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Hello Ellis,

Our elected officials listen, but it kinda rolls around in their head and fades away. If you want to get attention here you have to write it on a check. I say that jokingly, but it is really sad.

I noticed an item you mentioned to Ric about the Welfare System in Australia. The problem we have with the system here is it is abused and the administrative cost is staggering. I don't have the current figures but about 7-8 years ago for every $1.00 put into social services about .17 of it went to the recipients. the rest went to the adminstrative end or dispersing the money by government employees. Not enought is done to catch the cheaters or lets be more specific-nothing is done to catch the cheaters. And like I said earlier, a teenager has a baby and gets a check. If she has another one she gets another check. They get all kinds of money to go to school and get a decent education and squander that. We have educated out the ying yang.
Now, I am going to tell you why nobody does anything about it. If you run for public office and tell someone you are going to take their check they don't vote for you. Ellis, 60% of the people in the county I live in get some kind of check from local, state or Federal govenments. We put out the money in this country but it is badly mismanaged. the plan was to pull the poor up, but what has happened is the middle class has been pulled down and steadily adding to the problem. On top of that we have the illegal Mexicans now to feed and furnish health care to. If we had a national health care plan ran like our welfare program you would be sending Care packages to this country in 10 years because we would be broke. I am glad you have a plan you like and it is cost effective, but we have some factors here in the US you don't have in Australia that make things a little more complicated. Anyway, thank you for thoughts, like an old geometry teacher told me once, you must consider every angle.

odin1


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THE DIVISIVE GAME OF WINGISM
=============================
What possible benefit does society stand to gain from the divisive game of wingism--"My wing is better than your wing"? May I remind readers that the root meaning of the word 'devil' is that which divides us.

THE DANGER OF DIABOLIC DIVISIVENESS
===================================

The following is a revised version of fable I wrote about the need for all of us to be TAIL FEATHERS:

Quote:
PAY ATTENTION TO THE FEATHERS

There was once a beautiful eagle. It had two powerful wings. The wings were covered with strong feathers designed by nature to enable the eagle to fly. One of the wonders of nature is that the feathers on the wings of birds are designed to work in harmony with the rest of the bird's feathers, especially the humble tail feathers.

Keep in mind that no matter how strong the wings, without the use of the humble tail feathers, no bird is able to take off and maintain flight, essential to its total well-being. Tail feathers help the bird ascend, descend and change directions. Interestingly they are situated, humbly, right over the all-important anus. Everything birds consume, after it has been used to provide for their bodily needs, including energy, pass out the anus. What comes out is not just waste. It contains rich nutrients which it go back to the earth and water and become part of the food chain.

Usually, the wings of birds operate in harmony with all other bird parts.

But imagine what would happen if one day one of the wings--it matters not which one--became aware of itself and for some diabolic reason decided, egotistically, to do its own thing: "Now that I am aware and know that I know, I think that I will do what I want to do when I want to do it. I will spread myself out only when I feel like and rest when I feel like it. What need have I to balance myself with the actions of my other wing, as long as I give it the right to do its own thing, too."

Unfortunately, the wing made this divisive decision when the eagle was in full flight, high in the sky above the place where the eagles had their nest--the home to their very-hungry and new-born eaglets.

Immediately, without cooperative wings, the eagle was no longer able to fly, majestically. In the full view of its shocked partner, the eagle came crashing down to its death leaving the other without a mate, and with the lonely task of raising the eaglets as a single parent. Sad.

The moral is obvious: Without feathers, especially the tail feathers, which act as a guidance and a balancing mechanism, no bird can survive. A non-cooperative and a un-balanced approach to life leads to disaster.

This prompts me to ask:
WHERE ARE THE FEATHERS-LIKE ECONOMISTS?
=========================================

The moral is obvious: Without feathers, especially the tail feathers, which act as a guidance and a balancing mechanism, no bird can survive. A non-cooperative and a un-balanced approach to life leads to disaster.

