# Why do we have money? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 1, 2016, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-money/764632 "2016-09-01T05:13:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-money/764632/21 "2016-09-01T11:18:57Z")
You don’t have to have money; anything will do, so long as it can’t just be picked up or plucked from a tree (or found in some complicated computer program). It is always interesting (to me at any rate) to think what you would do if you were starting from scratch; lets say a virgin planet. I would use ‘credits’ that would be based on the man (or woman) hour defined as some reasonable rate of manual work for a person. The total credits in circulation would always be related to the total number of man hours available on the planet. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-money/764632/22 "2016-09-01T13:29:22Z")
Ref \*\*bob++ \*\*: [Time-based currency - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time-based_currency) This achieves a certain idea of social equality in that one hour of Alice’s time is equal to one hour of Bob’s. This is very different from today where even ordinary hourly workers have wages differing by factors of 20 or 30. Much less the “wages” provided to CEOs & such. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-money/764632/23 "2016-09-01T13:36:37Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > I would use ‘credits’ that would be based on the man (or woman) hour defined as some reasonable rate of manual work for a person. How do I get some? Is it okay if I just stand around, or do I have to actually work? Are my credits based on time, or on my output? ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-money/764632/24 "2016-09-01T13:47:25Z")
Four legs good, two legs baaaaaaad. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-money/764632/25 "2016-09-01T13:56:48Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > Any particular reason we don’t just provide things for free with people? You have a wonderful idea. Give me all your stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-money/764632/26 "2016-09-01T14:21:53Z")
The guy is an acolyte of some alt-reality blog. None of the previous attempts to gain it any followers has got much traction, but he is tireless. I’ll trade you a goat for Tibet. I always wanted a nice place in the mountains. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-money/764632/27 "2016-09-01T14:23:15Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Okay, can I have your car? Thread and debate win in 6 words. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-money/764632/28 "2016-09-01T14:25:57Z")
The OP’s next question will be “Why is there air?” Sorry, dude. Bill Cosby answered that one decades ago. ---
**Author:** ![Pixel\_Dent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Pixel\_Dent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixel_Dent)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-money/764632/29 "2016-09-01T15:02:51Z")
I can’t remember the source of this quote, but I always liked… “The problem with ‘From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs’ is that man has unlimited needs and unimagined abilities.” ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-money/764632/30 "2016-09-01T15:36:28Z")
The progress of an economy is closely tied to how freely goods and services are traded. The less “friction” there is, the stronger the economy develops, the higher the civilization develops. Money greatly simplifies this. Imagine trying to buy something off Amazon via trading? “I’ll give you my 1974 Pinto in exchange for this 50” TV." Like that’s going to work. Someone who might want your Pinto is very unlikely to be the same person with a TV for sale. The two events have to be disentangled. Instead, you sell your Pinto for $X. Go to Amazon, find out a 50" TV is far more than $X, settle for something else. The friction of the transaction is tremendously lower. It’s a win-win for everyone. Without money, you’re talking about a medieval level of economy. And no, you’re not going to be the lord of the manor. You’re going to be a miserable, half-starved, chronically unhealthy serf. Or, even more likely, you won’t exist. That level of an economy cannot support anywhere close to most of today’s population. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-money/764632/31 "2016-09-01T15:39:06Z")
So anyway OP, do you hate freedom as much as you hate money? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-money/764632/32 "2016-09-01T16:36:16Z")
This reminds me of the guy who shows up on someone’s doorstep in UNBREAKABLE. “I like your house. Can I come in?” “What is this? No, you can’t come in.” “Are you sure?” ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-money/764632/33 "2016-09-01T18:50:20Z")
