Money has long been at the very center of global trade, power, and society. From seashells and salt to coins, banknotes, and now digital currencies like Bitcoin, it has evolved as human civilization has. Now, as technology accelerates quicker than ever before, the very concept of money may be facing its most dramatic transformation yet. What if a future of money did away with traditional forms of currency altogether? What if the evolution of human value exchange transcends the financial system?
Living in a world that digitizes at an unprecedented rate with artificial intelligence, automation, blockchain, and decentralized economies increasingly commanding attention, the possibility of a post-money world is arguably real. This article will look to some unorthodox, yet increasingly conceivable situations where money, as it is currently known, will cease to be an item of key interest in people's lives.
Barter 2.0: A Digital Take on an Ancient System
Bartering is among the oldest economic systems in which goods and services are exchanged directly without a medium, such as money. The original system of bartering dates back several thousand years before currency. The flaw with traditional bartering, however, required what was called the "double coincidence of wants." You needed to find somebody who had what you wanted and at the same time was seeking what you possessed.
It is a problem that technology may finally be able to overcome and drag bartering into the 21st century. Decentralized blockchain-driven platforms can provide the stage for frictionless barter economy. By using smart contracts and digital identification, individuals can directly trade services, skills, and even assets with one another, without any need for any central authority or currency in the middle.
Imagine a platform where you'd offer your coding skills in return for graphic design, tutoring, or even gardening services. The blockchain would serve as the trusted intermediary, which ensures that both parties deliver their part of the bargain. The new systems like this might bring barter to life on a global scale, and in essence, strip away fiat money as a medium of exchange.
We already see early forms of this in action. For example, openness marketplaces like OpenBazaar and bartering skills platforms such as Swapaskill allow people to exchange goods and services with one another directly. The rise of the gig economy, supported through platforms like Upwork and Fiverr, already speaks of a movement to valuate individuals' offerings more directly-than around corporate employers and traditional models driven by their currency.
Time as Money: How Time Banking Could Replace Money In many respects, Time Banking is the most radical alternative yet to the currency-based economic system. At its very core, it operates based on a very simple, yet radical premise-the currency is not money, but time. One hour of work times any skill or service in a time bank simply translates into one hour of work.
An example might be that an hour of childcare provided is banked and can then be redeemed for an hour of legal advice, healthcare, or home repairs. In addition to challenging the existing financial systems that privilege some occupations over others for their value and worth, time banking democratizes labor and value.
There have been successful time banking systems in place, or piloted, in many other developed countries worldwide, including the United States, the UK, and Japan. In such a system, individual wealth would be determined by one's contribution in terms of time rather than any accumulation of financial resources. This system equalizes different professions and skills. Be it a lawyer or be it a janitor, in a time economy your hour is worth just as much.
While time banking is presently niche, the philosophy behind this idea challenges the core assumptions of economic value. Might this model ever scale globally-a panacea for rampant income inequality-make time, the one resource every human has in equal measure, the ultimate measure of value?
The AI & Automation Revolution: A Post-Labor Economy?
The rise of artificial intelligence and automation could have huge implications for the future of money. As AI gets more and more advanced, many of the jobs people currently perform could become automated out of existence. Whether it is retail jobs, manufacturing, data entry, or even medical diagnoses, machines are doing an increasing amount of what humans used to do. In fact, studies predict as many as 40 percent of current jobs may be automated within the next generation.
But if machines do much of the work, what becomes of labor-based economies? If fewer people are required to produce goods and services, paying individuals for their labor may end, as that is in essence the basis of modern currency systems.
Another example would be a "post-work" economy, in which at least all the basic goods and services are commonly provided through automation. Universal Basic Income could provide every person with a minimum income so that their bare necessities are met regardless of their employment status. Even UBI might be just an interim measure because currency may no longer be relevant in a world in which most traditional work is automated.
In this type of society, new forms of currency or value exchange might also emerge. The question is no longer "How much money can I make?" but rather "What uniquely human qualities do I possess that machines can't replace?" Creativity, problem-solving, emotional intelligence, and ethical decision-making could be the new "currencies" in this kind of economy, where most of the labor is performed by machines.
Energy as the New Standard of Value
Energy might well turn out to be, in a certain sense, the most crucial currency of the future in light of an accelerating climate change and resource depletion. After all, what could be more valuable in a world struggling to be environmentally sustainable than access to clean, renewable energy?
It was proposed that energy should be used universally as the measure of value-a concept borrowed from the work of economist Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen, who argued that all economic activities are dependent upon energy inputs. In the future, kilowatt-hours could replace dollars as the medium of exchange. People and companies and nations would trade in units of energy as their currency. In a fully decentralized economy based on energy, individuals would be able to create their own wealth from solar or wind energy production.
This is not a purely theoretical vision for an energy currency: already, there are blockchain projects purposed with incentivizing the creation of solar energy by rewarding its producers in digital tokens. Those tokens can then be traded just like any other cryptocurrency. It's possible that as renewable energy technology continues to evolve and proliferate, this system of energy-based economies might one day function organically and become no less viable than the monetary system we use today.
The Attention Economy: Is Influence the Ultimate Currency?
Attention has already emerged as one of the most valuable goods in the age of digital disruption. Companies like Google and Facebook make much of their money by monetizing users' attention: capturing user data, preferences, and online behavior to sell targeted ads. The greater and more influential social media platforms grow, speculations about attention grow to evolve into an actual form of currency.
Social media influencers are perhaps the best example: with more followers, likes, and engagement come further reaches of power and additional financial opportunities. In that system, attention is currency; to be able to command focus means real economic value.
In a world where attention is the scarcest and most valuable resource, may it be that a new class of wealthy individuals would emerge, whose net worth would not be measured by their bank account balance but rather by the amount of attention commanded? Already, mechanisms are put to test with microtransaction models: "tipping" on platforms like Twitch, Patreon, and YouTube, where fans donate directly to creators.
The Demise of the Concept of Currency as We Know It
All these potential shifts point to one end: traditional currency, in the sense that we know it, is not going to survive the onslaught of times to come. Whether it is time-based economy, energy-based model, or AI making labor redundant, the role of money in society is under an existential threat.
The notion that a piece of paper in and of itself contains value, or some string of numbers in some digital account somehow is intrinsically valuable, is increasingly being challenged. As human needs continue to evolve with technology and environmental pressures, the systems of exchange which have guided human beings for millennia are likely to undergo their most profound transformation yet.
Will money, as we know it, become obsolete? While one can never foresee the future with complete certainty, the clarity of it is this-the future of currency is way more uncertain and at the same time could be way more exciting than we can even envision.
Conclusion: Reimagining Value in the 21st Century
As the world continues to shrink, forms of value exchange will continue to change. The rise of decentralized systems, the digital economy, and automation may indicate that traditional money is no longer solely or even a major method of exchanging value. Whether it's a return to an evolved barter system, trading in time, energy, or attention, or we live in a world where AI does much of the work, the future is poised for a radical rethinking of currency. But the question may well be, not "How will we earn money in the future?", but instead "What will be considered of value at all?"
Why the Future of Global Currency Might Not Involve Money at All
By MsMagicbomb | CryptoPulseQueen | 4 Oct 2024
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