[wsfii-discuss] Worldchanging article on Complementary currencies

Thu Oct 6 09:02:40 UTC 2005

Adrian, all,

On 10/6/05, Adrian Short <adrian.short at gmail.com> wrote:
> For example, the price of a single tube journey will increase to £3
> but be capped at £1.50 for Oyster users. This is what I mean by cash
> being "accepted grudgingly or traded at a disadvantage to the buyer".
> It couldn't be more overt.

Excellent article! :-) Thanks for sharing.  Here's an article of
places where cash is still valued above other means:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20051005-0500-economy-india-currency.html

Whereas most of us on this list would happily abandon cash it's still
a necessity in other parts of the globe.  How quickly could that
change?  Amazing statistics on that article.  It says 60% of the
people don't have a bank account.  I actually don't have one currently
thanks to some heedlessness and debt.  But I could conceivably acquire
one for a few hundred USD.

> In case anyone's got the wrong idea about my position on this, I see
> the death of cash as one of the cornerstones of the total surveillance
> society. It won't happen as a dramatic coup de grace, but it will die
> from a thousand cuts. It's not something that I welcome. But I believe
> that not only will it happen but it _is_ happening.

It is happening and at such a rate that I'm honestly a bit overwhelmed
with future shock.  The panopticon society as at hand at least where I
live.

> Putting control of currency back into the hands of the people who use
> it is one way of ensuring that people have systems that genuinely meet
> their needs, freedom of choice, and an opportunity to directly
> participate in the management of their community's money.

Agreed, and I think that's the theme of the article I posted above.

peace,
core