i think you just described exactly why it is an inherently bad system - that will always be the case; the system will always return to a state of greed and corruption because it can do nothing else
the more relevant question is, why is money needed?
the answer is, it isn’t
that statement, while admittedly highly controversial, is only controversial to those who fail to imagine what a well functioning society, absent our current monetary system and the plethora of problems that entails, might look like
people have survived, and still do in some parts of the world, without money and without government, and can do quite well as long as they have access to the resources they require (building materials, food)
now admittedly such societies are generally primitive, but primitive or not, they also have something that we generally do not and that is a fundamental and a vital connection to the earth and a degree of happiness and contentness that we lack
so now, what kind of society could be constructed if it were based, first, on a close relationship with the earth whilst leveraging technology and science? could it possibly be any worse than the corrupt mess we have created which we laughingly call “civilized society”?
when greed is removed from the equation, through proper education, the vast majority of problems are eliminated
a universal basic income is in the pipeline, obviously, and it is certainly a terribly rotten idea, however there was an interesting experiment conducted, in the U.S. i believe, though i forget where, in which the people in a town were given a monthly income (i believe it was $1000) - the results were very interesting:
- while many might assume everyone would lose their incentive to work and sit around watching the boob-tube all day, it was largely the opposite that was true - people still went to work
- people were happier and more productive at their job because it makes a huge difference knowing that you don’t have to be there
- violent crime was reduced
- there were fewer domestic arguments, couples were happier
there were several more key benefits, though i don’t recall them at the moment
when one is freed of the enslaving burden that our current monetary system dictates, obviously the quality of life improves
there’s another example i like to provide and though it may seem tangental, i think there’s a very important lesson to be learned here
in a large town/small city, in Europe as i recall, the government announced it would switch all the traffic lights to flashing yellow, from all sides, along a highly trafficked roadway
chaos, right?
and it was a bit chaotic, at first, but in the end it was found that:
- driving times were reduced
- less fuel consumed
- fewer vehicle-vehicle accidents
- fewer vehicle-pedestrian accidents
i associate the traffic lights with authoritarian control and the removal of them (essentially) with returning that control to the individual and it was very clear which system worked better
the experiment forced people to think and work with each other rather cede their responsibilities to an authoritarian system that rules at the barrel of a gun
