Imagine World with No Money

Money is ubiquitous and most used object in the world. People use it for many different reasons. From evaluating their economic condition to exchanging it for goods and services and to store wealth. What if I suggested that money will disappear one day and I don’t mean just paper money but the concept of it. We will no longer need it to survive. You may be thinking that day will never come or I am Trekkie and have watched too many episodes of StarTrek or perhaps I am delusional. I am neither and I truly think that the day when humans will not need money is nearer than any of us think let me explain…

The most common use of money is to buy goods and services. We go to Star Bucks and buy a cup of coffee or go to grocery store and buy bread etc etc. We use money to survive in this world. It provides us means to shelter ourselves, feed and cloth us. All of these products that we consume have cost associated with it “actual cost”.  This cost includes raw material, transportation (needs energy), manufacturing, labor, storage, distribution, marketing and transactional cost. As consumers we pay for all of these costs. Products from its inception to its consumption keeps adding costs to it. Finally when we buy it we end up shouldering all of these costs. We all have heard that bottle of channel perfume cost only $5~$10 and infamous NIKE shoe’s actual cost is only $10. Yet when we go to malls we can easily drop $400 and $200 respectively to buy these products. Question is why do we pay exorbitantly high prices for things?

Tesla Motors just announced model 3 their newest 35K all electric car. In the launch speech Elon Musk also talked about his battery manufacturing plant in Nevada that will produce nickel metal hydride batteries. The total number of batteries produced in this plant alone will match the batteries produced in the entire world. Imagine that one factory producing equal number of batteries that whole world produces. One can easily infer that the cost of these batteries will definitely be less than what is cost now to produce in different parts of the world. Needless to mention producing product that is closer to its consumers will save on logistical costs. These innovations are simply driving the marginal cost of production down and if this trend continues fairly soon we will get to a point of saturation where companies will have to give products away or come up with alternate ways of enticing consumers to use them.

NASA use to transport parts they needed for the space station for break fix projects. This would delay the addition, repair and maintenance of many tasks that were time critical. They will send in a requisition for the part from the space, part would be made on planet earth once it was made they will them transport it to Florida and wait for the next space mission to send it off to space. About 5 years ago NASA took several 3D printer to space station and started printing parts they need at the station on demand. They saved time and money. 3D printers are revolutionizing they way we produce products. A company in China printed 10 homes in one day and it cost $5,000.00 each. These were not toy homes but actual livable 2200 square feet homes. Soon a 3D printer will be part of every household as inkjet or laserjet printers are. The 3d printer will help us print many different things that we use in our house. It will allow us to print cloths, shoes, jewelry, spare parts for automobiles and even food. Again I do not have to tell you that printing your own stuff will be lot less than buying things from the store.

Hydroponics farms are changing the way we have been farming. These farms are so efficient that they do not need any pesticides since it is controlled environment and one tenth water than conventional farms do. Even better they don’t require land since you can grow vegetables vertically  with artificial LED lights. If we dedicate three buildings in Manhattan and convert them in to hydroponic farms. These buildings will produce enough food to feed the population of Manhattan. Since the produce will be farmed in the city you can calculated the savings.

We are living in phenomenal times. Our population growth and advancement in technology has allowed us to accomplish things that were unfathomable a decade ago. This growth in human intelligence and new discoveries in variety of different disciplines is allowing to produce goods and service at a very low price. We have renewable sources of energy where one day our energy cost will be close to zero or zero. Think of robotics if we have a hydroponic farm and have robots working using solar energy and recycled water the cost of the food they produce (after the initial cost) will be close to zero. This trend will not stop at farming we will have robots performing surgeries, mow our lawns, do our laundry and I can go on and on.

Often when I talk to people about this idea they argue that we will not have any motivation to do anything if machines will do all the work. I strongly disagree we don’t always do things to make money. People innovated because they are passionate about what they do. Folks who work for money just do that and are neither innovator nor thinkers. They seldom make a difference even in our current economic system. This wave of technology and innovation is so big that we just cannot wrap our heads around it from self driving cars to drones delivering packages the innovations will revolutionize how we live and function. Ultimately if we get to a point where machines do all the work than humans will have to just sit back innovate explore and enjoy their lives without spending a penny.

