Digital Chaos Media

So as we enter the worst recession that we all have ever seen (perhaps there are fewer posts as we all try to hang on to our jobs?), it seems that people are freaking out.  Not like, “I’m gonna lose my job,” or “how will I pay for my new suit,” but “with the potential collapse of global capital flows also comes a complete collapse of civil society, as there will be no more money.  I better stock up on guns, canned food, and property in Vermont.” And I ask (Bobby D. may ask the same thing), why does the end of money mean the end of civil society?  (I also ask, if there will be no more money, why not just put your flag on the property in VT, and defend it with your guns?  Sounds like somebody needs to think all the way outside the box).  In my humble and non pinko commie opinion, the beginning of money as an individual pursuit signified the beginning of the end of civil society in its true form, and instituted a civil society reduced to exchanges of money and nothing else.

I think that the end of money as we know it could result in the beginning of a real civil and global society.  Think about it:  The end of corporations, capital flows, loans, etc, would ultmately end what a lot of people consider to be their final purpose, which is leaving a shit ton of money in the bank.  But it also opens up an opportunity for true global governance–as the ivory tower crumbles, maybe the G8 takes on new significance based less upon what happened in 1950-1989 economically and more upon what they can do for the globe in its entirety.  All I’m saying, with my limited background in anything economic, is that I don’t think the end of money has to mean that we all live in a scene out of 28 days later.  Rather, I think it could mean the end of things like billboards, MTV, $450 million dollar baseball payrolls (sorry vonheezy), adn the beginning of things like public broadcast, public radio, public school, national infrastructure, and global infrastructure, which do all require money, but don’t require private capital.   Maybe everything is free, and maybe something like socialism arises with no concept of national boundaries.

Or maybe we’re all completely effed. Thoughts?