The Man Who Quit Money

In 2000, Daniel Suelo (previously on Neatorama) pulled his life savings - all $30 - from his pocket and put it inside a phone booth and walked away for good from money. He has since lived without using any currency.

That's right - Say hello to the The Man Who Quit Money.:

Daniel Suelo lives in caves in the canyonlands of Utah. He survives by harvesting wild foods and eating roadkill.

He has no job, no bank account and does not accept government welfare. In fact, Suelo has no money at all.

Suelo may have shunned all the trappings of modern American life, but he is not an isolationist.

Since abandoning money in 2000, the former cook from Moab, Utah has remained an active member of his community and avid blogger.

The BBC has the interesting story of Daniel Suelo, as told by Mark Sundeen who wrote the book: Hit play or go to Link [Vimeo] | Daniel's official website Living Without Money


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This guy didn't quit money. Every item Daniel Suelo uses or eats was bought with other people's money. It's no stretch to point out that the roadkill was run down by expensive cars paid for with other people's dollars, the internet at the library paid for with other people's tax dollars, the dumpsters he dives in - filled with discarded food paid for with other people's dollars. This man does not represent a viable alternative to a capitalist money driven society. I'm reinded that Henry David Thoreau who claimed to live simply whilst squatting on R.W. Emerson's property, regularly eating at Ralph's home. And by the way the pink flamingos hanging off the bike shout crazy to me. I see enough of these sponges living off other people while preaching at them the virtues of their own leech-lifestyle to take this story remotely seriously.
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Isn't that a bit like claiming a vegan isn't a vegan because the driver who delivered the lettuce to the supermarket was wearing a belt? The point is not that he's living in a world devoid of money. The point is that he's not used money personally for about 12 years.
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Not to get too Ayn Rand on your ass but have to agree with Jermy here. I don't really understand this idea that money is evil and it is a virtue to live without it. Money is a medium by which one can exchange your own useful skills and ideas for those of others in human society. By rejecting the need for this exchange you are is essence rejecting the idea that goods and services have value that is abstractable. I guess if that is this guys choice, whatever, more power to him. All the nice things about modern society like health care, technology, commerce, white collar jobs, higher education, etc, etc, all depend on the financial system to survive. Without it you would be reduced to living in caves eating squirrels and berries, oh wait.
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I came here fully prepared to shoot down this story but see that it has already been done. Thanks guys!

@ForReallyReal, your analogy is terrible and doesn't fit the situation at all. Everyone can be a vegan if they chose to be. No problems there. Everyone can't stop using money. Or, to be more precise, everyone can't stop using a means of exchange. Classic barter went away because it was too cumbersome; you had to hope/pray that the person who wanted what you had to trade had something you needed in return. There will always need to be a medium of exchange. Now, whether that medium should be inherently worthless monopoly money or something with intrinsic value that will hold its buying power over time and that politicians cannot debase is another discussion.
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