Milestones in Moneyless Exchange
I often compare the evolution of exchange alternatives to the development of aviation. Just as many early attempts to fly were clumsy and poorly informed by good science, so too have been many early attempts to create private and community currencies. But much has been learned over the past three decades, and conditions are ripe for major advances in our ability to rise above antiquated and dysfunctional means of payment. My role is to guide the design and implementation of community based currencies and trade exchanges that enable general prosperity and a stable and sustainable economy.
During my upcoming tour of Europe I will be speaking about the power of community currencies and mutual credit, and consulting with communities on doing good things where they are.
With still two weeks to go, our Crowdfunding campaign is now more than halfway toward our goal. Thanks for your support, and please help spread the word. Our campaign site is http://igg.me/at/tomstour/x/31801.
Communities Self-insure for Cooperative Healthcare
Obamacare is changing the game of private health insurance, but private health insurers are still in it to make profit. And while they are in the game, they will do their best to rig the game in their favor. Ask anyone who has had a significant health problem. So why do we continue to give control over health care and our money away to companies that don't have our interests at heart in a matter that is literally life and death?
I wanted to look at alternative, community-based models and see if they actually work. One model is the Ithaca Health Fund, operated by the Ithaca Health Alliance since 1997. This nonprofit, inspired by the Canadian health system and the Amish Church Aid self-insurance program, runs several health-related programs. The Ithaca Health Fund reimburses medical costs for certain categories of preventive and emergency health care and its free clinic provides conventional and complementary primary care visits to the uninsured, as well as classes and a newsletter on preventative medicine. They rely on member fees and grants for funding and local college students to fill the many needed volunteer roles.
Ithaca Health AllianceThe Ithaca Health Fund was challenged by the New York State government as an noncompliant health insurance provider but restructured to work around the laws partly by making “grants” to uninsured patients, rather than reimbursements and restricting their boundaries to New York State. They are still struggling to get official nonprofit status from the federal government even though they are a charitable organization that depends significantly on grants to meet the needs of its low income clients while maintaining fee levels that they can still afford.
Even more intriguing was my encounter with PEACH (Preservation of Equity Accessible for Community Health) at Sandhill Farm in rural Missouri. On a visit there, I asked the residents of this intentional community how they made it without health insurance and they glowed about the benefits and low cost of PEACH. I recently interviewed PEACH's initiator, Laird Schaub, about this little known program to get the inside scoop.
Read more here
Sustainable Economies Law Center Cartoons and a Request for your Support
My serious note: Normally, I send cartoons to inspire people to support SELC, and this email is no exception. But on a more serious note, I want to say that SELC has historically gotten a lot of important work done with almost no wiggle room in our budget. In October, when a group of Chinese-American farmers got hit with heartbreaking fines that threatened to shut down their farms and way of life, SELC jumped in to advocate for the farmers, and we've been involved ever since. We didn't feel we had the time or resources to help the farmers, but we did anyway, because the incident has broad implications. That's how SELC works. We just dive in and do stuff when it really matters and when it will have a big impact. In the long run, we really can't do this without building a solid base of individual supporters, and I'm emailing because I'm hoping you will become part of that base.
And below are 12 videos to get you inspired about SELC. Also, attached are lists of our 2011 and 2012 accomplishments (one of which features 20 cartoon drawings).
- Raising Dough: A silly 45-second video about our work to raise money this week.
- A Day in the Life of SELC: A fun 43-second video depicting a day in the life of SELC.
- Legal Roots of Resilience: A 4-minute cartoon about legal barriers to creating resilient communities.
- Housing for an Economically Sustainable Future: 8-minute cartoon about cooperative housing law.
- Economy Sandwich: A 9-minute cartoon all about the legal grey areas that arise in the sharing economy.
- Citylicious: A 9-minute cartoon all about legal issues that arise in connection to urban agriculture.
- Share Spray: A fun 5-minute animation about how sharing will transform the world, made in collaboration with the Center for a New American Dream.
