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As part of the capitalistic system here in the U.S., I find that there is really no way to ignore it and that it's not the best idea to ignore it. In fact, I'm happier now being a materialistic user and consumer than I ever thought possible.

Call it the "Stepford Wives" syndrome, I'm happier giving in to it instead of fighting it. And I've a lot to show for it, so I have no complaints.

Yes my family had $$$ to start with, so that was a huge help in life. I still had to work once I completed high school (started a job the next day) and to put myself through college, and I'm glad I had those experiences.

I've traveled a lot, in china and Asia and in Mexico - believe me, there are so many good things that our society of capitalism offers; great houses, food, a bed to sleep in, that many people in other countries do not ever get to experience at all.

You can kick against it, but you won't change it. It's what our society runs on. And trust me when I say there are much worse things than being a fat and happy capitalist pig.

I personally think we are going to need to move to a hybrid capitalist situation before we can hope to move past it. It will be very hard for countries to make a switch away, as it will prevent them from really existing in the global market, or force the governments to hold all the cash so they can still partake.

I think the direction some places are taking with basic or universal income is one of the most promising steps away I've heard about recently. It allows for a sort of sudo communism within the bounds of a capitalist society by ensuring all have the same basic access to resources. Obviously there are plenty of caveats with the implementations so far, such as who gets it, how much is it, can it cover basic living, etc. But I think it represents what I'm getting at.

If we can continue to implement meaningful social programs such as free and accessible healthcare, basic incomes, shortened work weeks, minimum wages, etc, etc it is continued progress towards a world where money becomes increasingly meaningless as everyone has what they need and only need to work for the extras.

Just my two cents from someone with absolutely no background in the relevant fields :)

You're not the first person with this idea. I suggest you read up on gift economies so that it may inform your experiment if you go on to make one and wish you the best of luck.

I'm of the personal opinion that while radical Anarchist direct action like this is great, it's not really something you can practice on a societal scale.

Nah, the way to end Capitalism is to make people not want to participate in it. It holds too much power to ignore. But if you make participation in it more costly than not, people will choose to not participate.

If you want to start a non capitalist company that's a great idea and I'd urge you to go for it.

The best way, imo, is to put your cash money in people and businesses that support socialist ideals rather than capitalist ones. What you propose sounds like a utopian scenario, but until we can step out of paying money for things, we should do our best to keep it out of the hands of the bourgeois. And I want to emphasize that this includes the big banks that make money off of processing payments.

This is essentially the premise of Walk Away by Cory Doctorow.

You DO need that thing that's going to "satisfy the same basic need that capitalism does."

most people are not capitalists and hold no capital now.

it sounds like you just want to ban big business. i like the idea of removing limited/collective liability. ceos/executives/boards need to risk more jail time for those big salaries and the terrible decisions they make. but also, you could tax the big guys into the ground and provide a ton of social services.