Money is a symbol for the exchange of energy between people. Therefore, the kind of society we co-create will naturally be a reflection of the kind of money we use. In a debt-based monetary system system where value is determined by scarcity, the kind of money we use today promotes and encourages greed, violence, competition, and indiscriminate consumption. This is antithetical to Life itself, where in a world of natural abundance and infinite energy, we have been accustomed to living with unnatural symbols and representations ("money") that fail to accurately reflect, or respect, human nature (spirituality) or the natural world (ecology).
Common-Interest Community (CIC) currencies are complementary in nature - designed not to replace, but to operate in parallel with conventional national currencies. Communities that cultivate the knowledge, courage, and vision to implement a complementary and sustainable monetary ecology - based on cooperation and reciprocity - will not be subject to the whims of a debt-based financial system that is prone to cyclical failure and is destructive of humanity and the natural world.
As we consciously navigate the transition between a globalized debt-based economy that monopolizes human energy and a community-based monetary ecology that encourages community consciousness and self-determination, let us explore the viability of implementing CIC currencies that are issued in sufficiency and according to need, thereby more accurately reflecting human potential and the abundance of the natural world. In its primary function as a medium of exchange, money should be a unifying force that serves the interests of the people as a whole. Our potential is limitless, and the underlying principles of CIC currencies promote the ideal that everyone has a right to the capital their capacities warrant.
The "Economic Crisis" of 2009
The on-going financial crisis results not from a cyclical or managerial failure, but a structural one. Conventional political and economic solutions deal only with symptoms - not the systemic causes. However, systemic understandings and technical solutions are now available: Evidence from balanced, structurally sound, and highly functioning eco-systems now proves that all complex systems - including the monetary and the financial - become structurally unstable whenever efficiency is over-emphasized at the expense of diversity and interconnectivity - and the crucial resilience they provide.
The future of ecological sustainability and human vitality involves diversifying the types of currencies we use and introducing new ones that are specifically designed to increase the availability of money in its prime function as a medium of exchange. Additionally, these currencies are expressly designed to link what would otherwise remain unused resources with unmet needs within a community. These currencies are known as "complementary" because they do not replace the conventional national currency, but rather operate in parallel with it.
What we are in need of is a more diverse and sustainable monetary ecology that is in tune with the laws of human nature and the natural world.
Former Central Banker and author of The Future of Money (2001), Bernard Lietaer explains the wisdom and the necessity of implementing complementary community currency systems in the following PDF document, titled White Paper on the Options for Managing Systemic Bank Crises. Also included below are two interviews with Lietaer. His website is included in the links below.
Below these documents you will also find some excellent monetary reform links, including examples of complementary community currencies currently operating throughout the world.
