The idea of a society without money and exchange, or a "utopian" society, is one that can seem appealing. However, it is impossible to have no exchange system and still function as a society because a system of exchange is a crucial element in our society. This is also known as a social contract, which means that people will give up some of their rights for others to gain them. Without this, there can be no market economy or any other form of social organization, and there will be no way to provide services or goods to people who need them. For instance, in the simplest societal structure, for us to live together in harmony and peace, we need trust in one another which relies on the exchange system. Without trust there would be no way for a family or community to survive as individuals could not rely on anyone else other than themselves for support at any given time. Therefore, we would have no legal system because no one would know who was guilty or innocent thus leaving personal freedoms completely at risk.
The concept of utopian society is that they do not need to have a system because everyone would be in harmony and no competition. 852
However, this could not exist due to the lack of resources, competition and lack of cooperation. The system of exchange is needed to keep the economy running. Without it, there would be no way to produce or distribute goods. This would lead to people living in poverty and having nothing but the necessities of life. Moreover, without the system of exchange, there would also be no way to determine how much a product is worth.
Essentially, for a utopian society to exist, there must be a means of measuring value between things to determine if one thing is more valuable than another. Without this piece of information, we cannot tell how much something is worth, that includes money as well. Furthermore, if we were able to create something new and unique or recycle waste into something good, it would determine its value through some other method rather than exchanging our materials with other people. It would be possible for us to make cars out of steel or plastic waste instead of buying them from Nissan but this wouldn't mean anything because there is no market for that type of car yet so no one will want it or buy it unless there was some sort of incentive involved like free fuel.
A utopian society without sufficient resources would not be able to function! 852