Plane said:
I thought we were talking about RBE.
Well, no, I wasn't talking about the RBE at that point, I was just talking about the simple site where people offer their stuff for free.
But, in regards to the RBE, this simple site would be the seed from which the RBE grows. The RBE is simply worldwide. Which took me to this thought. Let's assume for a moment for the sake of the discussion that it somehow got off the ground and everyone was living in peace and everyone got everything for free.
Let's say in the RBE, there (for whatever crazy reason) comes a rebel. He's been reading some old Grove Norquist bullshit and he decides that since he owns a cracker factory, he doesn't want to just manufacture the crackers for his longtime family tradition of making the best crackers they can. (By the way, these crackers totally rock and they are popular throughout the world.) Now, he thinks that he wants to withold his crackers for a price. He thinks that his crackers are soooo popular that he can just stop the trucks from delivering them to the distribution centers and if anyone in the world wants his crackers, they're going to have to come up with some kind of compensation for these crackers.
Now, I know what is happening in your heads. There is a visceral revulsion to the whole thought of everything is free and he can make crackers that are beloved and no one pays for them. He's not one of the richest people on the planet because everyone is rich. (The term here rich is indicative of financial wealth. Meaning he can't be measured against others on the planet in terms of dollars or any monetary increment because those were dumped a millenium ago. People now only measure themselves (not others) in terms of education, happiness, fulfillment, friendships and the like. It's kind of sickening to a lot of you, I know.)
But think of it anyhow and let's move on. This Rebel, we'll call him Plane, he thinks that his crackers are soooo worthwhile and beloved and that by proxy since his family makes them, they should get a little something extra off that. Now in the RBE, all needs are met and wants are met in equality as well. So, what is it that Plane is going to get over and above everyone else for his measley crackers?
Here's what he'll get. Big, fat nuthin'. Because in a world like the RBE, a specific product means nothing. No more than it does now. Ritz is not going to make me pay more than I want to because I just don't care enough. There are just so many other crackers out there and one is as good as another. The only people who are so steadfastly attached to certain food items are addicts or children. Who when they go to the grocery store and can't find the item they like, say a box of Ritz, is going to go to another store and fill up another basket every time they can't find a box of Ritz?
Nobody, that's who. And when Plane in the RBE makes his crackers and then wants to be compensated no one will stop him. He could stop making them. He could just stop shipping them and hold them hostage, so to speak. Or if he spent a lot of time talking to say someone who works for a certain chain of distribution centers, might convince them to actually go ahead and put them on the shelves WITH A PRICE TAG ON THEM.
So, here comes BT and he's looking to get him a box of those Plane Crackers (see how clever I am? "plane" tee hee) and he goes down aisle eleven and he sees the Saltines, nope, Graham, nope, AH! Plane! Yes! Wait. No! What the hell is this sign here? Price? What does that mean? Below is a small diagram showing how to "buy" Plane Crackers. (Now, of course, they might not be able to put them on the shelves, now that I think about it because people would just grab them and go through the inventory scan and there would be a buzzer or something saying "ONE NINETY-FIVE IS YOUR TOTAL." And people in the RBE would just be getting angrier and angrier.)
But just to continue the fantasy, BT's still checking out that diagram and he just goes "Aaaawww, bullshit." and he gets the Saltines and keeps walking. Sure, he doesn't get that little tinge of sweetness in Saltines that he does with Plane's but, "WTF?" he thinks to himself, "Who is that guy to think he's better than anyone else on this beautiful planet?" And for the first time since he was a little kid, he feels kind of sad and a little bit disappointed because someone was really selfish.
And what do you think would happen to Plane's Crackers? They're "business" would plummet and eventually, he'd not be known as someone who makes crackers. Or he'd miss being a cracker king and remember why he went into the family business to begin with. He'd remember how it's more joyful to see a kid eat a cracker that Plane cares about than to have a little bit of power over other people.
See, in the RBE, we'd know what people like. Because it won't matter how much it costs to produce something and there won't be any advertising to speak of, because there is no reason to try to use words (lies), images (porn), emotions (manipulation) to convince people to buy some product so that profits will go up. Profits equal gluttony and un-earned power.
And if people really do like Doritos then they'll get made. But if it turns out that Doritos have just been juiced up and advertised so heavily so as to MAKE people buy them, that will change, because what's the point? Why bother MAKING people love Doritos? There's only the need to create something that people like.
How fast do you think that smoking would decrease if the tobacco companies didn't spend all the time they do raising the nicotine levels in order to keep people addicted if there wasn't money in it? Would people still want to smoke? Sure, and there's no reason to stop them (unless you count all the people who die of lung cancer every day). But would the people who like making cigarettes (are there any in the world?) actually figure out new ways to pump up the nicotine if they were getting their needs and wants met? I don't think so.
And lastly, I just happen to think of something. Have you ever noticed what people who weren't born into a wealthy family do when they get super rich? Just think about it. It's most noticable in Hollywood actors and musicians and lottery winners. But you can also see it in people like Bill Gates (I know his family had some money but they weren't like Hilton rich if I remember right).
Philanthropy.
But also notice that when Hollywood types, musicians do it, they are usually castigated for it because they tend to do it for cameras. That's tacky, for sure, but think about why they do it. I think that most times it's because they are still trying to make more money. It's part of the gig. Sometimes you have stars who do it and try not to get found out. Prince is an huge donor to lots of different charities but he keeps it on the downlow.
Now, what does this have to do with the RBE? It's simple. When human needs are being met, it is better for humanity. When wants and needs are being met, inevitably, humans turn to helping one another.
Here is where the difference is clear between the RBE and what a lot of misinformed and propagandized Americans call "Communism". What Americans think of as "Communism" is not really communism. It's totalitarian fascism. Russia surely said they were a communist country for a long time. That's true. But that was just what the corrupt leaders of the country called their totalitarian fascism in order to keep the people in line. Maybe it started off that they wanted a real communist nation but it surely wasn't. The ruling class were wealthy, the people were poor. That's not communism.
The goal of that "communism" wasn't to meet the needs of the people and promote full, rich lives through meeting needs and wants. The goal of that "communism" was control and slavery.
Only through total fulfillment of wants and needs can a person eventually lose track of himself and start to look outward to the fulfillment of the needs of others and to aid in the improvement of the lives of others.
We're living in an age that is the absolute antithesis of the RBE where literally everything but the air (and if you look at how corporations are polluting, that will have a premium soon) is for sale, in effect, held hostage. Grotesquely, the most imperative needs are the most expensive. Medicines, operations, implants, prosthetics are priced most times beyond the range of most people often leading them to chose between food and medicine. Is that the world we want to live in?
I hope you'll all give it some thought.
