[wsfii-discuss] Worldchanging article on Complementary, currencies

Thu Oct 6 13:27:06 UTC 2005

Thought I'd better jump into this community/complementary currency stuff.

The whole cash / no cash thing _is_ missing the point, but there is 
still _very much_ a point to complementary currency...

Money is essentially an _agreement_, between a community, to use 
_something_ as a means of exchange.

The agreement can be freely chosen or coered, explicit or implicit. 
No-one alive today has freely and explicitly chosen the ludicrious 
monetary system that dominates the world, yet we each implicitly agree 
to it every day...

Do you agree that privately owned and interested banks should have the 
monopoly on money creation and that virtually all money should come into 
existence as interest-bearing debt?

Do you agree that a monetary system should systematically transfer 
wealth from the poor to the rich?

Today, nearly 100% of all the currency in circulation (pounds, dollars, 
etc.) was created out of nothing when a private bank made an 
interest-bearing loan. Banks create money, not the gov't. The gov't 
borrow money off the banks at interest just like everyone else; debt 
interest makes up about 5% of the budget, roughly the same as the total 
defense budget (£26bn and £28bn respectively).

This situation was first established in Sweden in 1668 and again shortly 
after in 1694 when the Bank of England was founded, and from where the 
model spread. In both cases it was to fund war. Gov't debt has been 
spiralling ever since and war has continiued to be central in shaping 
the global economic system. See 
http://wiki.uniteddiversity.com/briefhistoryofmoney

Here are a few things people have said about money

"It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our 
banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a 
revolution before tomorrow morning." - Henry Ford

"Whoever controls the volume of money in any country is absolute master 
of all industry and commerce." - James A. Garfield, 20th US President

"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties 
than standing armies." - Thomas Jefferson

"Let me issue and control a nation's money and I care not who writes the 
laws." - Mayer Amschel Rothschild, 1790

"The few who understand the system, will either be so interested in its 
profits, or so dependent on its favors that there will be no opposition 
from that class, while on the other hand, the great body of people, 
mentally incapable of comprehending the tremendous advantages...will 
bear its burden without complaint, and perhaps without suspecting that 
the system is inimical to their best interests." - Rothschild Brothers 
of London, communiqué to associates in New York June 25, 1863

“The bank hath benefit of interest on all moneys which it creates out of 
nothing.” — William Paterson, founder of the Bank of England, 1694.

“Bankers own the earth; take it away from them but leave them with the 
power to create credit; and, with a flick of a pen, they will create 
enough money to buy it back again" — Sir Josiah Stamp, Director, Bank of 
England, 1940

"If you want to be slaves of bankers and pay the cost of your own 
slavery, then let the bankers control money and control credit.” — Sir 
Josiah Stamp, Director, Bank of England, 1940

"Banks lend by creating credit. They create the means of payment out of 
nothing." — Ralph M. Hawtrey, former Secretary of Treasury, England

“The process by which banks create money is so simple that the mind is 
repelled.” — John K. Galbraith, in “Money: Whence it came, where it 
went”, p. 29.

More quotes:

http://wiki.uniteddiversity.com/MoneyQuotes

Some excellent introductory reading:

http://wiki.uniteddiversity.com/MoneyDebtAndBanks
http://wiki.uniteddiversity.com/GripOfDeath
http://www.feasta.org/documents/moneyecology/contents.htm
http://www.reinventingmoney.com/documents/MoneyEbook.pdf

More links:

http://wiki.uniteddiversity.com/money
http://del.icio.us/qopi/money

2 final points..

Someone mentioned complementary currencies could be used for healthcare. 
This _is_ one of the big success stories of complementary currencies. 
One of the first big time dollar systems set-up was run by Elderplan (a 
US old people's health insurance company) who began to allow their 
members to part-pay their insurance premiums in time dollars after their 
own research showed participants were healthier (due to greater sense of 
community and increased social trust network). Japan's massive "Loving 
Caring Ticket" system is largely a solution to the pension crisis most 
developed economies are facing with an ageing population. People earn 
tickets looking after the elderly. They can they spend the tickets 
getting care for their own family or save them for when they are old. In 
the UK health-based time banks have also been used to great effect. 
Check out the timebanks stuff on the new economics foundation site: 
http://tinyurl.com/9w9j9

Someone also mentioned that single currencies make sense. This is true 
to a large extent. I think the arguments for a global reference currency 
are pretty strong, but open money (whereby all communities have the 
tools create their own currency) is equally important (if only, but not 
only, to create a healthy ecosystem from within which a suitable global 
reference currency could emerge).

Hope that help makes things a big clearer for people.

Got loads more info about some good books for sale. If you want more, 
let me know...

To freely chosen and explicit agreements!

Josef.
--
Josef Davies-Coates
http://open.coop
http://uniteddiversity.com

Together We Have Everything