Money has been with us for thousands of years believed to be first used by the ancient Babylonian civilization. Before money societies would use the exchange of goods and services directly, so you would swap your chicken for somebody who can make you a sword or some similar example. For many people with the advent of farming they found that they could not carry all of their goods to a place of exchange and invented tokens as a way around this and beginning the history of taxation and money.
Previously relying on the exchange directly of good and services, or gift base economies, people were beginning to outgrow such a primitive method of exchange. Proving far easier to carry, transfer, and save, this revolutionized the Babylonian society creating what quickly became one of the greatest empires that the world has ever seen.
The advent of a token economy also enabled the first practical application of tax. Whereas collecting citizen contributions to an areas overall wellbeing was impractical using direct exchange or the exchange of gifts, money finally allowed people to organize collectively through taxation to achieve higher aims such as public safety and even welfare.
Although money offers a more quantifiable means of exchange than other forms of economy, it is by no means simple. Deciding the value of products remains a massive problem today since of course the seller will want the highest price possible and the buyer will want the lowest. However ingenious the means of exchange, human weakness prevent it from becoming liberating.
Today another revolution is occurring as paper and metal tokens are being phased out altogether with advances in technology. It is perfectly possible to live in most developed countries now without ever seeing a banknote or coin since electronic exchange of goods and services has become so much easier removing the physical aspect altogether.
Taxation is also an aspect of human behavior that is changing rapidly. Whereas the original taxes were paid to landowners and protection rackets, governments are beginning to replace them. The key difference is that government has a mandate from the people rather than simply the ownership of the land. Although not always the reality, the idea is that governments collect taxes to represent the people rather than themselves.
The economy is 1000s of years old and taxation is even older. For something that is so central to so many people’s lives, it is amazing how many people have no idea about the history of taxation and money.
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