Butterfly Project
To soft balance the power of Politics / Banking & Financial
e-Barter
Who
Things to barter
Process
Barter News magazine
We have to be an exchange owner in xxx
Barter - we have forgotten this age-old system
plumber, secretaries, writers, hairstylists, momx, stockbrokers
The Art of Barter
how you can use barter in your daily life to acquire the things you want and need without having to
use cash
from the one who run a barter company
when you barter your time and talents, you also relieve the stress from financial hardships and
provide income
to change your world into a more engaged, involved and caring place
old-fashioned barn raising where all the neighbors cam to help one farmer erect his barn
barter help you build a better, bigger sense of community, where new friends help each other
solve problems
If you want to teach people a new way of thinking, don't bother trying to teach them. Instead,
give them a tool, the of which will lead to new ways of thinking
how kid can involve
how business can use it to improve their bottom line, and how it can used to give charity
???
What is barter, how to run barter/ exchange successfully
to implement barter system
Node export why?
the creation of credit clearing houses for individuals
this is modeled after the clearing houses established by banks that enable banks to clear their
books
if credit clearing houses are setup for individuals and business and credit is completely based on
goods and services that are created instead of currency, then it would stabilize the business cycle
of boom and bustes. It would also take banks monopoly on loans and shift them to individuals
it has evolve into a situation where control of money and the economy is held by a small group of
people; very powerful people
the main idea is the creation of "barer clubs" to get to the point where cost credit becomes
reasonable and controlled
The beauty of the barter club is that members can obtain reasonable amounts of credit for current
inventory without any interest charges
He mentions the key to the success fo these barter clubs is to recruite the entire supply chain;
manufacturers, wholesalers, services businesses (i.e. beauty salons, realty agents and car repair),
and retail
if nothing more at least to understand our financial system and its weakness in order to garner
support for a more equitable and secure financial system
The End of Money tells the story of how a new exchange medium (money) based on mutual
credit clearing has the potential to resolve many of the problems with our current money system
"credit clearing"
how it work & how it "empower" people to monetize the value that they themselves create
to exchange their goods and services according to their own values, ideals, and objectives, and to
reduce their dependence upon exploitative system of money and finance
how to implementing credit clearing system both at the local and regional levels
credit exchange movement, to create modern exchanges
a new money system in which anyone who offers goods and services for sale becomes a qualified
currency issuer
not to discard credit money, but to perfect it through the establishment of mutual credit clearing
network and independent private and community currencies
the Real Economy's wealth
this book outline a healthy mutual-benefit economy
we all realizing that the qntique exploitation and control system is evil and must be eliminated, so
we seek a clear path toward an alternative economy
the status quo is now terminal, we must start building the alternative
A regional Economic Development Plan based on Credit Clearing
E.C. Riegel
the mutual credit clearing circles, like local exchange trading system (LETS)
extra-bank credit clearing services offered to businesses by commercial "barter" exchanges
information and telecommunications technologies needed for the creation of the kinds of
decentralized credit and finance networks
My work has been driven by a passion for social justice, economic equity, personal liberty, world
peace and ecological restoration
Gandhi "there is enough for everyone's need but not for everyone's greed"
to build new structures that better serve our purpose
the structure the related to "wealth" and "power" - the mechanisms for exchanging goods and
services in the market
approach -> voluntary, entrepreneurial, and cooperative initiatives organized at the local level but
network globally to achieve the liberation of money and the exchange process and the
democratization of finance and economics
His Previous Books
1. Money and Debt: A solution to the global crisis (1989-90)
2. New Money for Healthy Communities (1994) - credit clearing system that have emerged
3. Money: Understanding and Creating Alternatives to Legal Tender (2001)
4. The End of Money
the emergent system of credit clearing that making money as we know it obsolete
to understand the relationship between money, power and wealth
to motivate action that in the right direction
the survival of civilization hinge upon the fundamental restructuring of money, banking, and finance
3 things that growth exponentially
- carbondioxide in the atmosphere
- human population
- debt, the "Debt Bomb"
Crisis
our education system fails to educate
our health care system fails to deliver health
our criminal justice system fails to deliver justice
what in the world is it that is trying to happen?
these stresses signal an intensifying global crisis of unprecedented proportions
there are a number of trends that common reason argues cannot continue, we need revolution,
transformation, emergence
potician, they tend to promise, if they deliver, it is not sufficient response to our present
multidimentional crisis
- put an end to unnecessary growth
- enable a transition to sustainable, steady state economy
- restore a large measure of local control over local affairs
the reinvention of money is a necessary prerequisite
it can only proceed with the metamorphic process
we are on the verge of a complete redesign and rebuilding of all our political, economic, social, and
cultures structures
if we are fortunate, we will succeed in emerging as the creature that I think humanity was always
destined to become
it took only two of them and only one night to eat almost every leaf from the plant
molting process, nothing can grow forever
the caterpillar body disintegrates, turning into a nutrient soup
this imaginal buds were in the caterpilla body all along, but they were dormant
the butterfly crawls out, spread its wings, and flies away
this could be call "Butterfly Project"
the butterfly flies around, sipping nectar from blossoms and polinating plants in the process
Does the butterfly compete with the caterpillar?