- Legal Eats: A 14-part video series on legal topics relevant to starting a community-based food enterprise, made in collaboration with the Green Collar Communities Clinic - featuring more cartoons!
- Think Outside the Boss: An 8-part video series on legal topics relevant to starting a worker cooperative, made in collaboration with the Green Collar Communities Clinic - featuring more cartoons!
- Community Renewable Energy Webinar: An hour-long webinar on creating community-owned renewable energy projects.
- The Legal Landscape of Social Enterprise and the Sharing Economy - featuring SELC's co-founders Jenny Kassan and Janelle Orsi - featuring more cartoons!
- Mr. Bread Tells the Story of the California Homemade Food Act: A 90-second movie featuring talking bread with googly eyes. Yes, SELC staff do get a little silly sometimes.
Janelle Orsi, Executive Director
Sustainable Economies Law Center
436 14th Street, Suite 1120, Oakland, CA 94612
(760) 569-6782
SELC's New Book: Practicing Law in the Sharing Economy (ABA Books 2012)
Ego
I want to save the world.
To see the flag of peace unfurled!
I hurt too when via my screens
Come gangs and drugs and pregnant teens,
Black potbelly-babies, bombs and shit;
Besuited leaders, don't get it,
They huff and puff and blow hot air;
When real change is just to share!
And when they catch that subtle light,
They will know that I am right!
They'll give me thanks one day
For showing them the only way.
One day I'll make them effing see
What's best for them is more of me.
Spring Update
Dear friends,
It’s high time for us to reclaim the credit commons and I need your help.
I will be traveling to Europe this summer to push forward the movement toward complementary currencies and moneyless exchange, and to preach the “gospel” of decentralized credit-clearing networks.
So far, I’m slated for speaking engagements, workshops, and consultations in the Netherlands, Sweden, the UK and Greece. There may be room to add other stops to the tour so if you want to organize an event, contact me and we’ll see what fits!
Right now however, I need YOUR help to cover the lodging and travel costs. Please help spread the word about my Crowdfunding campaign to your networks! Share this image meme and the campaign link: http://igg.me/at/tomstour/.
We have thus far received $1207 from 21 very generous donors. My sincerest thanks to everyone who’s pitched in already and to those who help me achieve this goal by pledging and sharing!
Thomas
P.S. In case you missed my Spring, 2013 Newsletter, you can find it here.
Complementary currency conference shaping up to be a landmark event
The Conference on Complementary Currency Systems that will be held 19-23 June in The Hague, Netherlands, is shaping up to be a significant landmark in the development of currencies and exchange processes. It will bring together practitioners and theoreticians from all over the world. The following message that came in recently from Edgar Kampers, one of the organizers, highlights the program for just one of the five days. Anyone involved in, or having a serious interest in this field, will probably want to be there.
Are you eager to learn about the future of currencies? Or are you keener to know how complementary currencies can support the local economy and build communities? Are you intrigued by digital currencies like Bitcoin, Freicoin and Ripple?
Then join the 2nd International Conference on Complementary Currency Systems on Friday 21st of June. It will bring a fresh perspective on local currencies like the Brixton Pound, Bristol Pound, Chiemgauer, Berkshares and the Calgary Dollars! It will explore several amazing time banks and time credits systems like Spice, Fureai Kippu and De Makkie!
The conference will be held in The Hague, The Netherlands and will bring together world-leading experts including Bernard Lietaer, Thomas Greco, Jem Bendell, Bart Jan Krouwel, Shann Turnbull and Tony Greenham.
Step into the world of complementary currencies, join the conference!
Join today at http://www.iss.nl/forms/ccs_conference_governement/
Or learn more at qoin.org/conference_english/
Twitter @CcsConference13, #CCSconf13
Prezi http://bit.ly/12qzePu
Spring Newsletter–Crowdfunding our work
2013 – Spring Newsletter
In this issue:
Crowdfunding my 2013 Summer tour
Articles and Projects
- New chapter with Prof. Jem Bendell is now published and online.
