Money: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 19:50, 8 January 2025

Somehow electronic money uses more resources

Like all fun things, money is great in moderation but can easily become addictive when consumed in excess.

Whereas other spiritual movements try to sell you solutions to your problems in the form of supplements and seminars, metaculture encourages you to buy nothing and find healing within yourself. While not anti-capitalist, metaculture encourages money moderation and a focus on Gross National Happiness over GDP.

See Capitalism and Economics for more money stuff. The Materialistic page addresses the symptoms of consumerism and monetary addiction.

Ideas are Free

The metaculture wiki and all related educational content produced for it will always be free and public domain. Anyone is free to copy and remix the wiki pages into articles, books, forum posts, educational materials, etc. without asking permission. The goal is to spread good ideas, not profit from them.

Keep in mind that stock photo images do require a license so don't copy those!

Opposing Greed and Grift

metaculture is morally concerned with the proliferation of grift, especially in spiritual spaces (aka Conspirituality). There are too many wellness influencers peddling pseudoscientific snake oil and supplements in order to supplement their incomes. Multi-level marketing schemes are a scourge upon the churches and Facebook groups that they prey on. When it is not possible to make them illegal, they need to become taboo.

Lies are free. Anyone can make stuff up, but it take effort and funds to do real research and fact-checking. Opposing misinformation is inevitably more difficult than creating it.

Grift and propaganda undermines our trust in institutions of democracy and capitalism. It takes resources away from those who would use it for happiness and uses it to feed an endless monetary addiction. It cannot be tolerated.

Monetary Addiction

See monetary addiction for an analysis of the addiction model of income inequality and consumerism.

Honest Fundraising Alternatives

In order to fund future operations, it will eventually be necessary to raise money. Some common funding methods will not be considered, and some novel approaches will be used that combine culture jamming, satire, and science to create products that inherently expose grift, undermine pseudoscience, and advance the cultural conversation.

No Third Party Sponsors

Third party sponsorship and product promotion will be avoided to prevent any perceptions of bias.

No Begging for Money

Begging for money is beneath the dignity of a deity and it is weird that omnipotent beings rely so heavily on this tactic. It's also weird that they don't pay taxes.

metaculture will operate as a for-profit business that is self-funded through product lines that reinforce its values. It will pay its taxes in full, as any good citizen should. This approach is more honest and transparent than the ways most religious institutions are currently funded.

Crowdfunding for individual projects is not ruled out, but it must be for a specific proposal and not a general operating fund.

If there are benefactors that make unsolicited offers to help with hosting costs or marketing, these won't be turned down, but they will never be solicited.

Self-Supporting Community Centers

Religious institutions create community centers that serve a number of vital and beneficial functions that could be self-funding rather than relying on donations. Day care, education, wellness and exercise classes, co-working space, coffee shops, etc. can all be operated from these community spaces. These are businesses that reinforce the values of the community, and they can be priced on a sliding scale to make them available to all. In a capitalist society, it should not be taboo for a community organization to fund itself through a solid business model instead of donations. But, a true spiritual community should always be accessible to everyone regardless of income. It is possible to use a mix of fundraising and profit-driven business to create a sustainable framework for this.

Since metaculture advocates the separation of doctrine and institution, any secular institution that wants to start such a community center based wholly or partially on the model provided by this wiki, you are free to do so without any worry about trademark, copyright, or other IP-based concerns. Everything in the wiki is public domain.

Honest Placebos

When the time comes that we must inevitably enter the supplements game like every other spiritual movement, they will be Honest Placebos.

Secular institutions and other organizations can get their own branded placebo fundraisers. These are a fun way to do community outreach, start conversations about health, psychology, pseudoscience and the grift economy, and raise a little money for your organization in the process.

See The Placebo Store for details.

Monetary Addiction Treatment Centers

To confront the growing problem of monetary addiction among the millionaire and billionaire class, specialized treatment programs need to be developed help these poor lost souls find happiness.

Have you had all of the success in life but still feel empty? Have you worked your way to the top only to find that the only thing you know how to enjoy is work? You may be suffering from monetary addiction. But don't worry--we're here to help!

Our customized 12-step program will help you restore your sense of altruism, refocus your mind on happiness over acquisition, and relinquish the burden of your hoarded wealth while helping to fund good causes.

Is this treatment cheap? If it was, it wouldn't be effective! The high price tag is part of the cure!

Pod of Gold

At the end of the rainbow is a wealth of podcast content to help change your perspective on money and capitalism.

Monetized Videos

Enjoy these videos and earn their creators a little bit of cash.

The History of Money in Ten Minutes

The Illusion of Money, Time and Ego - Alan Watts

The War on the Young - Scott Galloway

Four American Dollars - U.S. Girls

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 === No Begging for Money ===
-Begging for money is beneath the dignity of a deity and it is weird that omnipotent beings rely so heavily on this tactic. It's also weird that they don't pay [[taxes]].
+Begging for money is beneath the dignity of a deity and it is weird that [[Religions|omnipotent beings]] rely so heavily on this tactic. It's also weird that they don't pay [[taxes]].
 [[metaculture]] will operate as a for-profit business that is self-funded through product lines that reinforce its values. It will pay its [[taxes]] in full, as any good citizen should. This approach is more honest and transparent than the ways most [[religious]] [[institutions]] are currently funded.