We’re determined to spread the word that any attempts to move towards a more sustainable and democratic world are doomed to failure if they don’t address the money system.
Recently we ran a general webinar about the money system, but we felt that future webinars need to hone in on specific subjects, so that complete beginners can begin to develop an understanding of various aspects of how our money system works, what problems it causes, and what we might do about it; and more experienced people can dip in and out to increase their knowledge where they might have gaps.
Most people are not technical, and therefore 99% of information online about the money system, banking, cryptocurrencies etc. will be beyond them. We’d like to draw more people in by providing introductory information, but allow people who have slightly more knowledge to expand on what they know by asking specific questions.
The webinars will be run by Matthew Slater, a software developer for complementary currencies. He co-founded Community Forge, which free hosts software for collaborative credit schemes; he co-drafted the Credit Commons white paper, a proposal for a global solidarity economy money system, based on mutual credit principles.
Webinars
We thought we’d start with a practical webinar on how to set up an account in a cryptocurrency and to start trading in it. Cryptocurrencies are in the spotlight, so we’ll focus first on the basic essentials that people need to know, and help people set up an account and trade in a cryptocurrency called Litecoin. We’ll blog about this webinar tomorrow.
We’re not saying that crypto is the answer, by the way – there are many problems associated with cryptocurrencies (and especially Bitcoin). They can be hoarded and speculated with, rather than used as a means of exchange, and the majority of them require (quite a lot of) electricity to mine and to use. They can be disruptive to the current system however, which we think is a good thing. But apart from cryptocurrencies, there are other currencies and systems that can be tried.
Cryptocurrencies have shown that beyond doubt, our dominant money system is the result of design decisions to support the kind of economy we have. But we can do better than this – we can experiment with various types of currency that are more geared to developing the kind of society we’d like to see – i.e. democratic and sustainable, which this one patently isn’t.
Over the coming weeks and months, we’ll be running more webinars to help people to develop their understanding of the global money system and various alternatives to it. We’ll be providing basic introductions to various key topics, allowing people to ask specific questions and pointing them in the direction for further information.
Here are some ideas for topics that we could cover in future webinars.
- Cryptocurrency investing
- Economics of Bitcoin
- Cryptocurrencies for good
- Problems with and solutions for the money system
- 30 years of experimentation with complementary currencies
- How to prepare for economic collapse
- Building your local economy
- Monetary hacks: holochain, Faircoin, Credit Commons, Hullcoin etc.
Plus we’re happy to look more into subjects that you’re interested in – just let us know.
3 Comments
Can’t wait! Particularly interested in the practical aspects, like how to gradually wean oneself off of the current economic system, while still being able to provide for basic subsistence. Keep up the great work, folks!
J > The problem with all currency systems, cryptos included, is that they are hi-jacked by those who see them as vehicles for their greed, not merely the means of facilitating exchange and honest commerce. Nothing will ever change unless we can tackle these abuses!
I agree. But have a look at this – https://www.lowimpact.org/lowimpact-topic/collaborative-credit/
and this site – http://localpay.tech/.
If this kind of system can gain traction (and there are lots of really good people starting to put their weight behind it), it’s difficult to see how it can be hijacked – there’s nothing to accumulate or concentrate.
In the meantime, I think that cryptos have woken people up to the fact that money issuing powers don’t have to be exclusive to banks, and that’s a good start (although, as you say, they are being used for speculation and accumulation in the same old boring ways).