- My new article in IJCCR.
Recent events & Presentations
- Money & Life.
- DEBTx prsentation
Crowdfunding my 2013 Summer tour
I’m pleased to announce that I’ve been invited to the EU and UK for a multi-stop tour on the power of currency for people and communities. My itinerary is still evolving but so far I am slated for presentations, workshops and consultations in the Netherlands, Sweden, England, and Greece. I will be hosted for a few days by STRO (Social Trade Organization, then attend the 2nd International Conference on Complementary Currency Systems in the Hague, where I will make a presentation titled Reinventing Money: How Complementary Currencies and Mutual Credit Clearing Can Create a Sustainable, Regenerative Economy, and sit on two panels: The Future of Currencies, and another which will consider the legal and regulatory aspects of complementary currencies.
As you’ve probably noticed, travel is becoming increasingly expensive. The CCS organizers will be providing a travel allowance, but it will not be enough to cover even my trans-Atlantic flight, much less living expenses and travel to other stops on my tour. That is why I have launched a Crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to help cover the costs of this tour. I need $4,000 to make it to all the places on the tour and cover the costs of food and lodging. I hope you’ll help me make that goal by going here: http://igg.me/at/tomstour/x/31801 and chipping in whatever you can. Please also help me get the word out and share the link with your networks! Thank you!
This is an investment in a sustainable future and, as Swami Beyondananda says: “It’s time to shift our karma out of reverse and get our assets in gear.”
As a quick reminder, on my previous tour last October I gave a total of 15 presentations and workshops to various groups in three different countries. If you’d like a review, you can read my brief report of that tour on this site, here. Your help with this Indiegogo campaign will make all the difference in building on that success and extending this good work to other communities in need! Here’s that link again: http://igg.me/at/tomstour/x/31801. Thanks in advance for your support in getting me to all these exciting engagements and spreading the word about the campaign!
______________________________________
Articles and Projects
Following our participation last October in the International Sustainability Summit at the European Sustainability Academy in Crete, Prof. Jem Bendell and I decided to collaborate on certain projects. One of these was to co-author a chapter for a new book, The Necessary Transition: The Journey towards the Sustainable Enterprise Economy, edited by Malcolm McIntosh. Our chapter titled, Currencies of transition: Transforming money to unleash sustainability, is now online and can be downloaded here. This chapter elaborates on topics I covered in the anthology, The Wealth of the Commons, which I announced previously. You can find that chapter on this site, here.
My newest article, Taking Moneyless Exchange to Scale: Measuring and Maintaining the Health of a Credit Clearing System, has just been published in the International Journal of Community Currency Research (IJCCR). Go here to download it. This article provides some very important guidance for operators and organizers of credit clearing systems like LETS and commercial trade exchanges. Please take the time to give it your attention.
______________________________________
Recent events & Presentations
In March, Katie Teague’s documentary film, Money & Life, in which I make an appearance, premiered in Tucson at the historic Fox Theater. That event also included short presentations by myself and Bernard Lietaer (with Jacqui Dunne). The mayor of Tucson, Jonathan Rothschild, was on hand to introduce us.
In April, I gave a presentation at the DEBTx conference that was held at the University of Michigan Law School. My presentation titled, Debt, Interest, and the Growth Imperative, was delivered remotely from Tucson via Skype, which worked very well. I’m told that the presentations were recorded and will soon be posted to the web, but I don’t yet have the link. It may appear at http://www.law.umich.edu/multimedia/Pages/default.aspx.
______________________________________
Finally, I’d like to remind you that if you sign up to follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you’ll be notified every time I add a post to this site (which isn’t that often, so you won’t be overwhelmed). And please check out our campaign on Indiegogo. Your support will be greatly appreciated and all donations are tax-deductible through NEST, Inc.
