By Franklin Sanders
Facing a collapsing national economy, we must revive local economies. To do that we need a local money that will stay local. Various community currencies have been tried, but in the end they are only unworkable toys that won’t last. Anyway, if they did catch fire, the government would outlaw them and prosecute the issuers. As long as they remain only left-wing play-pretties, the government doesn’t care.
Doesn’t have anything to do with you? I’m afraid that in 6 to 18 months, you will understand all too well what this subject has to do with you, and that’s why I’m trying to convince you, now, to learn how to do business with gold and silver coin.
Continue Reading The War Against Specie Money & How We Can Win it at Face Value
Benjamin Franklin’s colonial scrip, Abraham Lincoln’s greenbacks, C.H. Douglas’s social credit, “the miracle of Woergl”… there’s no need to reinvent the wheel on this one: just to educate ourselves on sound solutions and stand up to the bankster-sorcerors. We need to be strong, self-reliant, supportive of healthy communities — and unwilling to cave into the banksters’ scare tactics and attempts at blackmail. Being spoiled, insecure, possessed, and megalomaniacal, they will kick and scream and threaten and whine. Let them. Eventually they will have to mature: so let’s set a good example for them, shall we?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonial_Scrip
http://www.rense.com/general66/nobeyb.htm
http://www.kamron.com/economics/people_who_opposed_the_FRB.htm
Hey, Paul:
Great to “see” you!
Catherine
Ithaca HOURS has served Ithaca, NY since 1991. Millions of dollars worth of our local paper cash have been traded among thousands of individuals and over 500 businesses. Ithaca’s money grew huge while many others faded because Ithaca had a full-time networker during its first 8 years.
Here’s my
A Recipe for Successful Community Currency
Printing local money sets the table for a feast provided by your city or town. Here are my suggested ingredients for spicing local trade with local cash.
1. HIRE A NETWORKER. During the past 15 years, nearly 100 American community currencies have come and gone. Ithaca’s HOURS became huge because, during their first eight years, they could rely on a full-time Networker to constantly promote, facilitate and troubleshoot circulation. Lots of talking and listening.
Just as national currencies have armies of brokers helping money move, local currencies need at least one paid Networker. Your volunteer core group– your Municipal Reserve Board– may soon realize that they’ve created a labor-intensive local institution, like a food co-op or credit union. Playing Monopoly is easier than building anti-Monopoly.
Reduce your need to pay the Networker with dollars, by finding someone to donate housing. Then find others to donate harvest, health care, entertainment.
2. DESIGN CREDIBLE MONEY. Make it look both majestic and cheerful, to reflect your community’s best spirit. Feature the most widely respected monuments of nature, buildings, and people. One Ithaca note celebrates children; another displays its bioregional bug. Use as many colors as you can afford, then add an anti-counterfeit device. Ithaca has used local handmade paper made of local weed fiber but recently settled on 50/50 hemp/cotton. Design professionally– cash is an emblem of community pride.
3. BE EVERYWHERE. Prepare for everyone in the region to understand and embrace this money, such that it can purchase everything, whether listed in the directory or not. This means broadcasting an email newsletter, publishing a newspaper (at least quarterly), sending press releases, blogging, cartooning, gathering testimonials, writing songs, hosting events and contests, managing a booth at festivals, perhaps a cable or radio show. Do what you enjoy; do what you can.
By 1999, Ithaca HOURS became negotiable with thousands of individuals and over 500 businesses, including a bank, the medical center, the public library, plenty food, clothes, housing, healing, movies, restaurants, bowling. The directory contained more categories than the Yellow Pages. We even created our own local nonprofit health insurance.
Imagine millions of dollars worth circulating, to stimulate new enterprise, as dollars fade.
4. BE EASY TO USE. Local money should be at least as easy to use as national money, not harder. No punitive “demurrage” stamps– inflation is demurrage enough. No expiration dates– inspire spending instead by emphasizing the benefits to each and all of keeping it moving. Hungry people want food, not paper, so hard times can speed circulation.
Get ready to issue interest-free loans. The interest you earn is community interest– your greater capability to hire and help one another. Start with small loans to reliable businesses and individuals. Make grants to groups.
5. BE HONEST AND OPEN. All records of currency disbursement are displayed upon request. Limit the quantity issued for administration (office, staff, etc) to 5% of total, to restrain inflation
6. BE PROUDLY POLITICAL. Local folks from all political backgrounds find common ground using local cash. But local money is a great way to introduce new people to the practicality of green economics and solidarity. I enjoyed arguing with local conservatives, then shaking hands on the power we both gain trading our money. Hey, we’re creating jobs without clearcutting, prisons, taxes and war!
You can make it likelier that your money is spent for grassroots eco-development by publishing articles that reinforce these values. By contrast with global markets, our marketplaces are real places where we become friends, lovers, and political allies.
Glover teaches at Temple University, and consults for
community economic development. paulglover.org
Gold and silver will always be recognized by common citizens, no matter what the govt tells them about gold and silver, due to its very long history as currency. There is nothing the govt can do to prevent this, though they certainly try via spot price suppression. The premiums for silver and gold bullion have skyrocketed despite that the spot prices have barely moved this last year or two.
