Has anyone else seriously thought about how stupid a concept the economy is?

@Roadsterrider If we don't find a sensible alternative (and we probably won't, for lack of foresight & rational imagination) mud huts & caves may be what we end up with - those of us "lucky enough" to survive, that is).

@Really Without the "economy", everything goes away, we become hunter, gatherers again. And when we get to that point, we again start an economy based on barter. The guy that is a better hunter trades with the guy that is a better gatherer. Society, being part of a group rather than individuals, is built on interactions with others.

@Roadsterrider Semantics about what is or is not 'an economy' will not avert collapse. Only a universal commitment to drastically reduced consumption and pollution would have a hope, but I can't see those being voluntarily adopted.

@Roadsterrider The 'economies' of communes - and quite likely of most hunting & gathering communities - do not function by trading. They are generally about sharing, which is an entirely different concept. Thriving societies of the sharing kind have existed on the American continent within living memory. In some remote native communities that tradition is still the norm, despite colonist attempts to enforce 'civilization'.

In a trading economy, I will only give you something if you give me something in return, on which I personally place an equal value - otherwise 'no deal' and you get nothing. In the other system I give you something because we share what we have. Generally that involves quite a lot of personal interaction 😉.