Community Currency (February 11, 2005)
Note as of December 15, 2014: I wouldn’t word this in the same way now. I would lean even more in Tom Kennedy’s direction. I think that there are a bunch of issues relating to the monetary system that we need to evaluate. “Usury” should be defined carefully so that everyone is talking about the same thing, and then we can decide whether we agree with it or not. Compound interest is a problem. The standard debt-based currencies are a problem. Lending money out that is created out of thin air is a problem (fractional reserve). Freedom and liberty don’t include the right to violate others’ rights (e.g., fraud). People need freedom, not institutions. Credit cards are a like a trap. There’s a lot to talk about.
www.cyberclass.net
Freedom-loving Canadian Tom Kennedy promotes the idea of community currency – as well as more controversial ideas – at his website.
Myself, I don’t think it is possible or desirable to abolish interest (“usury”) – unless, I suppose, a particular group of people agreed with each other to do that for themselves. But I think the community currency idea has great potential for empowering people in their local communities – by providing a choice, especially if the economy goes bad. It may possibly provide people with a way of dealing with debt problems and a way of building stronger communities in the context of a world that seems to become ever more impersonal and beyond our control.
One thought occurred to me about banks and high credit card debts. Banks certainly should have the freedom to promote credit cards and lines of credit as much as they like, but that is not the only way to do business. Just because they are free to do that, it does not make it appropriate or right for all of their customers to be subjected to such sales pitches. Community currency is one way in which people might take a break from banks who can not seem to stop offering their customers more and more credit.
Other Canadian sites that promote community currency are: www.communitydollar.com and www.calgarydollars.ca.