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June 5, 2009
‘SYSTEMIC FAILURE’ OF CAPITALISM
Paradigm shift needed
THE recent filing for bankruptcy by General Motors is further testament to the systemic failure of capitalism.
We should ask ourselves if we still want to wait for some people in a boardroom to decide where to invest. How long can we rely on government handouts? Instead of waiting for governments to solve all problems, people have to start acting for themselves.
We should try to create opportunities for ourselves and then ask the Government to come on board to help.
One major problem is our perceived lack of opportunities because we see our situation as cash-strapped. But there are ways to work around this. Here are some suggestions:
People should have a look at bartering services that are available here or create their own. An online search will reveal many such opportunities.
Create and use complementary currencies which may involve limited use of a national currency. For instance, such a currency could be used by some home-grown industries to exchange commodities among themselves and by those who want to buy their products.
Start a time bank system where people help one another with services and then ask for help in return. For instance, someone gives home tuition to a child in return for the parents picking up the tutor’s child from school.
Once such ideas are under way, those involved can approach the Government for assistance. The Government should not impose a tax on those engaged in the commercial use of such currencies, as it is a means of creating work and keeping commodities circulating without having to rely heavily on a national currency.
The Government could set up a community or nationally based time bank system where those who clock in time in community service, for example, can use the points gained to receive concessions on public transport, vouchers for house-brand products at FairPrice supermarkets, or even health-care concessions.
This is a way to build opportunity and community bonding among people without requiring competition to gain results. Collaboration and consensus building are the mainstays of this new paradigm.
As Albert Einstein said wisely: ‘We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.’
Sanjay Perera
Related posts:
“Create and use complementary currencies”
Jct: Best of all, when the local currency is pegged to the Time Standard of Money (how many dollars/hour child labor) Hours earned locally can be intertraded with other timebanks globally!
In 1999, I paid for 39/40 nights in Europe with an IOU for a night back in Canada worth 5 Hours.
U.N. Millennium Declaration UNILETS Resolution C6 to governments is for a time-based currency to restructure the global financial architecture.
See my banking systems engineering analysis at http://youtube.com/kingofthepaupers