Thousands of years ago, a small group of people - who somehow happen to control the food, weapons, and knowledge in a society existing somewhere between tribe and civilization - decide that they desire to acquire even more power, even more dominance, even more control. This group's plan is to replicate its power, its dominance, its control - its "wealth" - through inventing a new resource that represents a rather abstract concept: "value."

They call this new resource "money." Now this small group of people not only has food, weapons, and knowledge, but it also has money - as much money as it has food, weapons, and knowledge. These conspirators just doubled their networth, and their control, through the invention of currency.

Thousands of years later, in the year 2014, currency isn't backed by anything but so-called banks who, by virtue of a globally orchestrated federal reserve system, have the ability to create as much new currency, as much new money, as much new control/dominance/power - as they'd like.

The best possible explanation for the need of currency is the desire for a monopoly on power.

As tribes grew bigger and bigger, there began to be too many people for on person to keep track of. How was someone suppose to know who owed him what and how much of something? Thus, currency is needed. Then, as civilizations grew, currency became more valuable and more needed. Over time, as conquerors conquered, they established their currency as the main one of their empire. Eventually, successors to Alexander the Great use Alexander's head of the currency to establish a sense of power and respect among their subjects. Now, currency has become the focal point of many corporations and people's lives. Greed runs the lives of many people, turning them into robots that are oblivious to their own ruin.

To say currency is something we NEED, is to misunderstand what currency is.

The root of the word gives it away: current.

Indeed currency is based on what is current, on what we value as a society. As such, we have currencies in beauty, strength, compassion, acceptance, love, ect...

Money is really the least of these, and certainly one of the least complicated.

I provide a service. I get paid.

I produce a product for sale. I get paid.

I then take that money and spend it on market valued items. It's a very straight forward exchange.

Sure, in other times other currency have been used. One of the major changes which occurred in Roman Europe after it collapse was a change in currency. The Romans used a tax and money system much like our own (It's a very lucrative system!), but the invading Romano-Gothic kingdoms based their wealth on land (The currency that sparked American colonialism).

However currency may change, it represents our values. People always value one thing more than another. Currency helps us keep track of those values.

Therefore, as long as people have had values and desires, currency has existed.

There is only one reason why money exists, and that is power.

If you have no money then you become powerless, whereas if you have lots you become powerful. This is a huge over simplification I know, but the problem isn't the gap between rich and poor, the problem is what do you replace money with in order to create total equality.

Money could be replaced by time, as time is something we are all born with, though I grant you that lifespans differ from region to region, so there would still be an inequality.

For the present money is all we have until a replacement is found that creates equality.

But you have to admit that those whose bank accounts are overflowing will be somewhat reluctant to see all that wealth become useless.