Local Wealth
On March 12, 2009 about 75 people gathered in NYC to learn about alternatives to the faltering US dollar at The Future of Money: Keeping Wealth in Your Neighborhood. Some were drawn by the desire to escape the dollar and all it stands for, others were looking to build an exchange system that will withstand the ups and downs of the economy, and others were seeking to strengthen community bonds and infrastructure. The event was organized by a small group known as Thrive which is a transition town inspired group working within Evolver.net.
Paul Glover, one of the pioneers of time banking, spoke about the famous "Ithaca Hour" and his newer efforts. Sarah Hearn represented the E.F. Schumacher Society and talked about their work with their currency the Berkshares. RS' Charles Eisenstein asked all to re-imagine our fundamental relationship to money. Reverend Billy opened the night with a blessing and Jonathan Phillips, the community director of Reality Sandwich and Evolver.net, moderated the event.
You can see the video here (Parts 1-5):
Several groups have formed from that event and time banking is being put into practice here in new york. Those interested in joining in the efforts can do so by clicking here.
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- 5-20-09
- Lewis Kofsky's blog
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Comments
Sounds great
Yes! More of this!
Thanks to reading RS I've learned of time banks, and sought out and discovered one in my area. I plan to join, and hope that alternative currencies also will come into use here (east SF Bay area) and everywhere.
A net-skeptical Luddite anarchist I know of has complained that web activism too often replaces action in the real world, his prime example of real action being the creation of alternative economies. It's my hope that gatherings such as this and the activity that flows from them will constitute a potent rebuttal to that criticism.
Another one?
Entangled Roots, I wonder if
more complementary currency in nyc