If Maslow were alive today, he’d have stolen his Dad’s car and shot himself

As you meander through this self-populating digital zoo we call the web,
from time to time there will be people you meet who seem surprised that you don't believe in either government or money.

This is normal.  You are not likely to be in any danger.  Although, you should remember that this person is still driven by an artificial scarcity that makes them predatory, just in order to survive.  Do not make any sudden movements, and do not 'reach' inside your jacket or handbag without first explaining why you are about to do so. 

Then ask them what they think government is there to do.  Many will say something along the lines of government being there to collect taxes in order to pay for roads and schools and hospitals and defence and stuff like that. 

But why?  Well, so that people can have education, and healthcare, and jobs, and food for the needy if people don't have any of their own.  Something like that?

Well, that's not good news for the government or money-lover.  Sure, there have been brief times in human history when both these inventions were useful.  They may, briefly, have served the needs of all the people in certain communities here and there.  However, the long-term record of neither invention comes close to even achieving those few things I mentioned above.  Sadly, this no truer than today.

So, whether we're using money, or government, or both to try to provide things like schools and hospitals and fire departments and construction, what should they be providing?  What exactly do we want for our money?  And what do we all want regardless of religion, colour, gender, sexual preference, age, whatever?  What should every government endeavour to provide first?

In 1943 this guy called Maslow figured that out.  It's a really simple yet accurate explanation of exactly what we would say to the prime minister or whoever when we were telling them what we need.  Oh, and it works in every country on Earth whether there is a government there or not.

All humans' most basic needs are exactly the same: air, food, drink, shelter, warmth/shade, sex, sleep.  So, given that the latest YOLO trend for teenagers seems to be to steal Dad's car, shoot a bunch of strangers, and then themselves because they're “sexstarved”, how do you think our governments and money are faring at providing for our need for sex?  Strangely, not well it would seem.  This despite years of getting sex, nudity, sexual innuendo, and sometimes just pink shrink-wrapped porn in the form of Miley Cyrus, thrust in their faces via mainstream media.  But maybe that’s the problem.  Unfortunately it doesn’t get any better the older you get either.  Internet dating is suddenly a million-dollar industry, and it’s not just the inflation.

Neither government nor the monetary system seems to fare very well when it comes to food and shelter either.  It’s not that we don’t have enough food, it’s that people don’t have ‘money’ to ‘pay’ for it.  They deserve it just as much as all other humans, and sometimes need it more.  But that doesn’t count.  They just can’t have it.  So a child dies every 15 seconds or so.  It’s not looking too good even for those who do get food.  The human food chain is in the process of being patented by biotech giants to prevent people from being able to grow food without them.  Patents being, of course, a direct result of the monetary system.

And shelter, like food, is also substituted by money in that your degree of shelter depends on how much money you have.  Currently in the USA there are six empty homes for every homeless man, woman, and child.  The 85 richest people on the planet are worth nearly as much as the poorest 50 per cent of the world's population, according to Oxfam.  But it’s not that these people don’t deserve to be able to come indoors when it rains, it’s just that they can’t have it.  Because, via banks and governments, we say so. 

No shelter = no permanent access to shade in the summer, or warmth in the winter.  No point even discussing that. 

How about air?  All humans need air, not to mention a few other species who were here long before we were.  Surely governments and money can’t fuck air up, can they?  Well, a big chunk of Antarctica just broke off, there’s chemtrails in every country, and we rely almost exclusively on an energy source that (a) will be gone by 2100, and (b) pollutes the entire planet however we use it.  So let’s just say the air isn’t great here.  And whatever the corporations are doing to the air for money or control, the governments are enabling.

Given that we haven’t yet managed to meet any of the first six of the seven needs all humans have, how well do you think we’ll be sleeping?  Yup, that’s seven out of seven human needs never once provided to all humans at the same time.  I forget when the first ‘government’ or ‘money’ was, but it’s safe to say both are more than 2,000 years old.  So in two millennia, neither government nor money have been able to provide what all humans need above everything else.

The next level up in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is that of human safety needs - protection from elements, security, order, law, limits, stability, freedom from fear.  This is where it starts to get really funny.  Freedom from fear?  Seriously?  The business of governments is fear.  Selling it, peddling it, making wads of cash off the back of it.  When was the last time you heard any of Earth’s governments say, “Oh, by the way, we eradicated poverty and homelessness today, so there’s no need to worry about those anymore”?  Doesn’t ring any bells, does it.  The laws are written by corporations via lobbyists and rubber-stamped by politicians without even being read.  This means the ultimate aim of law is profit. 

There are another three more levels above this before a human being gets to self-actualisation, the comfort of doing what we were here to do.  Doing something you’d do for free because you love it, but get paid anyway.  It’s not surprising most people never get anywhere near it really.  It’s because governments and money make it so difficult to meet just the basic needs.  People rarely get the chance to even think about the rest unless it’s when they’re buying a lottery ticket.

However unlikely, it may actually be possible that even a rich, spoiled brat with zero responsibilities couldn’t get his needs fulfilled.  So ask yourself: what hope is there for you?

And then ask them if they still believe in money and government.