Money – Our Shared Belief…It’s Time for Change

Jeff & Susan • October 3, 2022

Money, our shared belief. We participate by mutual consent, like with other shared beliefs: religion, science, law, and government. All have affected humanity, providing order, guidance, hope or instruction. And have persisted because they work! Some work well for our benefit, others are a mixed bag, a little bit good and a little bit bad.

My objective here is to examine one shared belief, money. We think it functions the best way it can. This is an illusion and illusion is an element of most beliefs. This does not mean that money is not real and does not have a real impact on us all. The illusion is found within the artificial boundaries we accept as the ‘way it works’. We have invented an incredible method of value and commodity exchange but we have stopped short of its vast potential. We are stuck within the cul de sac of its profit making potential and have explored its possibilities of human enhancement and the preservation of nature very little.

A feather pen is laying on top of a piece of paper with coins on it.

Economics as it is accepted and used presently has taught us that anything can and should have a price; our time, our thoughts, our organs, education, food, shelter, healthcare, nature, justice, recreation, water… Are there some things money should not buy? Does everything have a price? Can there be moral limits to profit markets and an expansion of humanitarian and conservation ‘markets’?

“The reach of markets, and market-oriented thinking into aspects of life traditionally governed by non market norms is one of the most significant developments of our time.” Michael J. Sandel.

We have accepted the present functioning of money as the way things are and cannot be changed. But we should question this assumption. We can understand and have opinions about how money should be used without losing the momentum of for-profit competitive markets. And stop the universal necessity of money making to survive, from using up our lives and creativity.

A parallel currency, that does not eliminate the present currency and its uses, dedicated to nurturing life by providing food, shelter, education, healthcare and infrastructure, is a possibility. This currency can not be invested or taxed. It can be used only for basic human needs and circulated alongside all world currencies. It would not create inflation because it would be destroyed when it reached a bank.

We are capable of seeing this familiar structure, economics, in a new light. We can imagine money with added dimension and effect for good. But this is not easy. Humans like the familiar and are suspicious of change. These tendencies are hardwired into our brains. They have served us well over thousands of years. Kept us safe and increased our populations. But, innovation and change have also increased human survival and happiness. The use of electricity and vaccines for instance.

One of our most established belief systems, religion, has undergone many modifications over past years. Its core purpose of moral education has been protected and enhanced with various improvisations. Many intended to make clearer how we can better understand and protect each other and Nature.

A green frog is carrying a green suitcase on the ground.

Our economic belief system can also be modified. A Protestant money movement so to speak. Helping money to give more to humanity and humanity in return using the benefits of increased autonomy and free time developing the vast resources of our dormant creativity. Then our ideas of meeting life beyond the outer reaches of the Universe become more than a dream story, and other amazing possibilities we cannot begin to dream become reality.

Let’s decide that the moment has come to expand the uses and potential of money and humanize our shared economic experience.

It can only come from us.

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Sydney Australia to New Zealand

March 12, 2026

The most important thing we have to do, now that we have re boarded our ship in downtown Sydney, is to increase the number of pages in our passports. Most countries will stamp a whole page and sometimes two. Our passports, though new, only had twenty eight pages. This will not be enough to get us around the world! So we made an appointment with the US Embassy, along with 50 other passengers, to address this issue by purchasing larger passport books which have 52 pages. The Embassy was new and modern, the employees good natured and efficient, considering that we descended on them all at once. We conducted our business in an orderly manner under the watchful eyes of the US President, Vice President and Secretary of State, whose framed photographs dominated the far wall.

Hospital, Sydney, Australia

February 23, 2026

After all our planning for Jeff's next operation and waiting out the days till we arrived in Cairns, Australia, we finally flew to the Sydney airport. It was evening when we got there and both of us were exhausted. We both thought why call an Uber, there are a bunch of taxis hanging around, just take one of them to the motel. That was a mistake. We ended up paying $100 for a 20 minute trip in no traffic. Uber would have been half, I found out later. Since then we have taken several Uber rides in electric cars. And they have been excellent experiences. Australia has been importing Chinese made electric cars. We got to ride in a BYD and Uber drivers like to talk. We conversed with a Japanese driver and an Indian driver, both men. Both had been in Australia about 15 years. They seemed to like being in the big city. Both agreed it is generally too expensive. The driver from Japan, his wife works in the hospital and they have children, he likes the flexibility of the job so he can be involved with school and activities. The Indian driver has a son and would like to return to India so his son can experience his homeland. We are resting at our motel and I am outside watching the wild cockatiels.

