I frequent a particular bookstore downtown and while I was in there I overheard a conversation taking place between one particular gentlemen and the store owner; and they were talking about an alternative form of currency (another form of money used outside of the Canadian National Dollar known to us as the Loonie lol and it surely is crazy). This particular man was Toronto Dollar president Glen Alan; shown here in the video above; speaking about how we can make Toronto a more sustainable city; this interview also includes author and monetary theorist Thomas H. Greco (via: Skype) who talks about "reinventing money" and the solution to the current economic situation worldwide. It was an honor to meet such a man who is pioneering a grass-roots movement that can help insulate Torontonians from a potential financial crisis and the dependency it can create.
My thoughts: One of the biggest problems with the current economy is the inherent inequity built into the system. We can all create value, but a privileged few can create money, literally from nothing. They use that privilege to control the monetary system and they take value from those who create it. We are moving out of an industrial age economy and into an information age economy. Yet our information technology carries those same inherent power imbalances. Many believe this is necessary, just as they believe it is necessary for a privileged few to control our monetary system. But what if something very different is possible?
We will not have an equitable nor a healthy economy in an information age, until we have information technology which empowers us equitably -- that is decentralized, peer-to-peer and operates by mutual agreement. I couldn't believe it when I heard that someone was doing just that within my own community/city of Toronto, and that the network has grown to a number of 150 cooperating businesses, all of them using an alternative currency, accepted and recognized as valid by all mutual participants. I was amazed that such a program exists here in Canada and that it was already being popularly implemented.
The Toronto Dollar is a local currency that brings businesses, community groups and individuals together by encouraging people to shop locally and reinvest in their community. 10% of every Toronto Dollar purchased goes directly to support local community groups and causes. The Toronto Dollar has generated over $110,000 which have been distributed in over 40 different grants to community groups and charities since it began in 1998.
“Paper money as such is alright, provided that our authorities are perfect and the kings are of divine intelligence“
- Aristotle
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