This prompts me to ask:
WHERE ARE THE FEATHERS-LIKE ECONOMISTS?
=========================================
WHERE ARE THE FEATHERS-LIKE ECONOMISTS?
========================================
This calls for the development of a third way of doing economics--neither exclusively left-winged nor right-winged--one which takes into consideration the needs of the least, even the smallest feather, among us.

THE CALL FOR A TRULY DEMOCRATIC CAPITALISM
==========================================
It also provides a way and the means of challenging the least among us to become democratic capitalists and wealth producers.

Last edited by Revlgking; 04/22/08 05:49 PM.
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Odin.. I look at the welfare thing slightly differently from you. Our country is a wealthy one and we feel everyone is entitled to 'a fair go', so if you are missing out we want to help you. We will give you an unemployment benefit and encourage you to attend free training and education to enable you to get a job. If you cannot find one we will require you to try, but we will still fund a benefit for you. This allows you to take part in society and not become alienated as you are part of the whole thing in a meaningful way.

I also feel that assuming that young mothers are not deserving of support is very counterproductive. .Their children are valuable resources for the country--here the educated women put off having kids and the birthrate is quite unhealthy! The support given to these girls to nurture and educate themselves and their children should be seen as an investment. And while we are discussing this a good use of state money would be to find the fathers of the children and have them support their children too. Yes it's a problem but one we should be solving and using.

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Helpful comments, Ellis. But who gets to decide what is a "fair go"? The collective? Or the individual? A system dominated by socialism? Or one dominated by capitalism?

Would you say that what you describe is a left-wing--let-the-government-do-it--solution? Is it the job of governments to look after the poor? I agree that, like the role of good parents, government help is sometimes needed too help those who are not quite ready--due lack of education and and maturity--to help themselves.

But what do we do with mature people, including the lazy, who just want something for nothing?

Two thousand years ago, Paul, in 2 Thessalonians 3:10, told the early Christians: "Whoever refuses to work is not allowed to eat." Does this sound like Objectivism?

ABOUT OBJECTIVISM
I think that Objectivists--those who follow the ideas of Ayn Rand (Books, Anthem, Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead) would approve.

Check out
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectivism_(Ayn_Rand)
===================================================
As one who wants to avoid the extremes of left and right I see myself as an advocate of a feathers-approach to social justice.

Therefore, I see the role of government to be like that of the tail feathers of birds. Government is there to help the wings cooperate and stay in balance. As I say in my fable, the tail feathers are there to take note that
Quote:
Everything birds consume, after it has been used to provide for their bodily needs, including energy, pass out the anus. What comes out is not just waste. It contains rich nutrients which it go back to the earth and water and become part of the food chain.
With the help of the head and the wings, tail feathers guide birds, efficiently, to all the supply they need. And they see that nothing is wasted.

Last edited by Revlgking; 04/23/08 01:13 PM.
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Hello Ellis,

I'm having a hard time following the reasoning on teenage pregnancy. Having a child is a pretty big resonsibility. I don't think having a child at 16 to avoid having one at 22 to 25 is good rational for the poor old tax payers and grandma and grandpa to have to cope with. I agree, the child can't help it, and none of us would let one go hungry or lacking for any of the pleasures and priviliges we enjoy. I'm talking about abuse and misuse, not legitimate claims. Welfare should not be a "living",
and it was never intended to be. But a lot enterprizing individuals have learned how to milk the system, and a lot of people that are just getting by theirselves with assistance are having to pay. That is my problem with this scenerio-not the use but the abuse! Hey, I'm a poet and don't know it ! Make a rhyme everytime.

Best Regards
odin1

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G'day Odin,

Australia is not Heaven but I've lived in the Middle East, Asia, the Pacific and I would not want to live anywhere else. Australians do really believe in a "far go". That is the unfortunate should be helped and so you do not end up with people working two jobs and still not having enough to eat. You have some welfare frauds because our welfare system is quite generous but not enough to say the system is broken in any way.

Actually it might be generous but if you are like me and have a high needs medical condition, the amounts paid does not stretch very far. We have a truly universal healthcare system. It certainly could be better. It is run by beaurocrats so what more needs to be said. But people are seen and operations if essential are performed no matter how poor you are. My condition would cost around $3,000 a week in the US plus the cost of periodic operations. Here it is free, although a lot of my prescriptions cost me some money and even af $5 a script it does add up.

