Yes, The Culture Series has informed my political thought quite intensely as well-- I only heard of it via HN about a year ago.
"Money is a sign of poverty" is the thought that sticks with me the most. Why bother having a currency for resource distribution if resources are vast and there is no benefit to conspicuous consumption?
People in the Culture rightly view money as an abstract type of coercion, and are abhorred by the ability to force people to do things that they don't want to do via monetary incentives.