If we see ourselves as imaginal discs or cells working to build the butterfly of a better world, we will
understand that we are launcing a new "genome" of beliefs, values and practives to replace that of
the current unsustainable system.
the butterfly program: the imaginal budsis are now beginning to sitimulate one another into more
intense activity that will result in
there is no exclusive "butterfly" club, but an open process in which everyone can find their own role
in their own time
1. reducing our dependence upon the dominant structures
2. reorganizing ourselves into mutually supportive clusters or affinity groups
3. creating structures appropriate to serving the needs of both our affiliate groups and the
common good
Examples
- Conscious Community Network (northern Nevada)
develop solutions that are entrepreneurial and innovative, based on bottom-up organization and
voluntary association
"If the people lead, the leaders will follow"
A steady state economy is one that does not require the consumption of increasing quantities
a focus on increasing quality of life instead of increasing quantity of material consumption
improve resource productivity
increase efficiency in the use of physical resources whereby greater value is derived from smaller
amounts of material used
Ch 3 the contest for rulership tow opposing philosophies
Elitis vs. Egalitarianism
"Power currupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely"
Ch 4 Central Banking and the Rise of the Money Power
Commodity money > Credit money
Butterfly Project
to soft balance monopoly of money power by bank, fiance and politician
Like cancer, much of the growth now is the wrong kind of growth, out of control and in the wrong
places
Debt-money
who make it scarce and expensive -: banker, finance ministers and wealthy speculators, the world
is now stuck
we are waiting for (500 years) the creation of a more adequate, abundant, and inexpensive
medium of exchange that will allow the world to make the transformational leap into a sustainable
steady state economy, a restored global environment, and a life of freedom and dignity for all
money is a device
institution is bank
this is called the money system
debt imperative -> growth imperative
debt grows simply with the passage of time
a wealth transfer from the debtor class to the moneyed class or from producers to nonproducers
those who must earn their livelihood by selling their labor and talents in the market are kept at a
disadvantage relative to those who live off return from their capital
the problem needs to be framed not only in moral or ethical terms, but especially in practical
terms
by reenvisioning & reinvention
the process of economic exchange and the device we call "money"
but the way is open for us to realize another possibility, which is the emergence of a decentralized,
democratic and sustainable of system of exchange
+ more equitable methods of finance and investment
Exchange and Finance - 2 distinct "credit" functions
1. Exchange function (need short term credit)
2. Finance function (need long term credit)
Modern money, money that becomes a virtual representation of real value in the form of goods
and services
money should be created on the basis of goods and services that are aleady in the market, or
shortly to arrive there -> "the real bills doctrine"
Finance or Investment
- the long-term uses of credit should be matched to longterm sources of credit: investments
should be matched to savings
- new money should not be created to finance capital formation, but money creation should be
matched to goods and services that are in the market now
- capital investment deliver goods and services to market later
this is wrong
loans made to monetize the debts of government
loan make to finance war
"political money system"
Additional money comes into circulation only as the banks make additional loans
I am interested in a new paradigm approach to the exchange function
"interest-free credit" to producters within the process of mutual credit clearing. That is the process
of offsetting purchases against sales within an association of merchants, manufacturers, and
workers
the costs of operating such "credit clearing exchanges" can be managed by small fees applied to
each transaction
such exchange system are a prerequisite for achieving the emergence of a steady state economy
Instead of aiming for ever greater quantities of output and consumption, the object should be to
improve the quality of life - not only for a few, but for everyone.
