Debt and spending keep money in circulation. Taxes merely take from and prevent people from keeping all their money or other assets – rather than keeping anything in “circulation”. Although fiat currency (which has no inherent value) is simply printed, minted, or entered in an (electronic) accounting book (and thus is created “out of thin air”), “money” (as a means of exchange) comes NOT from banks or governments, but from businesses and other people (in exchange for time, labor, knowledge, connections, or possessions).
Governments, gangs, and any other individual, institution, or organization with not much more than a gun going for them, tend to demand and take, extort, or appropriate (in taxes, tribute, duty, dues, fees, etc.) from everyone they can who has what they want (as income/revenue/funding/assets/resources/holdings) without giving/providing much, if anything, (of real value) in return.
Businesses like insurance companies are set up to collect premiums and do everything possible to avoid paying out claims (made by people who are essentially betting against themselves with the idea that something horrible will happen to them and that as a result they will receive back more than they paid).
Churches and other religious organizations are set up like (tax exempt) banks – to receive donations, tithes, and other “contributions” to be used, loaned, invested, or otherwise (re)distributed as those in charge choose.
ALL “government” money belongs to the governed (from whom and whence it came). Unfortunately, once collected into the “treasury”, governments seldom, if ever, think of themselves as custodians or trustees of what they take and receive – and use the bounty/booty/loot as their “own” – paying themselves first and then quickly disbursing the rest in a manner that invariably requires additional payments from the citizenry to fully cover government expenses, repay incurred and rapidly growing (unnecessary) debts and other “obligations” (that those actually paying would not have “voted” for) – without ever fully funding or providing the “services” the people want or could use.
Without debt and spending the fiat economy economy (and government) would collapse. Society, and the ability of humans to live and meet most of their needs, however, would not. People do NOT really NEED money (at all) to survive (or thrive). Humans existed quite a long time (as have other “earthlings” on this planet) before just about everything imaginable acquired a bar code and price tag. Paper currency is NOT really money. Neither is gold, silver, or anything else that cannot be exchanged easily and directly (without a fee). Money is actually a token/receipt for a (tangible, desirable, redeemable) commodity or resource, rather than just a “hot potato” that people have to get rid of into to get something else (like actual food, clothing, shelter, or anything else needed and more useful than just higher “net worth” and “credit”). The mistaken idea that money can “buy” love, loyalty, or any kind of lasting social or emotional support is not worth working for. Fame, celebrity, and social status tend to be “worth” far more than money – and require none to achieve or receive (the attention, access, assistance, admiration, appreciation, imitation, and influence that even unimaginable amounts of money alone cannot usually buy).
Humans have not “evolved” nearly as much as we sometimes prefer to pretend. We are essentially just tall chimpanzees in clothing – running on autopilot programming beneath our awareness and conscious control most of the time. Most (“western”/modern/urban) people (today) tend to be so caught up in their own life (and/or “busy-ness”) that they don’t notice (or care about) most of what’s happening around them – like you looking at them. Many people also seem very uncomfortable making eye contact – with almost anyone, but especially someone they don’t know. Perhaps they think, like a child hiding their face behind hands, that if they don’t look or allow someone to look directly into their eyes that they won’t be seen (as and for whom they really are). This is silly! Those who can’t or who refuse to see them, won’t – no matter what they do. Those who can or desire to see them, will – regardless of their attempt(s) to look away or hide. Mutual eye contact provides a CONNECTION far more powerful (and desirable) than “money”. What a concept! It is sad that people seem to “blindly” seek to prostitute themselves and exploit others for currency that’s not even worth the paper it’s printed on, puts them and debt, and can never be repaid (due to interest “owed” on it).
Our economy is built on perpetuating inequality and scarcity. If people were (abundantly) able to meet all of their needs, they wouldn’t (have to) spend their money and buy from those who have what they do not. Those who have the “most” also have the most to lose – and thus, ironically, often have more of a scarcity mindset than many people who have hardly anything at all (whether they realize it or not). The most “free” people are those dwindling few who are confident in their ability to (literally) walk naked into the (natural) world around them and meet all their needs (with no money, credit, or trading). Calls for “depopulation”, “resource conservation”, and “global management” tend to come from those who already have more than they need – and yet are unwilling to share (much) of what they have with others – especially those most in need (whom the “rich” often seem to wish would just die off or disappear).
Humans are “hardwired” backward about some things. We consider what is perceived as most “scarce” as most dear, precious, and valuable – and yet seldom acknowledge or accept that absolutely everything is unique, scared, and holy. We also tend to entirely miss what is more obvious. Whatever is most numerous is usually most basic, elemental, and essential. People seem to think that much of what is most needed for survival (including clean air and water) is somehow less (rather than more) important because there seems to be lots of it. This is a major mistake – that may “cost” everyone on the planet more than people realize.
Not only is everything connected, all is also interdependent. Excessive concentration of “wealth”, “power”, and “resources” are likely to result in the extinction of all (life as we know it) – rather than happiness for a select few (at the expense of everyone else).
EVERY level of the known universe is composed of holons – or wholes that make up other/come complex wholes (like “resting on the backs of turtles – all the way up and down”). The ideas I am expressing are dependent upon the letters of the alphabet that make up the words that make up the sentences that make up the paragraphs that make up the entire blog that is posted on a page hosted on a site as part on the internet accessible to those with a computer, cell phone, or other processor, password, electrical power, comprehension of the language I use, etc., etc.).
Any living body in which 98% of the blood, sugar, or oxygen (to name only 3 basic requirements) went to only 2% of the cells – as money and other resources do for people in the (financial) world in which we have created and currently “live”, would DIE! Not only those cells that did not receive what they needed would perish, but the organism as a whole would cease to survive! “Equality” may be a myth – but so is the idea that an extreme imbalance (of anything) can continue indefinitely.
Conclusion? With or without money or taxes (as we know them), things WILL (have to) change. Exactly how or when is not entirely clear – even to those actively seeking and attempting to manipulate, create, and/or control the change(s) they desire or (realized may be) required. All will NOT benefit “equally”, but thinking that “sacrificing” whoever or whatever seems plentiful (and thus not perceived as worth as much) for the sake or benefit of a relative few may result in the end of all. Those with “power” to influence things MUST, more than ever, consider the probable long-term, far-reaching consequences of satisfying their own wants.
That’s my perspective. What’s yours?