Wishing you a pleasant Springtime,
Thomas
Cooperative Developer Job Opening
Job Announcement
Cooperative Developer
(Bilingual English/Spanish Required)
Organization Description
WAGES (Women’s Action to Gain Economic Security) incubates and supports green
cooperatives. Our mission is to build worker ownedgreen businesses that create healthy,
dignified jobs for low income women. We launch cooperatives where women develop personal
and professional skills, become leaders, and gain economic security.
WAGES has established five sustainable housecleaning cooperative businesses in the Bay Area
that double or triple low income Latina workers’ earnings while protecting the environment, and
has provided technical assistance and coaching to numerous organizations across the country
undertaking cooperative development. In 2013, WAGES will expand its model by establishing a
sixth cooperative in a new industry, bringing the benefits of our triple bottom line social
enterprise expertise to Latina women in a new market segment. As we begin the process of
expansion, WAGES offers candidates an exciting opportunity to bring their talents, leadership
and creativity to a unique effort advancing social justice, green jobs and women’s empowerment.
For more information on our work, see www.wagescooperatives.org.
The Position
Women’s Action to Gain Economic Security (WAGES) seeks a Cooperative Developer to work
with worker ownedcooperatives that are in their first years of development or that request
assistance as they face a new challenge. The Cooperative Developer will:
● facilitate organizational and leadership development in worker cooperatives, and
● serve as an interim general manager when needed at newer cooperatives that are in
incubation.
These two roles can at times be in conflict. The Cooperative Developer must exercise
judgement to navigate the complexity of filling both of these functions simultaneously, and be
able to move seamlessly from one to the other as a cooperative’s needs change. For example,
an effective coop developer serving as an interim general manager will seek to provide structure
and guidance but will also gradually work themselves out of the manager role as a cooperative
develops its own capacities to address its management needs.
Requirements
● Demonstrated ability as a facilitative leader, popular educator, or community organizer.
People in these roles know how to challenge, teach, and support others to develop and
exercise their own knowledge and leadership in an organizational context.
● Understands business and can serve as an interim general manager running the
day today operations of a worker owned cooperative as it get off the ground. Direct hands on
experience managing and growing small businesses or cooperatives is preferred.
● Supervisorial or group leadership experience.
● Ability to work effectively with people of diverse economic, cultural and linguistic
backgrounds.
● Excellent verbal and written communication skills in Spanish and English, with Spanish
fluency sufficient to interact positively and effectively with monolingual workerowners.
● Is flexible, creative, patient, energetic, and collaborative in work style.
Salary for this position is competitive and depends on experience. Position includes great
benefits, including health, dental, vision, three weeks vacation, and the opportunity to play a
leadership role in the continued evolution of WAGES approach to cooperative development.
Hiring Process
Send a resume and thoughtful cover letter (1 page maximum) outlining how your experience
meets the position requirements to hiring@wagescooperatives.org with “Coop
Developer –
YOUR NAME” in the subject line. Interested individuals are encouraged to submit their
information quickly upon learning about the position as applications will be reviewed as they are
received.
Community Currencies Tutorial for European Commission
If a community currency was simply a printed note or an accounting system, then you could make a 1 2 3 recipe for starting one in your community, like boiling an egg. However this approach is unlikely to succeed, because a currency is more than just tokens and symbols.
Do Banks Create Money out of Nothing?
One of my correspondents recently referred me to an article and asked for my opinion about it. The article is Creating Money out of Nothing: The History of an Idea, by Mike King, dated April 2012 .
I read the abstract, the conclusions, and part of the body text, but could not bring myself to make a detailed read. “The history of an idea” is not relevant to my interests nor to the debt crisis that plagues civilization. Verbose and tedious, it seems to be an academic exercise that I doubt will be of interest even to historians.
On the positive side, it did prompt me to write a few words of clarification on the question, words that I think are both pertinent and helpful to those who truly wish to understand the nature of money and the role of banks in today’s world.
