30/06/2005 10:48:27 am
Opposition to Money is Opposition to Free Exchange. "Just do away with money as such, and all the problems with poverty and inequality will vanish." This is a very common thing to be said. Money is described as the root to all - or at least many - evils in the world. And clearly, many people in the world have little money. And many people have much.

But it is a fundamental misconception that money is the cause of poverty; it is the cause of wealth. And most of all, it is just a means of exchange. Money is just a mirror of our desires, what we want. If we have a free society, where exchange is voluntary, I have to pay for what I demand. If I want a dinner and money doesn?t exist, I will have to pay with something else. A pair of trousers, perhaps - if the person who provides the dinner wants my trousers (which may be unlikely).

Thus, money is a means of exchange which makes everything simpler. And if I want someone to provide dinner, I have to give something. If I demand something which takes a big effort, I have to pay much. It is that simple. And the point is that this is the case as long as the society is free. Then I am free to demand things and others are free to provide them - and vice versa.

The opposition to money is an opposition first to people pursuing their desires. If you are against money, you are against people trying to have their lives the way they want to. And, more importantly, you are against a free exchange. The only alternative to freedom is force. And that is precisely what there is in societies without money. Or in fields of society where the state has a monopoly and free exchange and money is forbidden. Needless to say, force is a poor alternative.