Financing
debt financing -> "temporary" equity financing
Infration
when a government cannot make both ends meet, it pays its bills by manufaturing the money
needed
how too much money comes into existence
Inflation is simply the improper issuance of money into the economy (Private counterfeiters,
Central banks, Commercial banks, Central governments)
his currency, his currency (to accept it back as a payment)
Any kind o issuance that expands the total supply of money w/o expanding the amount of goods
and services available in the market is inflationary
loan on improper basis, is any loan that does not put goods or services into the market
the purchase of government bonds does not bring any additional goods or services into the market
why do we allow the government to counterfeit the money and make it worthless all the time
in the absence of a reliable currency, people increasingly reverted to barter
the middle class was ruined
you can refer your currency to some commodity i.e. rice, beer
how to maintain your currency value
- there was no legal compulsion for anyone else to accept it, thus it was made to stand on its own
merits in the marketplace
Hyperinflation always end in the utter worthlessness of the currency and the destruction of the
monetary unit
what it be like when nobody want to hold money, people will seek to convert it quickly into goods
that will maintain their value
deflation, "cash is king"
one inflation, how to solve: put currency to free market, eliminate the legal tender privilege
"German railway money" (RM) - a service-based currencies
the Railway may promise something else, namely, to transport commodities and person, that is, to
fulfill its function as a Railway. There is nothing speculative about that
the acceptance of private currencies in the market is voluntary
This make private currencies self-regulating in that the issuers themselves will manage their
issuance in such a way as to avoid having it discounted or refused in the market
Ch 8 Money need to be depoliticized and the time has come for the separation of money and
state to be accomplised
it should be clear that the debts of the central government will never be repard
gov has been taking real value our of the economy and providing empty promises in return
an enormous decline in the purchasing power of the dollar
the dollar has already lost a major part of its value and is beginning to lose its status as the
preferred global reserve currency
gov to extract wealth from the economy be deficit spending
banks to extract wealth by charging interest on money
these 2 parasitic elements take wealth away from productive members of society
voluntary association argue in favor of the free selection of such facilitating mechanism that buyers
and sellers judge to best serve their mutual interests
There should be no monopoly of credit, no central authority with exclusive power to issue money,
and no forced circulation of any currency. The credit power must be decentralized, and every
currency must be made to make its way in the marketplace on it own merits
this mean the independent creation of credits or currencies outside of the conventional banking
system
- a community currency
- a local exchange
it amounts to prepayment for the goods or services offered by the merchants that agree to
accept the currency
To truely empower a community, a currency must be issues on the basis of goods and services
changing hands
to redeem by providing goods or services that are in everyday demand by local consumers
when so buy things ->
IOU to goods / services provider, then circulate, eventually redeem, not in cash, but "in kind" by
the original issuer
Delinking from the Dollar as a Parment medium
in this way, community members "monetize" the value of their own production
monetization is done by the community members themselves based on their own values and
criteria without the "help" or involvement of any government, bank, or ordinary financial institution,
and without the need to have any official money to begin with.
this is what he calls liberating the exchange process, or restoring the "credit commons" and bring it
under local control
in this way, the community gains a measure of independence from the supply of official money
(dollars, euros, yen)
devolve power to the local level
build sustainable economic democracies
Delinking from the Dollar as a Measure of Value
(a standard becomes established by common usage)
we can choose to give our credit unit any name we wish
it make sense to initially define the value of that unit as being equivalent to that of the national
currency unit
a mutual credit clearing exhange, large credit balances will not be held for very long (out unit
equivalent of official unit)
1 US dollar = 371.25 gains of fine silver
480 grain in a troy ounce
market price of silver $16.50 per troy ounce (June 13, 2008)
therefore, 1 US dollar = 7.8 (silver dollar) cents
a recognized authority on subject
money??? - behave as if the wizards of Wall Street were possessed of some superior form of
intelligence
need more efficient and equitable exchange mechanism that are now emerging
need to understand the pricise role the money is intended to play
how real economics value change hands
-Gift (true gift, nothing in return)
-Involuntary transfer (theft. robbery, taxes)
-Reciprocal exchange (two party agree volunteerily to exchange one value for another)
Reciprocal exchange -> money play its fundamental role as a medium of exchange
to differentiate form vs. essence
"the ladder of economic civilization"
- barter trade
- commodity money
- symbolic money
- credit money
- credit clearing
Barter
- involve only 2 people
- the double coincidence of want and needs (Money enable traders to transcend this barter
limitation, to bridge the gap both space and time)
-> Commodity money : carry value in itself (a payment medium & a measure of value)
- cattle, tobacco, grains, nails, shells, hides, metals (gold & silver)
exchange value, user value
WIR credit clearing model (Switzerland)
exchange alternative
they try to deemphasize the independent credit clearing services
when done correctly on a large enough scale, direct credit clearing is fully able to function as viable
complement to conventional money and banking and sustain itself over the long run
Social Money in Argentina
