Another great find by Angel Lucci! There is a lot of talk right now of not needing any external value system at all. I personally think we do not need money, however we should not limit ourselves in the possible ways of getting to that ultimate ideal. This repulsion towards monetary systems is perfectly understandable, they have been used to enslave humanity for thousands of years. BUT we should not act foolishly and throw the baby out with the bath water. Just because elephants are grey does not mean all grey things are elephants. Similarly, external value systems can be manipulated, but it is WE the people whom have failed to exercise our duties as sovereign beings, and allowed our world to be enslaved; we have always had the power, as a collective, to undo the wrongs of this world. Collective apathy is one of the things we are changing as a planet. We are now realizing what that inner power truly is, and we are beginning to BE and DO in light of this.
If we can use a system like this, or one of the many others for a time to help bridge us to the ultimate goal of no external value systems, then I think we will be making forward progress. Its like riding a bicycle, it took time for you to get to the point it was reflex, and we should be patient and understanding if the world at large needs an external system to transition us to the golden age we have been waiting for.
I strongly suggest you read threw this system, and discern for yourself, how effective and simple a system like this would be.
In particular this system is very well designed, and corrects many of the issue we have today with our present system.
– Justin
I just ran across this site during my research for Alternative Currency Systems. They have an excellent interactive site (Adobe Flash Software required) which will easily allow you to educate your self on the alternative monetary systems. Click the graphic below to open that page if you desire.
ALTERNATIVE CURRENCY SYSTEMS
Topics include:
- Why we need alternative currencies
- LETSystems
- Green Money Working Group
- Community Forge
- OOIN
- STRO
- The Terra – An Environmental Complimentary Monetary System for the Planet
- The Civic – A Complimentary Monetary System for the Planet
- The Argentine Credito
I want to highlight the following two groups:
GREEN MONEY WORKING GROUP
Implementation funding and resources wanted
Parties wishing to assist in establishing an alternative source of liquidity to sustain their business are invited to register their interest with Dr. Shann Turnbull sturnbull@mba1963.hbs.edu. In 2012 our name was changed to theSUSTAINABLE MONEY WORKING GROUP (SMWG).
Objectives
The objectives of the Sustainable Money Working Group (SMWG) are to:
- Sustain small and intermediate sized businesses (SMEs) by providing alternative sources of liquidity in the event that a financial crisis deters banks from providing finance;
- Establish a basis to develop a crisis and inflation resisting financial system that can also protect and nurture the environment to sustain humanity on the planet.
The first objective can be achieved by introducing a cost carrying type of money that was used very successful during the Great Depression. It was called “Stamp scrip” as each week a stamp worth 2% of its face value had to be affixed to the notes to keep them valid. Revenues from the sale of stamps over a year amounted to 104%. This is more than enough to allow the money to be given away to a SME or individual as the issuer recovers 4% more than the value provided. A local business association or government body typically issued stamp scrip.
Cell phone technology now makes it practical to re-introduce cost carrying money. Cell phones are widely used in developing countries to store and transfer money independently of the banking system. Subscriber Identity Modules (SIM) of cell phones can store and send stored value to other cell phones. Cell phone can act as swipe cards or transmit values to other phones in various units of value. This makes it practical for the issuers of money to collect a fee for its use. Cell phones represent a disruptive banking technology.
The second objective can be achieved by using local renewable energy to establish the value of money. All economic values, prices and market forces would then be determined by the local endowment of renewable energy.
Electrical energy is measured in kilo-Watt-hours (kWr). Money values pegged to renewable kWh would produce sustainalbe $kWh. Sustainable Energy Dollars (SEDs=$Z) could become a global unit of account with a local unit of value. As the productivity of technology for converting renewable energy into electricity improves the value of $Z would be enhanced to reverse inflation. Central banks or their governments would no longer be required to protect the value of money.
Beside resisting inflation, $Z would also be crisis resisting as it would be created on a decentralized basis according local renewable energy endowments. Decentralization creates resiliency. These factors should provide an incentive for traders and investors to write contracts in $RE rather than in current forms of unanchored fiat money. Centralized fiat money is subject to government manipulation and subject to unpredictable financial shocks and unknown external influences.
Individuals and businesses commonly create credit. However, its creditability might not be sufficient to be accepted as a median of exchange. The decentralized creation of credit by individuals and investors who create value would require credit insurance to allow local credits to take on a monetary role. If we accept that those who wish to use money need to pay the cost of getting it established then the cost of credit insurance would be attached to the money. This would make $RE a form of cost carrying money.
Cost carrying money removes the ability of money to be: (a) a store of value; (b) create inequality from moneymaking money; (c) increasing in value without any relationship to the real economy or well-being of society; (d) create financial asset bubbles, and/or (d) lead to the “financialization” of the economy (Palley 2007).
There are five other reasons for using sustainable kWhs as a monetary unit of value as:
1. It increases the viability of renewable energy to reduce the need and/or extent of carbon taxing or trading (Turnbull 2010c);
2. It connects the value of money to the quality of life and/or standard of living as these closely correlate with energy consumption;
3. It is democratic as the value of local money can be independently determined any where on the planet as renewable energy is available in some form everywhere;
4. It creates a market mechanism for distributing humanity on the planet to those regions that are most richly endowed with renewable energy;
5. It creates a feedback mechanism for nature to inhibit excessive ecological impact of humanity.
Implementation
Sustainable Money ($Z) development involves three stages:
- Digitization to allow money to be transacted through cell phones;
- Introduction of a “rusting”, “depreciating” cost carrying feature;
- Anchoring monetary values in a renewable local service of nature such as electricity from renewable sources (kWhs).
In the short term, $Z could provide an emergency alternative medium of exchange in the event that:
- Access to money and credit becomes limited as it did in 2008 and/or
- A reference unit of value is required to
- settle/mediate contracts denominated in Euros and/or
- anchor local currencies;
- Economies require stimulation without recourse to taxes or debt;
One or more of these reasons may become compelling for governments to facilitate, if not introduce themselves, a supplementary self-liquidating currency. Yale Professor Irving Fisher (1933) has already prepared draft legislation in the Appendix of his book on “Stamp Scrip” written in the Great Depression. Keynes (1936) supported Stamp Scrip in Chapter 23, part VI of his General Theory.
The issue of self-liquidating money that could be given away by the government would provide a highly attractive basis for stimulating an economy without the use of debt or taxes. It was reported by The Economist (2011)[1] that the UK government was proposing “Quantitative Easing” (printing non self-liquidating money) to finance securitized loans to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The use of self-financing Sustainable Money would avoid the need for governments to be exposed to loan losses. A 2% weekly usage fee attached to the money would on average be much less than credit card charges but allow the money to be self-liquidating within a year. It would avoid inflationary pressures of “Quantitative Easing” or the need for governments to stimulate the economy by either using tax payers money or going into debt.
Continue reading at:
————————————————-
COMMUNITY FORGE
We give Your Community a Place to Thrive
CommunityForge is a non-profit association that designs, develops and provides complementary currency systems and tools.
We’ve helped over 400 communities implement currencies, enabling them to:
- unlock under-used local resources
- increase social cohesion & volunteerism
- increase economic resilience
- promote local self-reliance
- & lowers environmental impact
Complementary Currencies are the next step in promoting development projects.
Community Forge distributes free, open-source software for currencies and provides hosted websites. Our hosted website makes building and managing your community easier, and it’s…
- free
- simple to set up
- adaptable
- scalable
- customizable, just ask.
—————————–
I am going to DO additional research and would recommend that you EDUCATE YOUR SELF also!
Source:
Leave a Reply