A Different Time - Issue #15 - Fall 2005
A Different Time
Imagine a world where money does not exist. How would we meet our needs? What if there were a different currency system than the one we now know? What would that money be like? Discovering the potential for something different makes participating in a community based currency system possibly one of the most profound projects around. The way local currency works is based on a simple concept: developing a community network of people, combining their time, skills, talents, goods, and services, and transforming them into valuable local money. This process is astounding simply because of the ability that people have to take control and create a local system for exchange. Everyone uses money, and the Dollar affects every single person’s life in a multitude of ways. We use dollars to feed ourselves, pay for shelter, and meet basic survival needs. With the Dollar comes the potential for great struggle or success. Redefining a monetary system on a local level allows us to shape a system that better serves the people who use it. Local currency adds to the local money supply and creates opportunities for new jobs and home based businesses. By participating in a community currency program, we are taking regional economics and on a grass roots level developing a system of local enrichment and control.
A community-based currency is created and controlled directly by citizens within the region. Where money traditionally comes from banks, credit cards, and time clocks, local dollars come from friends, neighbors, and local business owners. The concept of local currency is basic. Its value is in the people who participate. The currency becomes stronger as more people back the currency by offering goods and services in exchange for the locally printed notes. These local dollars are not backed by gold or silver but by something even more valuable: the skills, talents, and resources of your neighbors in the region who live all around you. Inside this newspaper you will find a directory containing over 200 listings of people who are willing to back the local currency, HOURS.
What can you contribute to this directory? What skills, talents, and abilities could you teach? What information and knowledge could you share with others? Are you an artist, craftsperson, tradesperson, or business owner? Become a valuable part of this directory by placing a listing contributing to the network of resources available in our region in exchange for local currency.
Creating valuable money is just one highlight of a local currency program. It’s not only about creating more dollars but more importantly cultivating a system that better serves us. Local money brings a sense of community as we negotiate trades with our neighbors. Where the current monetary system drives the urgency for some people to scramble blindly in pursuit of green riches, trades made with HOUR currency are an expression of connection and participation in a shared community. We can be assured that when this local currency leaves our hands that it is bound to make an endless loop right here in this region, building new friendships and networks between neighbors, creating new jobs, helping small businesses, and adding a richness to the community spirit.
You don’t have to be a member of the HOUR Exchange to pay with HOURS or accept HOURS as payment. However, those who become members receive $30 in start up HOURS, support the publication of this free newsletter, contribute to the amount of grants that we make available to community groups, and are able to place listings in this quarterly newsletter for the goods and/or services they offer. The deadline to be listed in the next issue of the HOUR Trader is December 1, 2005. Please use the form on the back page of this newspaper to send in new membership listings or renewals. Join us in redefining economics. Your participation adds to our success!