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Stefan Claudiu
The Zeitgeist Movement - Orientation Guide
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agricultural products to the effect where one lone farmer can
now
work 1000+ acres of land on his/her own. The advent of textile equipment, such as the Cotton Gin dramatically reduced human effort, while with the modern use of industrial computerization, we are seeing a constant gravitation to the near full automation of the Agricultural and Textile Industries, among many others. The point is that the position of "Economic Value", as a seemingly static
economic
notion, is
now
being overhauled by this technological influence (increasing ease of production/material abundance), which could, theoretically, eliminate the notion of `value' entirely. When human labor is reduced/displaced by technology and automation, the assumed `value', which is to equate that `labor' to `price', drops respectively. The `value' of the output would then move to the creation/maintenance of the machinery, which
now
serves as the role of laborers. Consequently, the more efficient, durable and sustainable these worker machines are, the further the `Value' of the production drops. The realization is that the pattern of machine automation, coupled with modern innovations that are finding substitutions for "scarce" resources, could lead us into a position where no good or service would require a "value" or price tag. It simply wouldn't make any theoretical sense. For most, this is a very difficult thing to consider, due to what we are used to experiencing in our everyday lives. Regardless of your opinion, the fact is, the pattern of constant technological improvement coupled with automated machinery can theoretically create an
economic
environment where the abundance of materials and production mediums are so high and efficient, most humans will have little need to `purchase' anything, let alone `work for a living', in the traditional sense. More specifically, even if machines slowly displaced only a large minority of people, expanding unemployment, the ramifications would be
system
ic, and the entire
economic
system
would grow more and more unstable and inoperable. This issue will be expanded upon in Chapters 2 and 5. That point aside for
now
, let's examine some empirical mechanisms that Monetary Economics, specifically in the context of Capitalism, requires in order to maintain the integrity of the
system
. In the remaining sections of this chapter, we will discuss the 5 most foundational attributes needed for maintaining the
system
, the reasoning behind them, and their consequences.
Mechanism One The Need for Cyclical Consumption
The roles of people in a monetary
system
are basically broken into three distinctions: The Employee, The Consumer, The Employer (or Owner/Producer)
There is also the Investor who gives fiscal support to an Employer/Owner/Producer, or trades in the Financial markets for gain. This isn't relevant to the context for an investor is not required to exist in order for the market
system
to operate. 7
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