A method to overcome money

As humans began to farm and thus obtain more food than needed for personal survival, the division of labor began. The farmer’s means of transferring extra food to those who had another occupation was barter. Money replaced barter when the surplus value produced in terms of crops increased so much that its exchange could no longer take place only through the barter of perishable goods. He then resorted to a representation of value corresponding to the work behind the asset: money. In this sense, money was exchanged as a spiritualization rather than the exchange of material goods, as a representation of the work generated by human talents.

The money freed from the commodity began to circulate for purchase, loan or donation. Our economy has introduced a further circulation, the virtual one intended for financial speculation, parasitic with respect to production. It should not be surprising if, for a biodynamicist, the most fruitful form of circulation of the first three is donation, i.e. recognizing that withholding and accumulating what remains beyond one’s needs is not convenient, since the talent of others will be deprived of it, with a disadvantage for all.

The donation thus applies the fundamental social law: a community and the individual will benefit the more the individual does not keep the fruits of his work for himself. This law is the reversal of the principle of classical economics which states that the more each component works for its own interest, the more nations will become richer.

Money not withheld should circulate like blood in a healthy body. If it stagnates, or enters the virtual universe of financial speculation, it generates social pathologies. Money has been so perverted that many groups have rejected it and returned to bartering. However, the loss of the social meaning of money constitutes an unprecedented opportunity. It can show us a beyond which, by overcoming barter and money itself, leads to a third level. The donation entrusts the development and manifestation of his talents to the full freedom of the other. A community of families, for example, undertakes to support a farmer for the future year, dividing the expenses that the farmer will need to produce and live. The farmer will not sell his products, but will donate them to the community. The community thus supported the future, the improvement, the evolution of the farmer by receiving the best food as a gift. This formula, initially born on biodynamic farms, is called Csa, Community supported agriculture, it shows us that where money dies, trust in the spirit that dwells in humans arises.

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Charles Triarico, historian of science, chairs the Association for Biodynamic Agriculture. He is vice president of Federbio and director of the APAB Institute.

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The article is taken from December issue of Terra Nuova magazine

Ecology, nutrition and health, wellness, recipes, green building, natural agriculture, experiences, sustainability, environment, spirituality, new education, solidarity, community and much more.

New Earth December 2022

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A method to overcome money