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We need to fix the loop holes. Money is also an amazing instrument that keeps us motivated. Without the lure of money and its power, we wouldn’t do anything. Startups? Why bother when there is no money involved.

I really think if there was one thing we got right - that’s money as a civilization. What we need to do is fix the loop holes. That includes taxes, corporation as persons, the whole 2011 movement of Occupy Wall Street.

discuss

InvisibleUp|5 years ago

> Why bother when there is no money involved

Because you want to make something useful and helpful for the world? Personal satisfaction? Passion? Necessity?

Granted, those are no arguments to work for free in a world where operating a business and keeping yourself fed cost money, but if somehow those weren't concerns, I can assure you people would still have plenty of motivation to innovate still.

unknown|5 years ago

[deleted]

lukifer|5 years ago

People are motivated by a variety of things, only one being wealth accumulation; and there is an inherent tension between the qualitative and the quantitative (for instance, one would be insulted if one's dinner guest offered to pay the bill for a home-cooked meal).

There's a lot to be said for the social technology of markets and the extrinsic motivations of money. But from FOSS to mutual aid to gift economies [0], currency-denominated markets should only be one tool in our political-economy toolbox.

[0] https://sacred-economics.com/

diob|5 years ago

I think basic income solves it nicely. You still get the allure of money (folks want to make more), but they can also now focus on innovation and creative endeavors. It's a win win in my opinion.

WanderPanda|5 years ago

I‘m not so sure if nicely is the right term. Mass starvation as an outcome is not off the table I would say

Franciscouzo|5 years ago

How do you think people functioned before the invention of money?

samhh|5 years ago

No statement in this arena taken to an extreme stands to reason, including "without the lure of money and its power, we wouldn't do anything".

I contribute to open source, as many others here do. Lots and lots of people contribute to society and the common good in other ways without the expectation of capitalistic reward.