Reply #4: You're basically talking about social contracts at this point

[Selatius]

I personally call them "social contracts" because I haven't seen anybody else call it anything specific.

If a mechanic repairs the machines of a farmer who needs them to grow food, the farmer could repay the debt in the form of food for as long as the mechanic's "contract" with the farmer is still in effect.

This happened quite often in many parts of Spain during the Spanish Revolution. The libertarian socialists experimented with these concepts heavily before finally being crushed by communist and fascist forces.

In some places money fell out of use completely as some local economies were run on these social contracts between people. It could happen on larger scales between syndicates of workers. For example, Syndicate Mechanic negotiates a deal with Syndicate Farmer where the machines are kept operational in exchange for a supply of food for as long as the contract remains in effect.

Both parties benefit from the arrangement. Now imagine several dozen syndicates having the power to form relationships with each other in a fair sized community. You just created an economy that comes closer to economic democracy than the one you currently exist in.

Such a notion, though, challenges directly the current order of things, and those who benefit from the current order would resist violently to such a reorganization of economic power.