Z’s Reading List

  • Memories of Muhammad: Why the Prophet Matters – by Omit Safi

  • God: A Human History (Random House Large Print) Paperback – Large Print, November 7, 2017 Reza Aslan

  • Zealot Reza Aslan
  • Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think Steven Kotler, Peter H. Diamandis
  • The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion Jonathan Haidt
  • The Case for God  The Case for God

Red Itchy Eyes

For about 7 years I have had red eyes. At times I would avoid going out because was worried what people would think. Needless to mention most of them were very kind and did not even bring it up however occasionally someone would pass a comment saying “hey did you know your eyes are red” and I would say “duh” in my head. I consulted with several eye specialists but to no avail. Tried all kinds of drops even asteroids. Finally was able to cure it by using “proactive”. I am not a doctor but feel like talking to so many of them have almost become one. I would urge all of you to try this at your own risk. I am not recommending it just sharing how I fixed my problem.

My theory is that I had a pimple inside my eyelid which was bacterial and caused irritation. I kept telling my doctors that I feel that there is something in my eye and they would look and say nop nothing in there. So finally I applied a thin layer of proactive on outside of my eyelid making sure it didn’t get in the eye. It stung a little but in three days I felt much better. It has been about three month and no visits to the doctors and no drops.

Right to Die

Nancy Cruzan was an ordinary twenty year old woman who lost everything in a car accident. Nancy became terminally ill. She was brain dead although her heart was pumping as if she was an Olympic star. Yet, she could not talk, eat or think. She was miserable. With no purpose in life her guardians fought for her right to die and got it…………. eight long years later. What if Nancy was your sister? Would you let her suffer eight horrendous years? While researching I found shocking discoveries about the right to die. Terminally ill people suffer for years and are seldom allowed to end life on their own terms. Unfortunately, terminally ill patients and their families have to fight for the freedom of choice which should be an unalienable right. Vegetable, vegetation state, and terminally ill are three different terms that means a person is brain dead. Individuals in this state have no control over themselves. They get fed through a tube while on life support. Nancy Cruzan`s case was in the 1990s when the government was just realizing they were going to have to take a step to help the terminally ill. Nancy`s family had to take her case to court because she did not have a will that stated her wishes under such circumstances. After the court’s first hearing the case became public. Outsiders barged into what used to be a private matter. Random people made their lives even worse by judging their decision and calling them murders. On top of the public’s response they had to deal with the guilt of getting Nancy her right to die. It was a remarkable day when Nancy’s family got her right to die. The battle was finally over. Many people think that the families of the terminally ill patients are the only people suffering but the doctors have to deal with the guilt as well. It takes a huge toll on doctors. Every doctor takes the Hippocratic oath which states that they will do everything in their power to keep patients healthy. If the patient`s family goes to court they trust their doctor to be completely honest with the circumstance even if it means giving the patient their right to die. The doctors are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Doctors have to deal with their personal emotion while they are trying to help the patient recover. The fate of a terminally ill patient is eminent death. The question remains how long the family and doctors are willing to keep him or her alive. It is very disappointing to see how some people do not get their right to die. They can’t escape their misery. It is as if that person’s physical self here without any cognitive abilities which make the person a vegetable. Human cannot and should not be forced to live like a vegetable. As Newton said “I think therefore I am”(Collected 1). The worst part is they do not suffer alone. Their family stands by them until they leave this world. It is inspiring to see how families fight even with all the agony they are put through. The fourteenth amendment helps people secure the right to die for their family members it states, “No state shall make laws which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens in theirs.” (Cruzan 1). The most depressing part is how the person cannot make their decision themselves. We should practice empathy when it comes to matters like this. Obviously if any one of us was in similar situation we would want to a choice. When asked by the press about his feeling towards this case Nancy`s father said “hundreds and thousands of people can rest free knowing that when death beckons upon them they can meet face to face with dignity. Nancy is not one of those people.”(Cruzan 22). People on life support will never be able to meet face to face with dignity. Those people lost their dignity the moment they were put on life support. In my opinion, death is not just an end it is a new beginning. Fortunately, after long and tumultuous fights most people transition into a better place. Everyday there are more and more people who fight for their right to die and right for their loved ones to live normally. No one should judge someone’s right to die. Who are we to judge their right? Imagine you were a friend of a terminally ill patient wouldn’t you want their future to be in their families and doctors hands? How would you feel if someone was choosing your future?