means necessary, leading to harmful, destructive, immoral and unethical behaviour.
Harmful Trade
As our obsession with money grew, our trade deteriorated. We became sneaky, devious, malevolent, unfair, corrupt, aggressively competitive, and even harmful towards ourselves, others and all of nature - all to make more money.
Over-Consumption
As some companies sought to make more money, they used aggressive and manipulative marketing practices to get consumers to buy products they didn't need.
The culture of materialism, consumerism and over-consumption was born. People became convinced that they needed more things - a bigger house, a better car, newer clothes etc. As such, people needed to make more money to buy all the things they didn't need.
Waste
In an effort to make more money, some companies intentionally built products to break down, a practice known as planned obsolescence.
This practice creates waste, pollution and it's a drain on precious resources. Consumers are forced to replace their broken products, so they need to keep working to make money to afford these replacements.
Social Gap
As people sought to make more money, the most ambitious, competitive and aggressive became the richest.
A social gap was created between the rich and the poor, a gap that creates tension and stress in society because it's seen as unfair and unjust - and rightfully so.
Status
Money became a status symbol in society, it became associated with greatness, power and influence, all attributes of the quality of selfishness.
Taking Care of Ourselves
We became selfishly individualistic and we lost our sense of community. Any efficiencies gained in a community were lost. For example, in the past, a family would share one house, now families break up and have to live in two houses, each house having it's own expenses.
Instead of sharing our expenses with others, we now have to bear the financial burden of living our individual lives. As such, we have to work to make money to afford our individual expenses.
Slaves To Our Jobs
As we live our individual lives, we're forced to work to make money. While we have personal independence, we're slaves to our jobs. This isn't true independence, it's another form of misery and confinement.
Lack Of Trust
Also, we lost our sense of trust. We don't trust people who harm themselves, others and nature. Because we don't trust each other, we don't work together. This forces us to fend for ourselves and to make our own money.
Against The Laws Of Nature
All of nature operates as one integral, interconnected and interdependent system. Our selfishness and our obsession with money puts as against the laws of nature. This has led to the crisis in families, schools, communities, culture, ecology, finance and the economy.
Unhappiness
Our selfish tendencies and our obsession with money has left us isolated, alone and unhappy. We can't continue to live this way. Something has to change.
The Quality Of Bestowal
Our internal qualities have to change from selfishness to bestowal/love of others/altruism. We have to seek to benefit others instead of ourselves.
We have to connect with each other in mutual concern and responsibility and become genuinely concerned for each other's welfare and well-being.
This reciprocal connection between us will become our new currency. Good relationships between us will become the most valuable thing.
The importance of money will disappear and our focus will be on benefiting each other and doing good for each other.
With respect to the problems that money was initially created to solve, the quality of bestowal will solve these problems:
First, the quality of bestowal is light, it's not heavy. It's an internal quality within us, so we won't have to worry about heavy potatoes, we won't even have to worry about money.
Second, the quality of bestowal opens up trade with everyone. If we're all seeking to benefit each other, we're perfectly matched in our internal qualities. We'll be able to approach anyone at anytime and they'll seek to benefit us.
Third, the quality of bestowal transcends personal prejudices. If we're seeking to benefit others, we won't care if they're tall or short, black or white, Christian or Muslim, gay or straight, rich or poor etc. All we'll care about is their welfare and well-being. The connection between us will be the intermediary between us.
With respect to the other problems that arose as a result of our growing selfishness and our obsession with money, the quality of bestowal will solve those too:
Motivation And Reward
Greed will disappear because we'll be connected with each other in mutual responsibility. Those people who contribute the most to society, will be rewarded with genuine appreciation and acknowledgement. In this way, people will be motivated to benefit each other.
Fair Trade
Harmful trade will end, because we'll stop harming ourselves, others and all of nature. Instead, we'll seek to benefit each other and trade will be balanced, fair and equitable.
Balanced Consumption
Materialism, consumerism and over-consumption will end. All redundant goods and services, and practices that harm us, others and society will disappear. Our focus will be on meeting our basic necessities - food, water, clothing, shelter, education etc.
This will free up time and resources to focus on the most important thing - our personal growth and development to realize our true potential - of how much we can benefit others.
No Waste
Products will be built to last, they'll be designed to eliminate waste and pollution and they'll be aligned with nature. Technology will be used to create efficiencies in all systems and recycling programs will be developed to reuse materials.
Social Harmony
When we're connected with each other in mutual concern and responsibility, poverty will disappear and scarcity will end. Everyone in the world will live above the poverty line and everyone will enjoy a dignified standard of living.
Equality
When we seek to benefit each other, we'll all be equal because we'll be united in the same desires, to benefit others instead of ourselves. The greatest people in society will be those who contribute the most to others.
We'll Take Care Of Each Other
We'll become genuinely concerned for each other's welfare and well-being and we'll take care of each other like one family. We'll no longer be concerned about our individual selves, rather we'll be one family.
Healthy Work-Life Balance
Our focus will be on meeting our basic necessities and we'll use technology and automation to help provide for our basic needs. The rest of the time we'll be in school, learning, growing and developing, and finding new ways to benefit each other.
Trust
When we're connected in mutual responsibility, we'll automatically trust each other because we'll know that nobody means us any harm. We'll work together, for each other.
In Balance With The Laws Of Nature
When we seek to benefit others instead of ourselves, the crisis in families, schools, communities, culture, ecology, finance and the economy will disappear. We'll work in harmony with the laws of nature and we'll reach balance with the integrated system.
Happiness
When we're connected in mutual responsibility, we'll be very happy because we'll be interconnected with each other. Also, our internal qualities will become similar to God's quality and this will connect us to God in quality.
The currency of this realm is money, however, the currency of the spiritual realm is having good connections with others - seeking to benefit others instead of yourself.
When our internal qualities change from selfishness to bestowal, our currency will also change from money to having good connections - having good relationships with others.
Summary
We started off in a world without money and we used to trade directly with each other. Then we faced some issues such as heavy potatoes, limited trade and prejudices against purple people.
To solve these problems, we created money. However as our selfishness grew and as our obsession with money grew, money itself became the problem.
This resulted in greed, harmful trade, over-consumption and waste, loss of trust, a widening gap between the rich and the poor, isolation, stress, unhappiness etc.
Our internal qualities have to change from selfishness to bestowal, we have to seek to benefit others instead of ourselves.
In this way, the connection between us will become a currency, the currency of connection. The importance of money will disappear and good relationships will become the most important thing.
We'll become connected with each other in mutual concern and responsibility, and we'll take care of each other as one family.
Copyright © 2013, Carter Kagume. All Rights Reserved.
