If you take a moment from your busy
schedule to think about the history of money, you may remember how we humans
used to barter whereas nowadays we deal with payday loans, hefty mortgages,
credit cards and ultra-stressful lives. Do you think our predecessors wandered
the countryside, while out hunting, worrying about how they would get to the
end of the month without a payday loan?
Of course our predecessors did have
basic survival concerns like being able to find food, but they lived in a very
different type of society where bartering was used for mutual advantage.
So what is bartering? Bartering is
when we exchange services or resources with others, to suit both parties. So
let's say that I am good with wood, and I make excellent hunting spears from
wood that your family needs to have. But I need clothes, which is what you do
best, so it is a perfect barter and both of us are happy. So what went wrong to
bring us from a seemingly perfect solution to a highly challenging mortgage,
debt and payday loans driven society?
We could say that we have evolved;
this however opens a whole can of worms in terms of opinions and discussions. A
guy or girl who needs to avail of payday loans every now and again but is
either skilled or willing to give time to another person or organisation, may
be very happy to avoid taking out a loan but instead barter his/her time and
skill.
The reality is that for an average
working 21st century person bartering doesn't often appear as a viable option;
at least not when there is an urgent financial need. Bartering is out there but
you need to have an awareness of the relevant associations, companies or
communities. What's more is that barter is potentially big business, with the
modern day father of barter; Tom Mc Dowell quoting it as a 6 billion dollar
business in America alone.
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