The accusation that banks create money out of nothing has, according to King, been made by many famous economists, including Schumpeter, von Mises, and Keynes. I too must admit to having once or twice used that statement as a sort of shorthand criticism of the global money and banking system.
It is surely true that saying that banks make “money out of nothing” is an exaggeration that can be misleading to the uninitiated.
Bank actually create money out of something. The question is, what is that something, and what is wrong with it?
The short answer is that banks create money on the basis of the promises of their borrowers to repay.
Mr. King would have us believe that banks simply take in money from savers and lend it out to borrowers. That is clearly wrong. Even the Federal Reserve, in its own publications, says that,
The actual process of money creation takes place primarily in banks.(1) As noted earlier, checkable liabilities of banks are money. These liabilities are customers’ accounts. They increase when customers deposit currency and checks and when the proceeds of loans made by the banks are credited to borrowers’ accounts.
In the absence of legal reserve requirements, banks can build up deposits by increasing loans and investments so long as they keep enough currency on hand to redeem whatever amounts the holders of deposits want to convert into currency. This unique attribute of the banking business was discovered many centuries ago.-Modern Money Mechanics
As I’ve pointed out in all of my books, banks serve two primary functions. They act as both depositories, reallocating funds from savers to borrowers, and banks of issue that monetize the promises of their borrowers. I’ve explained that in detail in Chapter 1 of my book, Money: Understanding and Creating Alternatives to Legal Tender, and in Chapter 9 of my latest book, The End of Money and the Future of Civilization.
But not all promises provide a proper basis for creating money. As Edward Popp, describes it, banks create both bona-fide and non-bona-fide money. (See Money, Bona Fide or Non-Bona Fide at http://www.reinventingmoney.com/documents/bonafidePopp.pdf).
The vast majority of the non-bona-fide money that banks create, is created on the basis of loans made to national governments (when banks buy government bonds). Further large amounts of non-bona-fide money are created when banks make loans to finance purchases of consumer goods and real estate (see my books for details).
The bottom line remains: the present global, interest-based, debt-money system, is dysfunctional and destructive.
The creation of money on the basis of interest-bearing loans is the cause of the growth imperative, and the creation of non-bona-fide money is the cause of inflation.
If we are to achieve a sustainable society and assure the survival of civilization, we must transcend the present money and banking paradigm and reinvent the exchange process. – t.h.g.
# # #
Captured! Why money and payment must be open.
Since the dot com boom, online services have been delivered 'free' by venture capitalised projects to acclimatise and capture a user base before the real, revenue-generating business model kicks in. For services which depend for their value on the number of users it is especially important to arrive early in the marketplace with an attractive product.
Consider Facebook - the fact of all your friends being already on Facebook makes leaving like venturing out into the wilderness.
Fwd: [New post] Bitcoin: The Political ?Virtual? Of An Intangibl
Developing a framework for an equitable, harmonious and sustainable global society
The current global mega-crisis is forcing us to confront the flaws and inconsistencies inherent in the present dominant structures of economics, money, and finance. As a result, we have before us a great opportunity to open up a conversation that admits to consideration ideas and proposals that may have heretofore be rejected out of hand as radical, impractical, or utopian, ideas like those put forth by Mahatma Gandhi three quarters of a century ago.
My good friend and scholar, Rajni Bakshi, has recently articulated that possibility and those ideas in her article, Civilizational Gandhi. You can download the full article here. I also recommend her article, Replacing Keynes With Gandhi.
Ms. Bakshi is the Gandhi Peace Fellow at Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations based in Mumbai, India.
# # #
How to protect your “nest egg” while making your communty more resilient
This podcast featuring Michael Shuman, Jenny Kassan, and Elizabeth Ü, is a “must watch.” It clearly explains the options available to savers, investors, and entrepreneurs.
Bitcoin vs government, what are the stakes?