I was a moderator on the world's biggest pain site for some years and that involved mostly those in the US. The problems these poor people faced was just horrendous and this was on top of the fact that they were suffering such severe medical conditions. What I found was so very strange was that if they found a caring doctor there was a good chance the DEA would swoop in eventually and prosecute the doctor for overprescribing pain relief medication. In Australia they get around the idea but simply having you see a specialist who approves the medication and every three months or so another doctor aside from your family doctor has to see you and verify the need for the medication. You go to the same doctor and he or she calls up the Medical Authorities and gets permission to issue an "Authority Script". That way they have an exact record of the medication you receive and the doctor is protected.

I recall a person in the US who had her drugs stolen on the way home from the pharmacy and she was denied any further medication for the whole month because the doctor refused to refill the script. In nine years of needing these medications I've had my medications stolen once and most of it lost because of faulty caps and my wife laying the bottles over on their sides to save space. On both occasions a script was reissued without problem although I did have to prove the theft had been investigated by the Police and my wife did have to produce a little note saying what had happened the other time. That is a pretty fair system.

There is no such thing as a perfect government or a perfect balance of support for the unfortunate without some unwanted effect. And considering I'm pretty close to the bottom of the heap in socio economic circumstances, you'd think I'd complain that the pension should be higher or that public housing should be available to people such as me. I do think that public housing has been neglected but I still think that overall I'm better off here than pretty much anywhere else I can think of.

Both my children still in school go to private schools. That is because the schools have a hardship policy that if you are attending and the parents, through no fault of their own, can no longer afford to keep you in the school, then they will take on the burden. My youngest daughter is at the top of her whole year in all subjects but physical education. My eldest daughter had no trouble going to university with a father unable to support her and has just completed five years of a Social Services Degree. Yes, the government lends her money to do the degree and she has to pay it back but it isn't a huge burden.

So if you want a model of a world that works, Australia is not a bad example of most of it working most of the time.


Regards


Richard


Sane=fits in. Unreasonable=world needs to fit to him. All Progress requires unreasonableness
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Yay to everything Ric has explained- so I'll have a go at the teen pregnancy thing. To start with we do not have a huge number of teenage girls a) getting pregnant or b) giving birth. This is because every child in Australia (OK in the public system) has sex ed at school. Parents can withdraw their children from the classes but very few do. This education starts in the first years when children are taught about their body and how it works. They learn to respect themselves and others and they learn to protect themselves against disease and unwanted pregnancy. This obviously includes abortion and contraception. It is a good course and it also covers relationships and drug ed etc. The result is a huge reduction in pregnancies when young adults have the knowledge to protect themselves.

If a girl becomed pregnant and chooses to have her baby she is able to access free care etc before and after birth. She is encouraged to return to school (some schools have creches) and educate herself to have a job as her child gets older, when she can access a Child Care Centre at subsidised rates. Of course some girls have the babies for the welfare-- so what? There aren't that many and we can afford to support their children who will at least have the chance to turn out better than their wastrel parents!

And yes Rev I do think we have an obligation to look after those who find life hard for whatever reason. You think they are lazy, I think they are often ill or alienated in some way. There aren't many of them, and most have ended up destitute from some dreadful misfortune. Given the chance most people will work and earn money. We are motivated by self esteem and a feeling of obligation. Those people are perhaps different. Does that mean they should starve and forced to live on the streets? I happen to think it is wrong to ignore them, and most Australians agree with me.

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Ellis:
Quote:
And yes Rev I do think we have an obligation to look after those who find life hard for whatever reason. You think they are lazy, I think they are often ill or alienated in some way.
I understand and accept the points you make, Ellis.

