Bartering = Deceiving
This is how our society became untruthful
Modern society functions almost solely through bartering. In the following, I explain why this means that our society is untruthful and, therefore, sick.
Bartering means giving something to someone and receiving something in return. These can be objects or services. Usually, the items being exchanged should be of equal value. But values are relative. An object or service has a value for me that differs from the value it has for you ... and values can change. If I am thirsty, a glass of water has a higher value to me than if I am not thirsty; a peach loses value because it perishes. In a barter deal, both parties should agree on a current value of what is being exchanged. And that is usually the crux of the matter.
The word ‘barter’ comes from the Old French word barater, which means ‘to cheat, deceive.’ The German word for barter, ‘tauschen,’ comes from Old German tiuschen, which means ‘to speak untruthfully, deceive.’
Most people have the following untruthful agenda when bartering: “I want as much as possible and give as little as necessary.” This is a power struggle. Whoever is in the better position or negotiates more skillfully wins.
There is no bartering in nature – and yet there is a constant giving and taking. Plants, for example, take water and CO2 and give oxygen, which then is taken by other life forms. In your body, too, there is a constant give and take between your 35 trillion cells. None of this is bartering.
In nature, everything is truthful. We humans have a tool with which we can act untruthfully: the mind. It enables us to compare. And this is exactly where bartering came from; let’s conduct a thought experiment.
Imagine a community in which everyone does what truly fulfills them. One person is a farmer because he finds fulfillment working in the barn and in the fields. Another is a car mechanic because he finds fulfillment in repairing cars. And so on. The farmer harvests more than he and his family can eat, so he gives the surplus to the community. If someone has problems with their car, they take it to the mechanic, who enjoys repairing it. Everyone gives and takes according to their talents and possibilities; everyone gives their best; everyone has a fulfilled life; everyone is in the flow – and the community thrives. It’s like nature; like in your body; it’s truthful.
One day, the farmer has a disastrous idea: he compares what he gives with what he receives. Similar things can be compared by measuring, such as by counting or weighing. In order to compare different things, such as food and repair work, one must assign values; then one can compare the values.
The farmer’s conclusion: “I give more than I receive.” He decides that in the future, he will only give to those who give him something of equal value. He has thus invented bartering. But now the flow in the community comes to a standstill. The mechanic only gets food if the farmer needs him. And what is repairing a car worth, anyway? What if the farmer’s car breaks and the mechanic doesn’t need food?
One day, the farmer needs a roofer. But the roofer doesn’t need food; he needs a car mechanic for his broken car. The mechanic doesn’t need the roofer, but needs something to eat. Now all three could meet up to agree on an exchange value among them and carry out the circular exchange.
One can simplify bartering by using a means of transportation for the exchange, namely something that is not consumed, but which – like objects and services – has a value. Metals such as gold and silver are suitable for this purpose. Their value comes from their rarity. The farmer gives the roofer a piece of metal for his work on the roof. The roofer gives the metal to the mechanic for repairing his car, and the mechanic gives the metal to the farmer for food.
Precious metals are a universal means of bartering. That makes them sought after. Everyone wants to own precious metals so they can barter – ie buy – something at any time. In order to receive metals, the idea arises to barter one’s own labor force for these metals. People no longer do what fulfills them; they work to receive precious metals. This turns work into a barter transaction. Of course, this barter is also a deception: employers want as much work done as possible and pay as little as necessary; employees want as much pay as possible and work as little as necessary. The community is becoming increasingly untruthful.
Next, the idea arises of replacing precious metals with something that has no value: money. Money receives a fictitious value through the community’s labeling of a worthless medium such as paper. To do this, the community needs someone to produce money. This person or group of people creates value out of nothing – which gives them a great deal of power within the community. And someone who is skillful can even create money themselves by forging the official labels.
With precious metals, you have genuine purchasing power. With money, you only have fictitious purchasing power that depends on the approval of the community or its representatives. Introducing money has shifted power from the individuals to the community or those responsible for the money. This is a quantum leap in untruthfulness.
People created even more untruthfulness, such as positive interest rates. See my article “Positive Interest Rates Make Us Poorer.”
The following consideration shows the extent to which we have landed in untruthfulness: one hour with a business lawyer costs up to 500 dollars. Where I live, a pound of organic potatoes costs 1 dollar. Imagine a farmer dumping a quarter of a ton of organic potatoes into a lawyer’s garden for an hour’s conversation with him. No intelligent person would make such a barter; but we have been programmed to do exactly that within the framework of our monetary system.
But there is even more untruthfulness. Bartering itself is a profitable business for manufacturers, service providers, transporters, banks, credit card companies ... and governments, which impose a tax on every barter transaction. The aforementioned therefore want as much commerce as possible. So, with the help of the media, people are programmed to have certain needs, to want to buy this and that, and to attribute certain values to objects and services. And they are programmed to use money as a universal medium of bartering – and, therefore, to want to earn money through work.
“Man can do what he wants, but he cannot want what he wants.”
(Arthur Schopenhauer)
Our current system is deeply untruthful. It arose from the simple idea of comparing giving and taking. The basic reason for this is that we don’t trust the course of things. I analyze this in my article “Who Can You Trust?”
Bartering is deceiving – and thus a power struggle. Society therefore functions primarily through power struggles. Over time, this leads to a global power pyramid in which almost everyone is dependent/enslaved and only a few pulling the strings. I explain why such a society cannot survive in my article “There Is Only One True Freedom.”
In order for humanity to have a future, we need truthful communities. Two central aspects of these are love and cooperation. See my articles “What Is Love – and Why Do We Need It?” and “To Survive as a Species, We MUST Work Together.”
Further reading:
Article “Positive Interest Rates Make Us Poorer”
Article “Who Can You Trust?”
Article “There Is Only One True Freedom”
Article “What Is Love – and Why Do We Need It?”
Article “To Survive as a Species, We MUST Work Together”
Great article Bernhard!
The basic communist idea is:
"From each according to his possibilities, to each according to his needs." Karl Marx, "Capital"
However, the realization of that idea is stuck in a disagreement on how to implement it: "revolution of the proletariat" or "evolution of consciousness." It is clear that the revolution leads only to a personal change on the throne of power. An evolution of consciousness is required.
👍👍👍