All Things Should Be Free

I’m not sure if this qualifies as an actual Blog post, or if it should be a comment somewhere, but I wanted to share this thought. I also realize that parts of it are terribly confusing and the grammar is not ideal. I’ve tried to be as clear as possible.

Researching for this class has made me realize something. Facebook and Google are worth billions. Their employees and CEO’s make unbelievable amounts of money. Yet, what exactly do they sell?

This gives me a completely ridiculous idea.

All things should be free. All companies, services and products should pay for themselves by advertising for other things (the way Google and Facebook do). ‘Name brands’ would be invaluable because only the things widely advertised would be consumed reliably. Other companies would then want to advertise themselves on the name brand items.

Eliminating cost would eliminate one of the main indicators of worth and value. People would have to turn to how well something was advertised and how much others wanted to advertise on that something in order to ascertain what it was worth. If someone wanted a car, they’d still want a good, reliable car, preferably the best. How would they tell? Yes, it should be shiny and look cool. But then they all would, wouldn’t they? How would one avoid buying a cheap knock-off that could be dangerous? One would have to look to the advertisements. Car companies would want to advertise on a Jaguar because it has a reputation. Car companies would want to advertise on a Honda because they’re everywhere and reliable. We would be left with the best cars, for free. The car companies would essentially vote for which other companies survived. These surviving companies would still strive for excellence, for once a company lost repute it would lose its advertising and thus its revenue.

I understand how implausible all this is. But wouldn’t it be cool? In a way, it would be like returning to Caveman days. There would no money, just someone’s word. It makes me think of potential jobs like wearing advertisements all day. It also would change the political landscape. One would only trust a politician who was visibly endorsed by trustworthy people/companies and who advertised on other worthy people and companies.

Thanks for listening to my silliness.