Keep in mind: I was born, number 7 of 8, in 1930, in a mining town http://www.bellisland.net I was raised under almost third-world conditions. There was virtually no welfare or medicare. Even education, provided by the religions, had some fees attached. Therefore, I am not anti-poor. Is this clear?
As you say:
Quote:
There aren't many of them, and most have ended up destitute from some dreadful misfortune. Given the chance most people will work and earn money.
I am one of the founders and volunteers of http://www.flfcanada.com It is a registered charity designed to help those who want the chance to improve themselves--holistically, that is, physically, mentally and spiritually--to do so.

Last edited by Revlgking; 04/24/08 02:53 PM.
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Hello Ric,

Hope you are well. You're right a lot of our doctors are too eager to prescribe medication. I have a friend that takes 32 pills per day. He has all kinds of medical problems and probably the medication contributes to a lot of it. Maybe I'm talking out of turn I am no physician but I see a lot people on a continuous cycle of new medication. Case in point is my mother-n-law. When my father-n-law died the doctor put her on blood pressure medicine. She had never had blood pressue problems. My daughter is a physical therapist and she said that it is completely normal for the blood pressure of a surviving spouse the go up after the death of a spouse. Now, she is on blood pressure medicine. The same with my mother when her sister
died.

It is good that we have education money for the kids. My niece is going to college and getting financial aid and doing well. When she gradudates this year she will have a degree in speech therapy and make good money. This is the best money we can spend,it is in deed an investment. You see Ric a lot of us Americans can't speak well so there is a big demand for therapist! Just kidding. Hope things are well with the family.

Best Regards,
odin1

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G'day Odin,

I'm sorry my friend but you misunderstood me completely in relation to the "too eager to prescribe medication". If we are talking pain relief I would say completely the opposite. It is very dangerous in the US to be a doctor and care enough for chronic pain sufferers to prescribe narcotics (a narcotic is basically a drug of the opiate family, pethidine, methadone, morphine, oxycontin, oxycodone, heroin). You can end up losing your practice and ending up in jail. While people believe that the Constitution protects your rights in the US, if doctors cannot defend themselves against attacks when RICO or Homeland Legislation is thrown in (and doctors typically have sufficient money to hire good lawyers) then it is very unlikely that anyone is going to get a fair deal.

Overprescription of other drugs, now that is a different issue. The pleasant junkets that the drug companies provide, etc, greatly distorts the markets. Isn't as bad here because limits have been imposed and if a drug doesn't get on our NHS system (approved to be sold below cost) then it is very unlikely to be successful except to those that have no other choice.


Richard


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Hello Ric,

My mistake and yes, lawsuits have muddied up the water here in the US and raised the price of medical care.

odin1


People will forgive you for anything -but being right !
odin1


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So it's all a bit of a mess now! I shall be a model of restraint and merely remark that the US government, through the taxpayers of the largest capitalist economy in the world, is going to bail out one of the largest examples of free enterprise on the planet! Luckily it's all happening before inflation reaches that of Zimbabwe (we hope).

The irony is horrific!

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THIS MESS WAS PREDICTED, LONG AGO
Hazel Henderson, yours truly, and others, decades ago predicted what un-bridled and un-democratic capitalism, based on greed and corruption, would do to the economies of the world.


The solution is the development of local economies using a local and complementary-kind of barter currency to assist our national ones. Check out the writings of HH. For example:

http://www.hazelhenderson.com/editorials/politics_of_money.html

READING THE FOLLOWING WILL TAKE SOME TIME, BUT IT IS WORTH IT
http://www.hazelhenderson.com/recentPapers/21st_century_strategies_.htm

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Recently I wrote the following letter to Conrad Black, who, though in prison, writes a column for the National Post. This is a response I gave to his recent column on the failure of laissez-faire Capitalism--caused by greedy manipulators--including us who want it all now--of the so-called free market.

I realize this post is rather long, but the famous article I quote is a very important document on the nature and function of money, which, by the way, was not invented to replace barter; it was invented as a way of making barter more efficient.

When metals, such as gold and silver, were used as currency--no longer so, since the 1960's--they were actually barter commodities, like animals and grains and the like. Local currencies are closer to barter commodities. We need to get back to it as an assist to a truly free-market.
==================================================

Mr. Conrad Black: (Google on this name. Interesting story)

Thanks for your excellent summary of the failure of laissez-faire economics.

