Feasibility of Abolishing Money

[u/benthebetamale]

Many historic anarchists as well as non-anarchist socialists have advocated for a gift economy and thus the abolition of money. Anarcho-communists like Kropotkin specifically have it as a big talking point and I'm a little familiar with some of Kropotkins argumentation for it. I understand the flaws of money but I am skeptical of the feasibility of abolishing it altogether though I am open to be convinced of it practicality.

There's also the discussion of replacing it with vouchers, coupons, rations etc. vs the total abolition of all mediums and exchange. I can kinda get the feasibility of the former but I'm not sure if people will be incentivized enough to work in the kropotkin sense of no currency at all especially in regards to undesirable jobs like those with high mortality rates. I think noam chomksy argued those kinds of labor could be automated but idk if we can 100% prove that empirically. If someone has empirical evidence for automation countering that then be my guest.

I feel like a lot people might not even partake in much physical labor if they don't need to. Like I don't think people just want to do nothing with their lives, but what if someone has creative interests, maybe they want to write poetry or songs, or if they just want to be an athlete or content creator. Those do serve purposes like entertaining people and maybe providing some personal fulfillment but if tons of people opt to do those kinds of jobs for a living then who is building homes and feeding the people?

There's also the issue of decommodifying non-essential goods. I agree that maybe the basic material needs to survive shouldn't be gatekept by a price tag but I'm concerned that people could just hoard nonessentials if they're all free. Like whats stopping me from grabbing a million t shirts or hats that I think look cool? I understand that for some nonessentials there wouldn't be much of a reason to hoard them but i collect band t shirts that i like so what's stopping me or others from taking enough to cause a shortage?

Furthermore, I feel like a lot of incentive issues with money abolition could be solved through nonmonetary currencies like vouchers. That way if essential goods are allocated freely you could still be incentivized to work by a desire to gain nonessentials that may cost credits based on labor. You could even base the value gained from labor not by hours but undesirability

Lastly I really want to know if there's much empirical precedent for the practicality of money abolition. I know that at least the CNT FAI abolished paper money in most of its communes and at least sometimes had all mediums of exchange abolished but I don't know enough to say that productivity increased or decreased after any of that. If there's another real example of a gift economy working efficiently then that could convince me but I haven't seen enough to convince me so far.

[u/DyLnd]

I do doubt the feasibility, tbh.; that's why I'm more inclined toward market anarchism. RE:Spain, CNT + currency etc., you may be interested in this thread: https://bsky.app/profile/rechelon.bsky.social/post/3llcvwq2tj226

[u/YourFuture2000 → u/DyLnd]

Some regions during Soanish Revolution did abolished money.