Being and Nothingness - A Trilogy on Money: Part 3

-


In the current situation where  the individual as a component of the economy and the economy as a whole is under duress, only a spirit of cooperation and sacrifice can uplift us collectively. In our monetized worlds, every action or activity has an attached value which the individual will try to monetize, thus moving the wheels of the economy.  In the lockdown, most activities were suspended, causing sudden breaks on the economic engine. Money as the fuel for this engine needs trade or value to change hands. As this did not happen, economic parameters like GDP fell.  But what does a ‘falling economy’ really mean to us individually? As individuals our activities will not stop, only thing they will not be monetized to be taken into account as fuel for the economy.

That is where the spirit of co-operation and sacrifice comes in, particularly in the field of care giving and civic activity. People marginalized by the conventional economy can find themselves gainfully contributing through Time Banks that get together local people and organizations utilizing their untapped skills and resources. The time spent can be redeemed for services they require. The can even engage themselves within local communities creating a social trust or ‘social capital’,  a public good created by citizens. For example taking ownership of public spaces, countering crime, promoting health awareness, environment awareness like recycling, etc. These are out of the ambit of a monitory economy. This model of voluntary interdependence replaces involuntary dependence that comes with a market economy based on industrial and market specialization. In short we are building a social capital, a web of relationships based on trust and mutual interdependence that underscores our existence as social beings rather than atomized individuals that fit in as a peg in the economic machinery.

Extending the idea of community cooperation, monitory system can be managed by communities or lending platforms. It removes dependence on Govt. agencies, bankers and politicians. States have time and again failed to guarantee the value of money and its role in its sovereignty. Loss of faith in its value has resulted in economic and even political instability, even war. The global financial crisis and bailouts of major financial institutions has added to the skepticism about state-supported currencies. The monetary system as it stands is bound to undergo significant changes in the years to come because it is compromised by issues such as inflation, the illicit economy and counterfeiting. Moreover they may be a hindrance for people, business, governments to work optimally.

We have seen how trust in money has been eroded and its value is under pressure. It is relatively easy it is to defraud, cheat, and lose money in the current financial system. The banks print money out of thin air.  Today, we are closer than ever to a financial revolution in which money will disappear and be replaced by something else. Physical banknotes will be substituted by local social currencies such as Time Banks, building social capital  or even companies or organizations giving loyalty points among others. Starbucks for example has built an entire ecosystem around ‘Stars’ which constitutes 40% of its sales.

The last decade has seen the emergence of financial technology (fintech for short) that offers alternatives to traditional means of payment.  These so called crypto currencies, Bitcoin being the first one, have the potential of transforming payment services using the underpinning distributed ledger technology called 'blockchain'.  This would reduce the role of central banks and weaken state authority over the money supply and remove their  role as an intermediary.

There is a disintegration of our traditional perception of money. The global economic system as it stands today is deeply unfair and unsustainable. One of the key functions of money as a store of value is becoming an illusion. Around the world millions are addressing this. In Israel, which is the pioneer in fintech, fueled by lack of trust in banks, there are close to a 100 alternative ‘currencies’ through which you can do everyday transactions and which directly compete with the state supported shekel. They do not just boast ethical leadership but also regulations, making them passable as global currencies, credit and lending systems, as well as savings methods.

Money for centuries has been central to human relationships. The increasing monetization of our activities has made us atomized, breaking us from our social organization and milieu. The new idea of money is essentially decentralized where as individuals we can attribute a value to ourselves based on our voluntary contribution and social capital rather than an external, volatile, arbitrary  value of money.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Weekend Musings: What One Life Taught Me About Peace

-
Image
  Remembering Albert Schweitzer For reasons I cannot fully explain, Albert Schweitzer came back to me recently. My first encounter with him was in childhood, when I was barely ten or twelve. I remember a book — blue in colour — far beyond my reading ability at that age. I remember his photograph inside. I remember that it spoke of peace and of service to humanity. I understood neither in any meaningful way, yet something stayed. Perhaps children recognise sincerity before they understand ideas. Life moved on. Over five decades, his name would surface now and then — in passing references, in conversations, in lists of Nobel Peace Prize winners — but I never found the time, or perhaps the inner readiness, to go deeper. And yet, the impression never faded. Today, that unfinished encounter seems to ask for closure. Albert Schweitzer was many things: theologian, philosopher, musician, doctor. But what sets him apart is not achievement; it is choice. At a time when intellectual recognit...
Read more

Weekend Musings: The Leap of the Frog — A Moment in Haiku

-
Image
 An old silent pond— a frog jumps into the pond, splash! Silence again. This weekend’s Musings arose from an invitation to reflect on these lines by Matsuo Bashō. What began as an invitation soon turned into a gentle challenge, as it became clear that the poem invites many ways of seeing. It can even invite silence, as we honour the stillness of the pond. The image is simple, almost bare. A still pond. A sudden leap. A brief splash. And then silence again. Nothing is explained, nothing is concluded. What is offered is a moment, complete in itself. Yet, being a Musing, I must still arrive at my own reading. In these lines, Bashō draws us into a world where there is no past or future — both constructs of the mind, or the ego. He lives entirely moment to moment, in full awareness of it. The past becomes nothing more than memory, a storehouse of conditioning, biases, and habits. The future is merely the drama projected from that past. In such a state of awareness, action is no longer ...
Read more

Election Day Musing: My Keemti Vote

-
Image
Having just completed my duty, or shall we say my right, by casting my vote, a few observations and thoughts came to mind. The walk to the polling booth is something I take almost every few days, so I was not expecting anything eventful to happen. But I was in for a surprise. Unknown people were greeting me and smiling. One particular person, whom I had neither met nor seen before, actually called out my name and said, “Mahimkar saheb, 4 number lakshat theva.” I noticed regular shopkeepers and party workers standing in groups, and it was not difficult to guess their affiliations. Another thing I noticed was a white band across the road with “200 meters” written on it. Closer to the center, it read “100 meters”. When I had seen this a few days earlier, I had not known what it was for, but today it became clear. Strangely, I noticed one more thing—the streets were extra clean, as if one day’s clean roads would influence our decision! The center itself had standard security measures, and...
Read more