The information we share in our latest e-book from A Whole New World, True Wealth: How You Can Create Local Currency Systems and Why You Must Start Now, is very practical. Ten experts on complementary currencies share how real alternatives to money are revitalizing communities all over the world. They give many examples of local economic systems which are currently up and running and point to how you can get involved and stimulate the flow of wealth for yourself and your community.
The mainstream banking system is in trouble everywhere and it is only being kept going by the creation of more and more money which actually isn’t based on real wealth. In True Wealth several contributors explain in very simple terms why the mainstream economy is sick and how we can transition to a more healthy system. This is very exciting because there are simple and effective ways we can take power back into our own hands.
The effects of the crisis in the banking system are very clear to see in our everyday lives. Every visit to the supermarket or the petrol pump is another experience of how we are getting less value for our dollars. More and more people have less and less disposable income; the money we have is being spent on necessities such as food, shelter, power and transport. So many services which previously provided people with livelihood such as healing services like massage, or artisan crafts like furniture making, or increasingly the tourist industry, are now considered luxuries and out of reach for the majority of people. This in turn means it has become increasingly challenging to keep small businesses afloat. Economic hardship creates contraction and stress and can lead to isolation, increased competitiveness, distrust and depression.
Luckily, there is another side to all of this and this is the upbeat, hopeful side of the human experience that TRUE WEALTH illuminates. We humans are endlessly inventive and resourceful and left to our own devices, without too many rules and legislation to hamper our creativity; we will always be able to find solutions to our problems. So what we are witnessing in response to the enormous challenges we are facing now, individually and collectively, is an explosion of creativity and ingenuity at the grassroots.
Complementary currencies operate alongside the mainstream economy and they provide opportunities to stimulate the flow of giving and receiving and the growth of genuine care and connection in local communities. They are not a new fad; we humans have had ways of exchanging and bartering with each other forever and during the last several decades new culture makers have been evolving all kinds of practical systems for living in harmony with the Earth and building resilient community with each other. What we haven’t had before is a way of connecting globally as we have now. With the miraculous gift of the internet we can spread information rapidly and evolve our creative thinking and practical experiments together. This is what gives me the greatest hope as we push our way through the birth canal to a whole new world.
Here’s what some of the True Wealth experts say:
“In times of systemic collapse I see a community currency as a number one survival tool for any community because it enables both social cohesion and the entrepreneurship that will be needed.” –Laurence Boomert , Co-Founder of the New Economics Party, New Zealand.
“Anyone can find a way to increase their income and spending power by earning HANDS. This complementary currency system values people’s skills that may not be honoured in the conventional cash system, allowing the vast untapped potential in every one of us to flow freely.” –Joanna Piekarski, an active member of H.A.N.D.S (How About Non Dollar System) in Golden Bay, New Zealand
“And for me this waking up within the context of the currency of a monetary system is recognizing that we’re truly not victims of a system that already exists. But that we are creators. And we can create in relation to others and in relation to the place and the planet, and create systems that work for us.” -Faye Cox, Consultant in the emerging field of complementary currencies, Santa Barbara, USA
I have so much more I want to share with you. Those of you who know me well will be aware that my passion and expertise lie in the raising of consciousness and bridging between the inner and outer world and so there is much I want to explore with you about the creative process itself and how we step by step bring our visions down to Earth. But this project on complementary currencies and new culture making has awakened me in a new way. We live in exciting and challenging times and there is no room for complacency now. It’s time for empowered action. The mission of Whole New World is to connect, encourage, inspire and inform those of us who are hearing this call.
Oh, and by the way, the TRUE WEALTH e-book includes seven downloadable mp3 recordings for those of you who prefer to listen. To find out more and to buy your copy of the e-book go here: http://www.awholenewworld.net/true-wealth-currencies.html
