Stories for in the Campfire

19. Extra: The Bank Of Favours [A Comedy] (Science Fiction)

I confirm: "That's right. You only try to solve your direct problem, find another job, and you don't feel responsible for solving the indirect problem that caused it. The company you worked for fired you and solved their direct problem, but they don't feel responsible for solving your problem, caused by their decision.

So the next question might be: who is responsible for the economy? Who does solve that indirect problem? The answer is: nobody. Everybody only works on solving their own direct problems. Even the government is only taking care of getting enough income, especially during a downfall in the economy, to pay the bills that they have to pay. When our money-driven economy is no longer capable of solving our problems, we should think of an alternative way."

"That part is clear. This is where the 'favours' come in?", Dad asks.

"That will have to wait for one more step. First I want to explain something more about solving problems.

Being happy, the highest goal for every human being, means 'having no problems'. We have two ways to solve our problems: do the work or buy the solution. When you fix the car and I mow the lawn, we work to solve a problem. When we need food, we go to the supermarket, where we buy what we need and pay for it with money. That money doesn't fall from the sky. We work for it, most of the time by solving indirect problems, the direct problems of other people, who give us money in return for which we can solve our own direct problems. So work is our only tool to solve problems, both problems of others and our own. Money itself doesn't solve anything; it's just a calculation unit with a value that is accepted by society. Money is like the oil that the machine needs to keep running.

Here comes the real problem: some problems will not be solved, because there is no money available to solve them. If others don't pay us, we don't solve their problems and therefore we can't solve our own problems. Lots of indirect problems are in the packages of what I call 'social parties', non-profit organisations that provide public services like education, taking care of old and sick people, protecting animals or environment and other important things. Examples of 'social parties' are universities and schools, hospitals and residences for old people, but also organisations like Red Cross, Greenpeace, Help Fugitives, the A.A. or the local animal shelter or soup kitchen.

There is work-power available (there are lots of people without a job) so the problems could be solved, but there is no money to pay those people for their hours. Money should come from society and society needs more money every day to solve its own direct problems of a third car or a fourth vacation. Taking care of yourself has become more important than taking care of others, so the money goes to the monkey on top of the rock while the ones below suffer cuts of budgets to pay for it. A residence for old people and a school are not commercial institutions, so they don't benefit from the money-driven economy and they can't generate money either."

Dad tried to follow me, but he needed a little help: "It sounds logical, but I think I need some examples to understand it better."

"No problem. The government has lowered all budgets for public services. Hospitals have to cure the same amount of patients with fewer nurses. Schools have to do the same amount of teaching with fewer teachers. So now a nurse and a teacher are without a job, while patients and students get less attention and service.

Solving those problems has been too expensive for the government. In return, governments have invented a system of taxes to pay the jobless teachers and nurses for doing nothing. I think that people who work deserve a reward and that we should discourage people from doing nothing. Governments punish workers with taxes and award that tax money to others who do nothing. That's not solving problems; that's creating them."

Dad is grateful for the explication: "That's what I thought. So now we have direct problems for teachers, nurses, patients and students and they are all caused by the indirect problem of the bad economy and the government that cuts budgets."