Inability to imagine alternative ways of managing things is all too common, and too complex topic to be addressed in a single comment.

Instead I'll recommend works of David Graeber [0], mainly his treatise Debt and The Dawn. [1][2] I'll throw in his Bullshit Jobs, just because. [3]

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Graeber

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt:_The_First_5000_Years

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dawn_of_Everything:_A_New_...

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullshit_Jobs