it began in the mid 1990, from a trading club to barter goods and services among themselves
providing people to trade what they have for things they needed without the use of official money
it soon became apparent that some kind of currency was required to facilitate trading and to
transcend the limitations of direct barter
Various clubs began to issue their own "credito" currency notes
Various trading club then formed a loose network known as the Red Global de Trueque (Global
Trading network)
Social Money Conference
it is better to organize exchange alternatives over a wider geographical region and as part of a
more comprehensive economic development program
Ch 16 "Commercial Trade Exchange"
grassroot / commercial -> mostly call "barter exchanges"
1. b2b tranding
2. no use conventional money
IRTA
8%
400,000 business firm
comercial "barter" companies
well run exchange -> profit
rising discontent among "exchange operators" that it is not thriving as it should
you need to understand your "value proposition"
IMS, ITEX, BarterCard
Limitations
wide are network of exchange
The real deal "Credit Clearing Services" - the cashless clearing of their transactions, the operation
mechanisms that enable the members to use their sales to pay for their purchase
- the credit clearing exchange must attract a much larger, more diverse membership base
- benefits of member grow exponentially, the more they join the network
- to make it easy and inexpensive to join an exchange
- Trade exchange operators need to find ways of reducing the costs of participation in order to
make membership more attractive
- at the beginning focus on brokering services that they provide for their members
- but as the size of and diversity of the network is increased, the financial advantages of
membership become much more significant and obvious
- another aspect of member diversity has to do with the supply chain
- must include members, products, and services from "all levels of the supply chain"
- retailer, wholesalers, manufacturers, basic commodity producers, independent professional
service providers
- by this way, each participant will be able to pay their supplier
Insurance
TAX
Credit lines
interest-free
credit-debit sum = 0
emerging trade exchange network brand
Cashless payment based upon direct credit clearing among buyers and sellers in a revolutionary
innovation in reciprocal exchange that might be compared in importance to the invention of the
printing press, which empowered masses of people by making literature widely and cheaply
Cashless Trading
the principles of credit and exchange are now better understood
Ch 15 Commercial Trade Exchanges - Their Present Limitations and Potential Future
keynote presentation 2006 International Reciprocal Trade Association (IRTA)
Ch 16 A regional economic development Plan based on Credit Clearing
"small boat harber"
how to protect, but open to the global economy
what are the weapon for protection
"a rising tide may lift all boats, but the tidal wave of globalizatin smashes all but the biggest"
ในขณะที่สุขภาพของ global economy & peacful world ขึ้นอยู่กับ สุขภาพของ communities แต่ดูเหมือนว่า
globalization เข้าทำลาย เรายังหา ยังไม่มี solution protect local business ได้เลย
to build a breakwater to protect their small enterprises and workers, while at the same time
remaining open to the national and world economies
from mega crisis -> New Trends
- Sustainability
- relocalization
- human scale
- devolution of power
How how how how....
they leave town as soon as the "free lunch" has expired, only to play the same game again
somewhere else
Relocalization efforts cannot get very face without the creation of metasystem that support buying
selling, investing, saving locally
to organize "regional mutual credit clearing association" as the centerpiece of a comprehensive
program
increasing measure of independence from the ourside forces
1. promote import substitution - move together toward greater regional economic self-sufficiency
- the services of brokers to help match up supplies with wants and needs
- objective -> less dependent upon outside entities
2. find an alternative payment medium
- mutual credit clearing provides an alternative means of payment
- credit direct clearing
- similar to business pratice of selling on "open account"
- as a member of a mutual credit clearing exchange, a business can have a interest-free line of
credit, it will be able to acquire the things it needs without the use of cash
- find "trusted issuers" in local to issue the credit first
- as each member develops a trading history they too can earn an overdraft privilege
(commensurate with their volume of sales within the system)
- like fax machine, each node in it be properly designed and operated from the very start
3. issue a supplemental regional currency
"trusted issuers" provides an alternative currency for regional circulation
- joint issuance of credits into the general community by the members of the clearing association
- when to buy things from nonmember of association, how? -> need a currency, circulate among
member, based on the productive capacity of the region's leading enterprises
- a sound regional currency provids a measure of protection from the turbulence of the global
economy
- credit device: paper notes, coupons, vouchers or certificates or placed it on "stored value cards"
like the gift cards, or as credits in accounts that reside on a central server that can be accessed
by use of a debit card and point-of-sale card reader
4. develop basic support structures for Localization
(saving, investment, finance, and education)
saving - how to do when we have a surplus
- case Mondrago cooperatives in the Basque region of northern Spain
- Caja Laboral Popular (CLP, or Working People's Bank)
5. develop an independent value standard and unit of account
- measure of value and accounting unit
for now, it is sufficient to say that all of the necessary "monetary science" is well established and all
of the major system components are readily available
- with a modest amount of funding or investment, programs designed along these lines can be
quicly launched and a credit clearing system can quickly reach critical mass
- a success of in 1-2 local regions will inspire others to implements it, leading to a rapid proliferation
of healthy, then associate to form a worldwide economic democracy