Bitcoin is analogous to gold in that it is hard to produce and acquire, its supply is limited, it can be exchanged anonymously, and it’s path cannot easily be traced. That has some good socio-political implications and some bad ones. Here is an article that sketches a fairly clear picture of some of that. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-05/bitcoin-really-is-an-existential-threat-to-the-modern-liberal-state.html
Money & Life Screenings This Month
Coming May 1, 2013 – global release via DVD, streaming and download, and your chance to organize DIY community screenings.
Read more about our gift economy distribution model here. We will be launching a new website very soon that will facilitate organizing community screenings and make accessing the film easy. Sign up for the newsletter to stay tuned!
The premiere tour is happening now, March & April 2013!Check out screenings on Shareable's Event Calendar.
Potential and Limits of Social and Solidarity Economy
Date: 6 - 8 May 2013Time: 09.00 - 17.45
Location: GB Room and Room II, International Labour Office, Geneva, Switzerland
Counterpart(s): ILO, UN-NGLS, Hivos
Project Title: Potential and Limits of Social and Solidarity Economy
- This Event's...
- Organizers
- News & Views
- Related Information
- Agenda
- Flyer
- Practitioners Forum
As interest in alternative production, finance and consumption grows in the face of global crises, this conference will explore the potential and limits of Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) — organizations such as cooperatives, women’s self-help groups, social enterprise and associations of informal workers that have explicit social and economic objectives, and involve various forms of cooperation and solidarity.
Through this event UNRISD aims to raise the visibility of debates about SSE within the United Nations system and beyond, and contribute to thinking in international policy circles about a post-2015 development agenda.
This conference is being co-organized with the ILO in collaboration with UN-NGLS.Key questions
- Can SSE make a real difference to food security, rural development, gender equality and decent work?
- What is the role of governments, civil society and the private sector?
- Can SSE expand while remaining integrative and rights-based?
- Conceptualizing SSE
- SSE, Welfare Regimes and Social Service Provisioning
- SSE and Local Development
- Poster Session for PhD Candidates
- SSE, Public Policy and Law
- SSE and Gender Dynamics
- Political Economy of SSE and Collective Action
- Scaling up SSE through the Market
- SSE, Resilience and Sustainability
- Priorities for Research, Policy and Action
- Click to view the provisional agenda
- Find out about the Practitioners' Forum
- Click to view the SSE Project Brief
- Find out more on the project page for the associated UNRISD project, Potential and Limits of Social and Solidarity Economy
- See the SSE think piece series
Registration for this conference is free of charge. We are unfortunately unable to offer conference participants funding for travel and accommodation.
Related events
- UN-NGLS (UN Non-Governmental Liaison Service) will be organizing a special session on alternative finance and complementary currencies during the afternoon of 8 May 2013 following the end of this conference.
- From 8-12 April 2013, the International Labour Organization is holding the third edition of the Academy on Social and Solidarity Economy in Agadir, Morocco. For more information please see the website.
- International Journal of Labour Research Seminar: "Trade unions and cooperatives: Challenges and Perspectives", taking place on 9 May at the ILO in Geneva. For more information please contact Pierre Laliberté at laliberte (a) ilo . org.
Job Announcement: Food Co-op General Manager
Women’s Action to Gain Economic Security (WAGES) seeks a dynamic and committed entrepreneur possessing strong food industry business growth experience to manage the launch of a cooperative business that will produce a specialty food product. The planning and development of this new cooperative is being managed by WAGES as it goes through incubation at La Cocina. The General Manager has primary direct responsibility for product, business, and member skill development, and will have collaborative responsibility for finance, personnel, marketing, and customer service. This position offers a unique opportunity to combine entrepreneurial spirit, social and sustainable community values, and a passion for great food – in the context of WAGES’ and La Cocina’s innovative and proven economic development models.
