Occupy Wall Street – Specifically The Barter System

So Reason TV puts up this video about the Occupy Wall Street crowd. I don't know if it's a fair sample or not. But if it is, it's stunning that it gets any media attention at all. There's no media bias when this group of morons gets more press than the Tea Party movement which has, you know, actually shaped this country's political landscape since its inception. But anyways..

There's some guy here saying we should return to the barter system. I wonder if this guy realizes that the monetary system -is- the barter system. Just instead of wandering around buying things with 500 pigs, you carry coins or currency. It simplifies the process and gives everything a relative value.

A true barter system is subjective. Let's say you have 500 pigs to buy stuff with. You might be able to buy 1 ipod with it, or 200 ipods with it - depending on what kind of deal the pig buyer got and how badly he needs pigs. Currency keeps this in check - things are purchased for nearly relative amounts of money and sold for a price that everyone understands and is relatively predictable.

But let's say we did have a barter system, right? You have a job. What do you get paid with? Pigs? They are a form of currency too. It's a serious question. What would you prefer to be paid in, rather than currency? Let's say your job pays you in hay or something. You need to buy food. What if your local food store doesn't accept hay as currency - and it wants pigs instead. You'd either have to convert your hay to pigs, find a store that accepts hay, or you are screwed. Is this the life you'd really want? Is hay not currency? What if hay isn't as valuable as pigs? You are working for far less than the guy who works for pigs. It's all currency.

How would you pay for your AT&T bill to complain about the monetary sytem? Mail a pig to Apple? Barter your shirt? I mean, c'mon. Let's be serious here.