The demand has created its own market outside of the govt system monopoly. For me, this is the signal that we no longer need to care what the corrupt elites do with their garbage manipulative money, we don’t need to use it anymore. The people have already recognized that gold and silver are in the process of replacing the USD, in an organic sense that needs no publicity or fanfare to make it happen.
The govt does not own centuries of history concerning gold and silver, and it’s too late for them to undo what the masses already know about it. Big mistake on their part. Desire for power is a weak spot in the armor, and such boundless hunger can only serve to confuse and weaken its host.
Ojai California is coming up with their own local currency. Exciting!
See http://www.ojaieconomy.com
I’ve been learning about the depreciating currency that was used in Worgl during the Great Depression. It seems pretty good. I think everybody should check it out. They actually improved their economy during the Great Depression.
Stephen Zarlenga in his monetary history book, Lost Science of Money, writes that in a couple of events in American history, government has never exceeded in printing the amount of paper money allowed by law. For example, in the American Revolution, $200 million dollars (in Continentals) were printed and issued. That was it. The reason for “inflation” at that time, the British were counterfeiting the Continentals, thus reducing the value of it.
Abraham Lincoln got the Congress to issue $400 million in Lincoln greenbacks. That was it. Not a penny over that amount.
Keep in mind, money was issued in the days where there’s respect for the laws back then. Can’t say the same thing today.
As Catherine rightly asks, who will control? Good question. Voters supposedly control, but that has been hijacked by the vote fraud (see http://www.blackboxvoting.org) and corporations (artificial entities) got the same rights as living people, based on a Supreme Court ruling back in the 1880’s, hence voters (living people) get run over by the corporations with their deep pockets. A friend reminds me, “Separate corporations and state”.
“And who will control?”
* Thank you and GREAT point. I agree that gold is not THE solution, but could possibly serve as a step to make sure communities are not wiped out with their productive capacity for food, clothes, shelter and services pegged to a fiat currency. I think the vision ultimately should be towards a monetary system that can not be monopolized by anyone but rather is a tool subservient to the transaction needs of human beings. Gold has been the boon of monopolists so it is not the solution, not to mention gold is mined and stolen from other people along with other resources.
I think John M. made a great point and caused me to think. A tangible commodity does place some limit on the exponential growth of empire since it is based on some “reality” rather than a fictional “out of thin air” financial creation that can then be used to subsume real productive power, land and people under its auspices ad infinitum(world domination). I think that reflects a major point – growth with an insatiable need to perpetuate itself and in the process destroy everything in its path to attain such a goal(which also requires creating more and more fictional financial instruments like derivatives,etc.) is not in line with reality. It is in line with an ego problem that seeks to transcend reality and can only lead to destruction like a drug addict living for a high but destroying his/her system in the process. Only this time, we all are going to be punished because the addict is playing with the very root fundamental of our collective ability to even exist – the air, water, food and land stolen and/or commodified to feed the addiction.
And who will control?
Jct: The only people who benefit from the Gold Standard of Money are the gold bullion brokers. I don’t have any. When the Human Time Standard of Money is adopted in a community currency network, everyone can play, not just those with yellow rock.
When the local currency is pegged to the Time Standard of Money (how many dollars per unskilled hour child labor) Hours earned locally can be intertraded with other timebanks globally! In 1999, I paid for 39/40 nights in Europe with an IOU for a night back in Canada worth 5 Hours.
U.N. Millennium Declaration UNILETS Resolution C6 to governments is for a time-based currency to restructure the global financial architecture.
See http://youtube.com/kingofthepaupers on growth of the international time-trading network.
What goes around comes around. Unrestrained printing of fiat money appears to be too tempting for the government without something like the gold standard providing discipline.
I’ll just take a wild guess. Too continue growing economies throughout the world it was necessary to print more and more fiat money to facilitate commercial transactions on a credit basis. More money pumped through the banking system meant more dollars to lend for business start ups and expansion. I hope we don’t get screwed but common sense tells me we’re just about there. This government spends money like there’s a bottomless pot of gold. It’s just not true.
What scares me is that I believe it makes us more vulnerable as a country to down business cycles and global influences. For that I am very disappointed of those in leadership positions who should know better. Naive me.
Reading two books, Lost Science of Money (www.monetary.org) and Web of Debt (www.webofdebt.com) will give the reader some historical insight on how gold and silver systems would work today should we return to the gold/silver standard. Catherine posted an excellent example of how non-gold/silver system can work when she posted an article on Guernsey/Jersey monetary system not long ago.
I am sure I read Franklin’s wisdom differently now than I did when I enjoyed my first Solari discussion call last December listening to Franklin and Catherine. Already a fan of precious coins, these comments are more impactful now because I’ve come to respect Franklins deep insight into our democracy, our relative freedom and how our currency is part of the Matrix illusion. And, I get to mentally hear him speak this article..another joy to listen.
Thanks for making this available.