We are seeking someone who: · Is an effective leader who brings out the best in others. · Has significant culinary product development experience and an excellent eye and taste for quality food that will generate customer loyalty. · Has the drive and capacity to create the efficient production processes necessary to grow this new cooperative quickly and create opportunities for more women to join the cooperative. The Position: The General Manager has primary responsibility for the launch and growth of the new cooperative, leading it through a three-year “incubation phase” that culminates with the co-op’s graduation from WAGES’ and La Cocina’s programs. S/he reports to WAGES’ Executive Director and will serve as the primary liaison between WAGES, La Cocina, and the founding members of the cooperative. This position is fulltime and requires availability for night and weekend activities related to member training and business operations needs. For more information, please see our full job announcement.
Reorganizing business: from serving stockholders to serving people
Part of the socio-economic transformation that needs to occur lies in shifting business motivation from profits for a few, to benefiting the common good. Cooperatives are not the full answer, but may have a useful role to play. A recent article, Six Ways to Fuel the Cooperative Takeover, provides some useful ideas in that direction.
Here is a summary of the Six Ways:
1. Find Money
2. Convert to a Co-op
3. Hook Up With Big Partners
4. Be Co-op Curious
5. Shop Co-op
6. Make Co-op Friendly Laws
The details can be read here.
Can governments and banks be trusted with the money power?
As governments around the world struggle to manage their soaring debt burdens, the wisdom of E. C. Riegel rings ever more true. The masters of the political debt-money regime are pressuring Cyprus to confiscate part of the savings of their citizens, and Greece and other countries to impose budgetary cuts that burden the poor and middle class. Argentina wants to grab their people’s savings by nationalizing their pension funds. All the while, the purchasing power of national currencies shrinks as governments inflate them to enable deficit spending.
Riegel’s call for monetary freedom must no longer be ignored. –t.h.g.
LET FREEDOM RING THE CASH REGISTER
[by E. C. Riegel, written circa 1940s]
Old Liberty Bell rang out the political freedom that we cherish. But unless we learn how to make freedom ring the cash register, bureaucracy will ring down the curtain on our liberties.
What is the strange power that makes the government at Washington grow stronger and our state and local governments grow weaker while the people suffer the torment of war and the travail of insecurity and the shadow of dictatorship falls across the land? It is the same power that oppresses the people of all the world — the political money power.
The political money power is the power of national governments to buy the people’s sweat and blood with scraps of paper – paper that falls like a blotter upon our production and our freedom. Each day our
wealth diminishes and more of our liberties vanish. Inflation that threatens to bring chaos is just around the corner. As our sons bleed and our mothers weep, the same grinding power throws its pall over other lands. Yet our chains are paper – paper money that, through our ignorance, binds us to the treadmill of our own destruction.
We can be masters of our destiny; we are all powerful, if we but realize it. In each of us resides the power to assure liberty, prosperity, security and peace. In each of us lies the money power, which, when springing from us, is democratic and virtuous; when springing from government is authoritarian and vicious. As we liberate our inherent money power we curb the political money power, for the more we use our self-created money, the less we need political money. Thus we defeat dictatorship. Thus we reconstruct the shattered world on a free democratic basis. Thus we save civilization.
Parchment freedoms are but taunts and mockeries without money freedom. A people dependent upon their government for money is a subject people regardless of the form of their government. No people can declare their independence and govern their government unless they assert their money freedom. A government that is not dependent upon its people for money supply is a tyranny regardless of its professions. Government must be made to beg the people for money; the people cannot be sovereign while petitioning government for money. The citizen must command both government and business through his money power. Political democracy is a delusion without economic democracy and economic democracy can function only through the power to issue money – the power to ring the cash register – the power to support and the power to withhold support. To prevent political dictatorship the citizen must himself be a dictator. To prevent centralization of power, power must be reserved by the people. Money power is sovereignty; without it democracy is impossible.
# # #
From Money Freedom, organ of The Private Enterprise Money Movement.
More monetary wisdom from E. C. Riegel, including his book, Private Enterprise Money, can be found at http://www.newapproachtofreedom.info/, and via my website http://beyondmoney.net/.
– Thomas H. Greco, Jr.