**Moderator Note** > [@cochrane](#): > > Or he’s reporting back to his planet on hyoo-mon customs. > [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Oh, grow up. I was six when I asked my dad the same question. At six, it’s a reasonable question. Not so much beyond that. > [@silenus](#): > > The OP’s next question will be “Why is there air?” > > Sorry, dude. Bill Cosby answered that one decades ago. I didn’t quote all of the offenders here, but let’s stop belittling the OP and focus on the factual question at hand. While some of you may not have a high opinion of the question, there is actually a factual question here to be addressed, so let’s stick to that. No warnings issued, but let’s keep future posts in this thread GQ appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-money/764632/34 "2016-09-01T19:34:06Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > Why do we have it and do we need to continue to use the system? > > I heard some people talking about why do we need to pay to live on the planet. What are your thoughts, not what you heard other people talking about? How would you go about providing all things free to all people? Would all people get an equal share of the “free” stuff, or would some get a “free” bowl of rice a day to produce “free” goods for the others? As has been pointed out, pure barter isn’t practical on the scale civilization has reached today, so let’s hear what you think a better alternative would be. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-money/764632/35 "2016-09-01T19:36:07Z")
Because the world has limited, not easily accessible resources. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-money/764632/36 "2016-09-01T19:42:13Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > Any particular reason we don’t just provide things for free with people? Who is “we?” ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-money/764632/37 "2016-09-01T19:44:09Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Ref \*\*bob++ \*\*: [Time-based currency - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time-based_currency) > > This achieves a certain idea of social equality in that one hour of Alice’s time is equal to one hour of Bob’s. This is very different from today where even ordinary hourly workers have wages differing by factors of 20 or 30. Much less the “wages” provided to CEOs & such. But what if Alice is a neurosurgeon and Bob works in fast food? One hour of Alice’s work is much more difficult. ---
**Author:** ![sbunny8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@sbunny8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sbunny8)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-money/764632/38 "2016-09-01T19:49:41Z")
Plants and animals get along just fine without money. We are animals, therefore we could also get along without money. In fact, for the vast majority of the time that our species has existed on Earth, we did just that. But I can give you two reasons why it’s needed in modern civilization. #1 We have unprecedented mobility and we live in cities that many many more people than the conditions in which we evolved, by orders of magnitude. If you live in a tribe of 300 people, your brain can easily keep track of each and every person in the whole tribe, remember who has done favors for you in the past and who you’ve done favors for, predict who is likely to be counted on for help when it’s needed and who isn’t. But in a city of 3 million people, there simply isn’t enough room in your brain. We need a different system for keeping track of who owes favors to whom. #2 As Daniel Quinn pointed out, this outrageous zoo that we have built for ourselves is quite different from our natural habitat (the one we evolved in). Unsurprisingly, lots of people find modern civilization unpleasant. So how do you force people to put up with a system that they hate? You have to lock up the food. And then you make them work to earn money, which is needed in order to buy the food. If we all decided to go back to being hunter-gatherers and live in tribes of less than 1000 people then yeah we could get along just fine without money. But there’s not enough space on this planet for 7+ billion hunter-gatherers. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-money/764632/39 "2016-09-01T20:01:36Z")
> [@sbunny8](#): > > If we all decided to go back to being hunter-gatherers and live in tribes of less than 1000 people then yeah we could get along just fine without money. But there’s not enough space on this planet for 7+ billion hunter-gatherers. I kind of LIKE civilization, to be honest. Going back to hunter-gatherer status would suck…who would run the internet?! ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-money/764632/40 "2016-09-01T20:03:59Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > Why do we have it and do we need to continue to use the system? > > I heard some people talking about why do we need to pay to live on the planet. Do we need money, as in US dollars? No, we could use other things as currency. We wouldn’t even need to barter goods directly, we could use other things to represent value. Problem is, is that those things suddenly fit the definition of money, so we are back where we started. If you can think of a way to create an economy without a medium of exchange (and all the other things money is good for, keeping it simple here), I’d love to hear it. If it is actually workable, the world would love to hear it. You might even win a noble prize, and that’s worth… well, lots of money… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-money/764632.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-money/764632.md?page=3)