Sea days

February 11, 2026

We have several sea days before we arrive again in Cairns, Australia. This means we will not see land for a while. The rhythm of sea days is very different from shore days. There are a variety of activities you can participate in. Almost anything you can imagine is being invented as a result of the variety of people onboard, some of whom want to duplicate the entertainments they enjoyed where they used to live. This is a residential cruise ship so a lot of the passengers are onboard long-term, meaning many months or years or the rest of their lives. The longest stay, if you “buy” your cabin, is 15 years. When Jeff and I bought our cabin that was all that was offered. Now you can buy a cabin for 5 years. Each circumnavigation takes about three and one half years. We are going to try to stay onboard for at least one circumnavigation. Before the sea days began, we visited two of the islands of Tonga. At the first stop, people scuba dived over a reef right next to our ship

French Polynesia, the islands

January 27, 2026

The float of cloud drifts and encircles a mountain leaving just the very top, a pointed witches cap poking through. These islands have the most magnificent mountains. They brood around the harbors, snagging the clouds that pass. No doubt they have inspired fantastic stories. The cloud shadows create chameleon-like changes on mountain surfaces, making them even more expressive than oceans that amuse themselves by hiding what they contain; mountains are hysterical by contrast. Always looking for attention. “Look. Look again!, what about this?” They may hold a pose for a while seeming docile, then you look up and they have disappeared. White mist covers just a grey suggestion, then suddenly black silhouettes like broken giant teeth rise defiantly. So much animation, millions of years after volcanic upheavals shook these mountains from the sea depths.

Notes from Fiji hospital, Oceana Hospital system and Denareau private hospital

January 13, 2026

Medical emergencies all have a similar feeling. Intensity, urgency, a changed perception of time; only events and human encounters progress, time seems warped, unimportant. After several sleepless nights because Jeff was having difficulty peeing and he was beginning to have pain, he went to the onboard clinic to get catheterized. There were three attempts with successively larger catheters. This was painful and distressing for him, though he kept joking about it, “this is not good sex!” The attempts were unsuccessful. He was given pain killers and an ambulance met us at the dock for a 10 minute ambulance ride to the hospital. Jeff is an 80 year old man with an enlarged prostate so he normally has trouble peeing. But this time it stopped altogether and there was blood. We are waiting at the hospital for the urologist. Nurses and a general practitioner have spoken to us in English. Very kind, polite, casual and patient. The urologist arrives and talks with Jeff. He is going to get the operating room ready and put Jeff out. Then he can do the operation. We wait in our curtained off cubicle Jeff is lying on a bed. A woman who came with her husband, who has high blood pressure, is behind the curtain to the left of us. He had collapsed. She is reciting the Lord's Prayer and Hail Marys over and over in an emotional whisper. She is crying. A young man is in the cubicle to our right. He seems to have broken his arm. It is all wrapped up in white gauze. Earlier a man had been stung by something and ointment was applied. A pregnant woman has come in. This is a modest hospital, very basic, two floors. They have what they need. A few flies buzz lazily around, but most are killed by the electric device on the wall. A very slight smell of urine is in the air. We arrived here about 8:30. It is now 2:00. Jeff has had an ultrasound, blood pressure checks and an EKG. Now he is in a wheelchair waiting for the nurse to take him to an operating room. The waiting room has about 10 people waiting. About 50 chairs in all. Not terribly busy for a Saturday. Light and darker coffee colored skin, attractive, rounded features and large expressive eyes set apart the native population. They are only a little curious about us. There is no rushing here.

Money – Our Shared Belief…It’s Time for Change

Sydney Australia to New Zealand

Hospital, Sydney, Australia

Sea days

French Polynesia, the islands

Notes from Fiji hospital, Oceana Hospital system and Denareau private hospital

Ch 17, South Pacific Countries, islands

Palau

Indonesia

Yap Stone Money, CH 15

Philippines, reflections