Since the 1960's I have been a student of the political economy and an advocate of what I call complementary and community currency (CCC). Do you think that this is a crackpot idea? I think of it as democratic capitalism, at its best, and at the local level. CCC is not contra the national kind and can be designed to serve the needs of business, governments, churches and other charities.

This kind of capitalism is neither left wing nor right wing; it is what I call a feathers approach to the political economy. Feathers cover, protect and are essential to the well being of the whole bird. Without the tail feathers--humbly situated right over the anus--wings are out of balance and, therefore, useless. They govern the direction of flight and help the wings keep their balance. Good government, IMO, should be more like tail feathers than wings.

ABOUT THE FINANCIAL MESS FOCUSED IN THE USA: IT WAS PREDICTED, LONG AGO
=======================================================================
Hazel Henderson, yours truly, and others, decades ago predicted what un-bridled and un-democratic capitalism, based on greed and corruption, would do to the economies of the world.

The solution? In my opinion what is needed is the development of local economies using a local and complementary-kind of barter currency to assist our national ones. I realize that links are forbidden. But I presume it is OK for me to say: Google on the writings of Hazel Henderson, a widely respected British writer on matters financial.
==============================================
And have you heard about the work of Professor Bernard Lietaer?
Here is an article about his work that I have in my file.

A ARTICLE FROM
ODE MAGAZINE--It began in Holland and is now an international magazine.

| September 2005 issue

By Jurriaan Kamp
================

Money should work for us, not the other way around

You have no idea what money is. Bernard Lietaer is too friendly and modest a man to say it that way, but this is the easiest possible way to sum up his message. If you did know what money was, then you—we—would see to it that we had a different monetary system.

Everything revolves around money. It's more than a cliché; it's the daily experience of just about every world citizen not part of an indigenous tribe in the Amazon rain forest. And this daily experience involves, above all else, a continuous shortage of money. There is not enough money to send the children to school. Not enough money for hospitals, or to care for the ever-greater numbers of old people who are getting ever older. Not enough money to clean up the environment and keep it that way.

There is a lot of work to do, but no money to pay for it. Who among us is not familiar with the feeling of wanting to contribute something but having "no money" to pay for that valuable contribution? The sad conclusion: If we just had more money, the world and our lives would be better.

But Bernard Lietaer recommends another way around the problem: We could immerse ourselves in the meaning of money.

He sits on the edge of his chair and poses this question: "Have you ever thought about how much time you spend earning money, and managing or spending the money you've earned? And how often have you thought about what money actually is? We expend an enormous amount of energy—and frustration—on something we understand surprisingly little about."

What difference does it make, you might ask? Does it matter whether a fish knows it is swimming in water? Isn't money like the weather: a given? You can't change it.

Lietaer, a business professor and former banker in Belgium, shakes his head. We are meeting on Cortes Island, off the coast of Vancouver, British Columbia, where he is attending a conference. "That is precisely the difference," he says. "The weather, indeed, you cannot change.

But money wasn't created by God: We have forgotten that it's a system designed by people. And I believe that this design, which dates from centuries ago, is at the root of most problems in our society. And the good news is that with a small change to the money system we can make an important contribution to the solution of a number of those problems."

Lietaer's proposal is to introduce—alongside the existing national currencies—complementary money systems on a large scale. Based on barter, these systems would fulfill needs and make transactions possible when "normal" money is unavailable.

His idea is less revolutionary than it appears. In history, as well as in the world today, there are many successful examples of such systems—from the construction of European cathedrals in the Middle Ages and temples in Bali today to the present-day care systems for the elderly in Japan and airlines' frequent-flyer programs. What these systems have in common is that they do not promote competition, but cooperation; they support community instead of undermining it; and they make possible important and valuable work.

Lietaer says, "Complementary money systems put us in a position to be ourselves—to literally cash in on our talents. Even when there's no official financial market for them."

