A substitute for money as a method of valuing someone's worth aka Cloud Cuckoo Land Thread

#1

The premise

Everyone agrees that salaries for really high earners are way beyond what is necessary/reasonable. Ok, not everyone, but fuck those guys.

Everyone also agrees (when they think about it) that beyond a certain point it’s not actually the spending power that that’s important - it’s the expression of their value that matters. For example, when Messi demands a reported figure of $667,000 per week (according to Forbes) it’s not because he wants or needs the extra cash for himself/family/successive generations it’s to show that he’s the very best at what he does. When another player challenges for his status they have to earn more than he does, it’s a never-ending spiral.

None of this would be a problem if money wasn’t a finite resource - but in reality every extra dollar he earns is a dollar that doesn’t get spent on something else more worthwhile. And we then have to rely on any empathy or philanthropic element to the high-earner’s character for any trickle down to occur.

Footballers are obviously just one of the most visible manifestation of the problem - not the problem themselves. CEOs, Tech wankers and other celebrities also want to be recognised as the highest paid in their fields for the same reasons.

The question

Can we come up with another way of valuing people (beyond a certain level of remuneration) that doesn’t further increase inequality and the gap between the highest and lowest earners?

The answer is obviously yes - your task is to define how we’re going to do it.

balonz says you’re not up to it, that it’s a waste of time and that you should let this thread die a sorry death with a handful of sarcastic responses. But we’ll see…

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#2

Height.

#3

Retweets

#4

DiS Badges

#5

kind words

#6

seriously though, value is the problem in the first place right? like that’s the issue, not even the money

#7

insecurity

#8

:smiley: that’s the closest you could come to making it not punish the insecure tbf

#9

to elaborate

‘worth to society’ is something we’ve invented to feel safe within rules and roles, whereas we are in fact all animals following instincts and trying to put a bigger spin on who we are. (diamond spade death)

the second you create value, you’ve already fucked it.

#10

Maybe. Don’t go down this avenue though because it derails my thread.

#11

alright back to sarcastic answers everyone

#12

I meant insecurity was the problem, not the solution!

But I think I’m basically agreeing with you.

#13

MeowMeowBeenz

#14

wait a minute Saps are you just getting ideas for a terrible dystopian teen novel that will eventually become a film?

#15

Nah, it’s a utopian teen novel.

#16

we’re going to be rich (which is a non-ideal value structure)

#17

Initially I was wondering whether you could use blockchain (which obviously I don’t understand) to create a finite resource that the highest performers could attain and then I realised that this would probably become monetised at some point.

Then I was wondering whether beyond a certain level of monetary payment you could start paying people in additional rewards that would actually benefit the rest of society. So, Messi could say I’m paid x amount of money a week, plus three hospitals a year.

I’ve lost my mind, clearly.

#18

no the last bit is interesting (the rest is terrible. TERRIBLE). the hospitals bit.

#19

send them to the gulags?

#20

Everyone receives the same amount of credits to be used on luxury items. Basic items required for life (food, water, housing, electricity, gas, internet, healthcare, education) are of course free, but equally distributed. Everyone spends 6 months a year working on farms, picking up rubbish, building solar plants etc.

If you don’t like it, move to mars with Elon musk or be shot.