Free Oranges | brandoninhaber

Imagine that everything is free. You can have anything you want, at any time. But everything is not free. Things cost money. Why do they cost money? Here is an example. Let's say you go to the supermarket to get an orange. You need to pay for the orange; you have to give them money. There are reasons why you have to give them money. The farmer who grew the orange needs to get paid. The worker who picked the orange needs to get paid, as does the truck driver who transported the orange, and the supermarket that sells the orange. But why do all of these people need to be given money in exchange for their services? Why do they need money? Because oranges cost money. Because things cost money. It's intrinsic - you need money because things cost money.

What if the worker who picked the orange did not need to get paid? What if he volunteered his time? What if all of the people involved in the production of the orange volunteered their time? Then oranges would not cost money; they would be free. And if they were free, everyone would be able to volunteer their time, because they would not need money to buy oranges or anything else.

Imagine waking up in the morning and choosing what you want to do. You would not need to go anywhere or do anything out of compulsion. Today, most people spend most of their time and energy going to their job and doing something that they do not really want to do, because they think that they have to. They think that they need to go to their job and work, in order to be rewarded, and paid, with money. But what if people worked, not so that they can be rewarded, but because it made the world a better place? What if, at any moment, we did what we thought was the right thing, what we thought would be the most helpful? We would be volunteering our time to help each other.

This is possible. It is possible for us to work when we want to, and to do what we want to, and still be productive enough to provide for all of our needs. The current system was formed a long time ago, when we were less productive and efficient. People had to work that much in order to provide for themselves and their families. But now advances in agriculture, transportation, and construction allow us to create, distribute, and meet our needs with less time and effort.

All of our needs can be met, even if everyone is working when they choose to work. There can be a harmony between how much a person needs and how much they contribute. And it can balance out across humanity. How much we collectively contribute can satisfy all of our collective needs. All with everyone volunteering their time.

Some people would volunteer to pick oranges because they enjoy picking oranges, and they know that there is a need for oranges, and they want to contribute. Some people would build a house. They would not have to always build houses; they would only build houses when that is what they wanted to do, and when they thought that was how they could be the most helpful. And if everyone did what interested them, and what they thought would be most helpful, perhaps everything we need to get done would get done, and all of our needs would be met. There is currently enough of a level of expertise so that we know how to accomplish what we need to accomplish. And there is also enough interest naturally within us to produce and contribute, in our own specific way, to humanity, and to help satisfy our collective needs. This can be done with the understanding that if we all pitch in and contribute what we can, everything we need will get done. Every member of society would be voluntarily contributing, knowing that when everyone is voluntarily contributing, all of our needs will be met.

This system works under the premise that everyone chooses to give of themselves and of their time, and volunteers to help society. Some people question that this would be the case, and that some people would not contribute, and only take. These people who would not contribute grew up in the current system, where some have and some have not, and where some contribute and some do not. Growing up in this system and seeing people who do not contribute and who are still prospering may cause some people to want to take without contributing. If children grow up in a system where everyone shares the responsibility of contributing to society, these children would not consider taking without giving, because that would not be a part of the culture that they saw growing up. Seeing everyone contributing would teach these children that they, too, should contribute.

Money was created in order to exchange goods and services. This was necessary because there was not enough of everything to meet everyone's needs. If there was enough of everything, people could have just taken what they needed. Because there was a limited amount of resources, the people giving needed to be compensated, so that they could get everything that they needed. People providing goods or services needed to be paid with money so that they could provide for themselves. They can use this money to purchase food, shelter, and clothing. In this system, people without money may not be able to acquire the necessary food, shelter, or clothing. Money was important when necessities were limited, but now that we can produce enough for everyone, everyone should have everything they need, regardless of how much money they have.

Money has served its purpose. It was a motivating factor in the advancement and expansion of our economy. Many scientific discoveries were fueled by the drive to make money. Many products and fields were optimized to make a profit. We would not be as efficient as we are now were it not for money. People had to work full workweeks for us to become this productive. But we have reached the point where we are now efficient enough at producing and distributing necessities. We no longer need to be motivated by profit. We can take the system we have now and provide for everyone, without the need for reimbursement or compensation. There is enough for everyone. And if we focus on necessities, we would not need to work demanding and stressful workweeks. We could work when we wanted to, and this would be sufficient to provide for everyone's needs.

Imagine how much simpler a world without money would be, how much simpler your life would be. Consider how much time and energy you spend thinking about money. How to make money, how to spend money, how to save money. Most of our stresses stem from money. What if you knew that all of your physical needs would be met, regardless of your decisions or actions? What if you never had to worry about a job again? You would have so much more free time to follow your interests. Your education could be in what you actually want to learn, rather than what you think you need to know to earn a living. You could focus on learning about reality, about how to be a good person. We could teach children what they need to know to live a good life, not how to earn money. Without all of the worrying about money, we could be much more focused on making the world a better place and helping each other, rather than competing with each other to earn more money.

This discussion about money is a metaphor for reality. Money represents interactions between people. People are rewarded for their work with money, and people charge others when they provide goods and services. We are constantly keeping track of exchanges, ensuring that they are accurate and accounted for. But imagine if everyone were nice to each other, not because they wanted to be rewarded or compensated, but because it would help another person. If people chose to do the right thing, not because they were compelled to, but because they wanted to.

We can make the world a better place. No one can do it alone; everyone needs help. Different people have different skills and expertise. If we share our collective knowledge, we can address all of our needs. We can focus on helping each other. If we do this, we would not need to worry about ourselves. It is possible that our shortcomings can hinder our success, but it would be comforting to know that everyone is concerned and committed to our success. We would not need to worry about the distinction between our needs and the needs of others because all of these needs would be met with a collective effort. The concept of mine and yours would no longer be relevant. We would not need to keep track of who has what, and we would not need to compare ourselves to others. We would be concerned with the fate of humanity, not our personal well-being.

Imagine a world where everything and everyone was free. Where everyone acted because it would make the world a better place, not because they were going to be rewarded. Where society worked because everyone devoted their time and energy to helping each other, even though they were free to act in any way they would like. Where we have worked hard enough so that we are now efficient and productive enough that we could work when we wanted to, and how we wanted to, and it would be enough. Imagine a world where everyone was free.