Just as river banks and dams determine where water is encouraged or discouraged to flow, our monetary or currency system (from the Latin verb currere – to flow) determines the directions in which human energies are encouraged or discouraged to go, and what we can individually and collectively create as a result. Since the dawn of times, our monetary system has been shaping the flows of human activity in every realm of endeavor (food production, education, health, business etc.) by determining how we value, apply and exchange our creativity, and the fruits of our labor. It is for this reason the most influential of all our man-made systems.(read article)
The story of the 11th round illustrates how the introduction of interest in a monetary system forces artificial competition amongst its users beyond what would naturally occur.
Once upon a time, there was a small village where people knew nothing about money or interest. Each market day, people would bring their chickens, eggs, hams, and breads to the marketplace and enter into the time-honored ritual of negotiations and exchange for what they needed. At harvests, or whenever someone’s barn needed repairs after a storm, the villagers simply exercised another age-old tradition of helping one another, knowing that if they themselves had a problem one day, others would surely come to their aid in turn. (read article)
To understand why the introduction of complementary local currencies is essential to community revitalization and sustainable development, it is critical to first understand the monetary underpinnings of pervasive community challenges such as unemployment, lack of adequate housing and schools, environment-adverse practices, erosion of community fabric and civic engagement etc. First, local shortages of national currency engender a significant bottleneck when it comes to optimally connecting locally unused resources with unmet needs. And, second, the process by which increased use of conventional money to obtain services which used to be provided by family and mutual exchanges among neighbors, progressively erodes the very fabric of community. (read article)
Just as river banks and dams determine where water is encouraged or discouraged to flow, our monetary or currency system (from the Latin verb currere – to flow) determines the directions in which human energies are encouraged or discouraged to go, and what we can individually and collectively create as a result. Since the dawn of times, our monetary system has been shaping the flows of human activity in every realm of endeavor (food production, education, health, business etc.) by determining how we value, apply and exchange our creativity, and the fruits of our labor. It is for this reason the most influential of all our man-made systems. (read article)
Once upon a time, there was a small village where people knew nothing about money or interest. Each market day, people would bring their chickens, eggs, hams, and breads to the marketplace and enter into the time-honored ritual of negotiations and exchange for what they needed. At harvests, or whenever someone’s barn needed repairs after a storm, the villagers simply exercised another age-old tradition of helping one another, knowing that if they themselves had a problem one day, others would surely come to their aid in turn. (read article)
To understand why the introduction of complementary local currencies is essential to community revitalization and sustainable development, it is critical to first understand the monetary underpinnings of pervasive community challenges such as unemployment, lack of adequate housing and schools, environment-adverse practices, erosion of community fabric and civic engagement etc. First, local shortages of national currency engender a significant bottleneck when it comes to optimally connecting locally unused resources with unmet needs. And, second, the process by which increased use of conventional money to obtain services which used to be provided by family and mutual exchanges among neighbors, progressively erodes the very fabric of community. (read article)