According to him, the possibilities of such systems are virtually unlimited. "I'm not saying reformation of the monetary system will solve all our problems. But I know that money is one of the key functions. There is actually nothing that doesn't have to do with money. It is an extremely vital element. I am convinced that within a generation we can realize great positive changes."

Bernard Lietaer discovered the destructive effects of the prevailing monetary system while working in Latin America during the 1970s. "Enormous loans were being granted for senseless projects. The banks were throwing money around. I wondered if I was seeing things other people weren't seeing."

As a professor of international finance at the University of Leuven in Belgium, he wrote a book about his experiences in which he predicted a major debt crisis. The book came out in 1979. In 1981 the crisis in South America broke loose.

Lietaer's belief that the global monetary system needed reform led him to the Belgian Central Bank, where for several years he was involved in the establishment of the "ECU," or European Currency Unit, the precursor of the euro. He subsequently became general manager of a foreign-currency fund. His remarkable successes in that capacity attracted international attention. The influential U.S. magazine Business Week proclaimed him the world's best currency dealer in 1991.

Even more than that, Lietaer had become a genuine expert on money, privy to the deepest secrets of the financial world. He decided it was time to write new books. While teaching at the University of California in Berkeley and California's Sonoma State University, in the 1990s, he worked on The Mystery of Money (Riemann Verlag, 2000) and The Future of Money (Random House UK, 2001). These books unravel the present concept of money and show how different approaches have different social consequences—including environmental and social sustainability.

According to economics textbooks, money is value-free. It is nothing more than a means of exchange and is regarded as having no effect on transactions. Lietaer contests that view. "Money isn't at all value-free," he argues.

"The monetary system is programmed—albeit not deliberately—to cause certain behaviour. It promotes competition and short-term thinking; it forces economic growth; and it undervalues care, education and tasks crucial to maintaining a society. Economics theory teaches us that people compete for markets and raw materials; I think, in reality, people compete for money."

This competition is a direct consequence of the manner in which money is created. Banks put money into circulation by means of loans. For example, as soon as someone negotiates a 100,000-dollar mortgage, money is created and begins circulating in the economy. But then the bank expects the recipient of the loan to pay back a total of 200,000 dollars in repayment and interest over the next 20 years.

But the bank does not create the second 100,000 dollars. The receiver of the loan must get hold of that money—the interest—one way or another, and this forces him or her to compete with others. It's simple: Some people must lose money or go bankrupt in order to put others in the position to pay off their loans.

At the same time, this collection of interest results in a concentration of wealth: Those who have money "automatically" get richer. In addition, the system forces society into an endless loop of economic growth: New money must constantly be put into circulation to pay off old loans. Lietaer says, "My conclusion is that greed and the competitive drive are not inherent human qualities. They are continuously stimulated by the kind of money we use. There is more than enough food and work for everyone. There is merely a scarcity of money."

A monetary system driven by interest payments also blocks progress toward a sustainable economy. "The environment is a time problem," Lietaer says. "A company like Shell undoubtedly has a better idea of the next century's energy needs than any government. But within the current monetary system we cannot entrust Shell with the future. Shell has to make a profit today. A government bears the responsibility for the future of the society."

Business investments today are weighed against interest rates. This continually leads to short-term choices. "It is financially attractive to cut down trees, sell them and put the money in the bank," Lietaer says. "Through interest, the money in the bank grows faster than the trees. Solar panels, by contrast, require investments that are only earned back over longer periods. The long repayment period makes these investments no match for the growth of money you can put in the bank today to earn interest.

"You wouldn't be able to build a cathedral (see box) within the existing monetary system. Those were investments over decades. And they ultimately had an extremely long-term yield: Eight hundred years later people still go to Chartres every day to see the labyrinth in the cathedral—and those people still make up the majority of the clientele of the city's merchants."

Businesses are trying more and more often to avoid expensive, competition-promoting money. Barter now accounts for almost 15 percent of world trade. And it's increasing every year by 15 percent, while trade conducted with money is growing at just 5 percent annually. Barter is also the basis of the complementary money systems Lietaer advocates as a solution to the social and ecological disruption our current money system causes.

