@theanimal - Typically the 100% self-sufficient homestead. Like growing 100% of your own food, spinning your own yarn, generating your own electricity, milling your own lumber, etc.
These guys aren't entirely money free but their only expense is a low-low property tax. Also this approach requires being relatively heavy in assets, e.g. tools, lands, ...
The assetless/light technical approach is a form of scavenging, e.g. dumpster diving, freeganism, knowing how to make boots out of newspapers, ... or living in the woods, see e.g. The Last American Man.
I like the idea of self-sufficiency, and the idea of minimizing $ expenditures ...
straying into the arena of living off the fat of capitalism, here's a Danish restaurant that cooks food from ingredients it gets for free (non-dumpster diving):
Gardening as mentioned above gives good $ for effort spent. We eat tomatoes like kings for months for the price of a few tomato plants. Not entirely free, but good result for the $10 spent on plants ...
Free-to-play video games , but if you choose unwisely they are annoying with their requirements to buy in game in order to keep up ..
For the price of an e-reader and an internet connection, I have access to 1,000's of free e-books ..
I can't think of something inherently free to create or consume - without a lot off effort -- see new 'homesteading' thread for leads to people who are really doing work day to day for 'free' items like food and shelter ...
I could if my survival depended on it... But 70-80% self-sufficiency takes probably 2% of the effort 95% does... IMO it would be way past the point of diminishing returns and a VERY toilsome life to attempt to manufacture every day items that can be bought for a few dollars.
What if instead of money, you were exchanging a commodity which stores value and acts like money (e.g. silver, diamonds), would that be okay or still unethical from this standpoint?
I just wanted to explore the idea. And is somewhat possible even in 2013 to use not much money. Maybe even none really.
I think if you use gold, diamonds, etc it somewhat defeats the idea. That's kind of a Ron Paul kind of idea. I think eliminating money would be a very dangerous idea. On the other hand you could certainly barter etc though.
Willfully opting out of it at least for a little while is kind of interesting though.
Yes, historically Gold has been used as a form of money. Ron Paul mostly brings it up because Gold and Silver are specifically mentioned in the nation's founding documents as the only legal form of money. Probably because it makes manipulation and devaluation more difficult. Historically, it has done better in the long-run than other forms of money.
I just don't really understand your purpose, interest, or reason for this. It is very gray, if you accept any form of trade at all and not merely exchange things with no obligation or expectation for return. If you in any way barter or trade, you are basically engaged in the same purpose and action as money serves.
Is it possible?... Yes! But you will be [borderline] homeless / beggar / moocher until someone trusts you enough to actually accept your labor in a fair and non-charitable exchange for food and shelter.
I think the goal is freeconomics (google it). Not trading but relying on favors, goodwill, ... essentially that "I help you and I'm kinda hoping you'll help me back but I'm not counting on it" so it's not bartering or trading. I've also seen some youtube clips of such communities. No links handy.
Ya that's essentially Suelo's (www.zerocurrency.blogspot.com) position.
He lives his life by freely giving and freely receiving. His theories are based off both the bible and nature. For example, The blueberry bush creates berries for someone else (animal, human) to consume, animals (both dead and alive) provide manure for the plants, etc etc. It's a continuous cycle that is constantly producing for different animals, plants and humans. If I remember correctly, he fully believes that humans could survive off this gift economy if we all decided to abandon money. Pretty interesting ideas IMO.
You might like Charles Eisenstein's "Sacred Economics". I read the book (its free) a few years ago, but here's a video with the gist of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEZkQv25uEs
I find these things a little too impractical for my tastes, but good for thinking outside the box of the usual memes.
Interesting, now the Philosophy makes more sense (though I disagree it would function in a practical sense outside of Eden) when put in the form of Freeconomics. Just what I gathered previously was simply a distaste for money but a desire to barter for goods instead, which doesn't seem to be very well thought out beyond personal preference/hang-ups.
Dragline wrote:You might like Charles Eisenstein's "Sacred Economics". I read the book (its free) a few years ago, but here's a video with the gist of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEZkQv25uEs
I find these things a little too impractical for my tastes, but good for thinking outside the box of the usual memes.
Try deliberately open source games like Wesnoth, 0 AD, or Freeciv. Or abandonware like NES and SNES games under emulation.
@KevinW
Thanks for the reminder.
Wesnoth is an amazing open source achievement. I need to get back to that. I love its clean logic and huge community. I once (again?) thought of retiring and helping out that community in my spare time.
0 AD seemed to be the castoffs form Microsoft's Age of Empires team when I last tried it, but will again give it a shot.
Freeciv was a great throwback to Civilization 10 years ago, but may try that one again as well.
Thanks for pointing this stuff out. I am personally too embedded in a particular iPad game (that shall go unnamed at this time.) to think straight..
Not sure I understand the obsession with not spending money.
I guess the trophy wife who has everything provided to her and the Oil Sheikh's son who is given everything by daddy are not spending any money either
After all money is just a form of exchange.
For stuff (and we all need some stuff) we don't make ourselves but need, we will still have to enter into exchange. Whether it is money or social capital or any other capital that we spend to get what we want.
"Money is coined liberty, and so it is ten times dearer to the man who is deprived of freedom.
If money is jingling in his pocket, he is half consoled, even though he cannot spend it."
--Dostoevsky (House of the Dead, part 1, chapter 2)
