In Argentina, an Exchange-Barter Network has been developed by a local community, made up of more than 100,000 members, and allows people to share services and products using non-state credit and coupons. All scripts have a limited shelf-life, making forgery less likely to happen. And it wasn't started by government bureaucrats, but by people who have a stake in their own community. Imagine that! Good ideas are never developed through the government, but rather people on the ground, who come together and establish their own market to trade goods, and reestablish some dignity in their lives.
Argentinians are responding to the decades-long economic and political crisis in their country by listening to constructive ideas in their community, and not some salesman politician who pitches fascist economics that will lead to an even greater level of serfdom.
The volume of transaction is between 400 and 600 million credits a year, equivalent to 600 million dollars. The organizer of the exchange club says an average family who participates in the club can "increase their expenditure to a value of 600 credits a month, which is more than the income in the general population."
What is special about this club is that it uses its own social currency rather than relying on state money. People benefit more in this decentralized system of credit because it is not interest-based, and the scripts don't accumulate, they expire after a certain period of time, thus, the value of the currency is not downgraded over time. Since ancient times, only gold, silver, and hard metals have maintained their value, and have always been used as a saving tool, as a way of safeguarding wealth. Money, when it is constructive, is a social lubricant and a means of exchange, nothing more. The main things are goods, services, etc. And the founders of this this barter/trading system recognize this important fact about money. Another positive thing about this exchange system is that the purchasing power of the members increase, and most people are consumers and producers. In this arrangement, shopping becomes an activity, and requires more engagement by the buyer and seller alike. Also, new members start out with 50 credits, and can contribute their talents and skills, and offer special services.
Getting rich off of having money in the bank is a ludicrous idea, which is currently the case in the world. The more money you have, the higher interest you get back, and the richer you become. If you have little or no money then the bank shuts down your account, or in some cases you have to pay fees for not having enough money saved in the bank. Outrageous! Western banking has put money on a higher pedestal than any other object in history. Not even the God-heads of the ancient days enjoyed this level of devotion and thought.
One member of the club says: "The Exchange Network is a new way of survival, it allows us to see a way out, and sometimes because of the crisis, the political crisis that our country is suffering, we are forced to form a brotherhood of sharing, so we can improve the situation."
As most of the wise men of history have taught, civilization is maintained by local trade and local production. A centralized system produces serfs, passive consumers, and unmotivated people who lose all luster for life.
Poverty will be defeated not by economic programs developed by men in suits sitting across each other on a round table in Switzerland or England, but by local people who serve their local interests. Localization is the best response to globalization. The market, made up of ordinary people and small business owners, is more adaptable than the giant bureaucracies of the Federal government and corporations to fix the economic crisis.
In America, burning the worthless paper issued by the Federal Reserve Bank is the most rationale course that can be taken. Communities across the country need to create their own local currencies, and if these currencies gain attraction, they could be traded across state lines. Each part of the country will have its own method, and work out a model according to their own interests and needs. Uniformity in an economic system is only profitable for Big Business, Big Money, and Big government.
Argentinians have created the future, and it works. Hallelujah!