The emergence of complementary money systems began 20 years ago in Canada with LETS, Local Exchange Trading Systems. Certain communities issued local currencies that people could use to exchange services. You might, say, repair your neighbour's car and use the proceeds in local currency to pay someone to paint your house. More than 5,000 such systems are now operating in communities of between 500 and 5,000 people worldwide.

That's just a drop in the bucket of the international monetary system. Bernard Lietaer, however, sees it differently. "Complementary monetary systems are no longer marginal solutions. It is true that they have no macroeconomic impact, but they have proven that they work and can change people's behaviour. It's like with the Wright Brothers when they proved airplanes could fly.

They literally fell down and picked themselves back up again, and their constructions were rickety. But it worked, and so they paved the way for serious high-quality planes. This is the pioneering value of the LETS systems, too."

The next major step for the complementary money systems will involve participation by businesses. "What else are frequent-flyer miles besides a currency issued by an airline?" Lietaer asks. "Initially they were mainly meant to commit customers to a certain airline, but over time you could use them to buy groceries in the supermarket, book hotel rooms and pay your phone bill. And you can earn miles without even flying."

Greater involvement by business, Lietaer says, is crucial for a breakthrough of complementary money systems. In the United States, a system is in development in which health insurers will pay customers for healthy behaviour—for example, spending an hour in the gym. People can then use this payment to buy certain things: bicycles, organic food, preventive acupuncture treatments.

"This isn't just marginal messing around," Lietaer says. "Everyone knows health care in the United States and other Western countries is a big problem that affects millions. Health care devours money. It is a remarkable system: It's in the system's interest that people get sick. After all, it can't earn money otherwise. Healthy people are of no use to the health-care system, or more accurately, medical-care system. A complementary system can work the other way around: For instance, only a century ago in China, doctors were paid by their patients when they were not sick. And he paid them, and took care of them, when they were."

In Japan, complementary systems have been developed for care of the elderly. People can earn credits by running errands for elderly people or helping them with housework. They can use the credits to buy extra help if they get sick, or send credits to their old mothers.

"This is an example of how a complementary system can be used to solve a social problem," Lietaer notes. "Almost 20 percent of the Japanese population is older than 65, and that percentage is rising. It is unthinkable that the care for this growing population of old people can be paid for under the current social-security system. Japan is solving this with a new complementary currency, which in addition supports the social structures in the country."

In Germany, authorities are collaborating with banks to develop a complementary money system for a million participants. In Brazil, a plan is afoot to finance education for poor families using a complementary currency. Bernard Lietaer enthusiastically offers example after example. "Money is nothing more than an agreement to use something as a means of exchange," he says. "Money is not a thing. It is an agreement, like a marriage or a business contract. And that means you can always make a new and different agreement."

Lietaer knows money can change the world: "I choose to remain optimistic. I can see how a crisis in the dollar could cause the global economy to collapse. Don't forget that in the last 25 years almost 90 countries have suffered severe currency crises. But I also know that together we have all the knowledge and means we need for a peaceful evolution. I want to help liberate that creativity. To design money that works for us, instead of us working for it."

======================================================

Thanks again for you writings,

Rev. Lindsay G. King
An intuitive economist.

905-764-1125





G~O~D--Now & ForeverIS:Nature, Nurture & PNEUMA-ture, Thanks to Warren Farr&ME AT www.unitheist.org
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TO OUR FELLOW AMERICAN COUSINS, FROM CANADA, WE ASK:
Are you listening to your CONGRESSMAN, RON PAUL? (BTW, he ought to speak slower, so that we all get it): THE CURRENT FINANCIAL SYSTEM is broken. It is the result of greed and fraud, which, BTW, members of www.flfcanada.com predicted would happen.

The following was sent to me by one of our consultants. Please pay attention:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qzUtPq8pLE


G~O~D--Now & ForeverIS:Nature, Nurture & PNEUMA-ture, Thanks to Warren Farr&ME AT www.unitheist.org
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 2,311
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Will our American cousins please tell us: What is the following all about?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XgkeTanCGI

Are you now under the economic martial-law power of the US Treasury?

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