Amy and I are in the process of scheduling a phone meeting to talk about community currencies. Here is her blog and a great article by her on local currency. Choice quotes from that:
Revolutions happen when a group of people decide that the system they operate within no longer shares the same values they do and no longer reflects who they are or want to be. If what we seek is independence, we must move away from systems that do not foster it. [...]
We have the ability to create a new system with new values inherent in it. A network of local and complementary currencies, whose money is created interest free, would dramatically alter our national behavior and culture. A wealth of dormant and disenfranchised capacity would be unleashed as citizens became engaged maximizing creative utilization of already existing local resources. This is not a dream; it has happened thousands of times in the past and today there are over 4,000 local currencies now strengthening local economies around the world.
Imagine the local pride and feeling of empowerment that would be created if communities recovering from natural disasters could start the recovery by simply facilitating the exchange of needed goods and services through a new locally-based monetary system thus harnessing contributions and abilities of their local citizens. Or imagine the boost to local farmers and merchants and the decrease in fossil fuel usage if there existed a currency in wide use that could only be spent locally. [...]
There is nothing and no-one to fight against in this movement. There is simply self-examination, education, discussion, and ultimately choice. It is a quiet and peaceful revolution one exchange at a time. It is people taking back control of their own destinies.
Very much looking forward to talking with Amy about these issues. I’m also currently working on interviews for this website (and potentially for a print collection) with other people deeply involved in the community currency movement worldwide.
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4 Comments
Excellent! I’ve been looking into this alot lately, too. Appreciate what you’ve been writing lately.
Cool! I’m fairly convinced this is one of the most important topics facing us right now because it talks about individual property rights, privacy, strengthening local communities, facilitating trade, digital technology and a billion other mission critical subjects.
you may be interested in the work that the open money development group is doing in this field, the origins of which can be found in the LETSystem - http://lets.net
here are some other websites for your exploration…
http://www.gmlets.u-net.com - the original
http://openmoney.org
http://openmoney.info
http://openmoney.editme.com
http://blogtalkradio.com/openmoney
the International Journal of Community Currency Research has an egroup you may want to check out…http://groups.yahoo.com/groups/ijccr
i work with Michael Linton, the designer/developer of LETSystems (1982) and open money systems - we live in the Comox Valley, Canada.
good luck
ernie yacub
skype ernieyacub
250 897 3916
skype
Ernie, thanks so much! I will definitely be getting in contact with you, as I’m trying to rally everyone who’s involved with this stuff so we can all talk and collaborate and benefit from each other’s knowledge, experience and connections.