phase 3

what about ecoregional local currency (Humboldt, Rogue Vally, Willamette Vally, Puget Sound, Yakama Valley, Fraser Valley, Coastal and other ecoregions as examples within Cascadia and ofcourse other bioregions would have their own ecoregional currencies) that can be exchanged for a bioregional currency? The currency could be based on food and other organically production. It would be very localized. There was a dual currency system used in the Aurora community near Salem Oregon in the 1840s and after. One currency was the communal currancy of the community members (used only for the commune) and the other was the currency of the outsiders (I had assumed the US currency, but given that the beaver coin dominated the area it might have been the beaver coin).

note: ecoregions are subregions within a bioregion

well whether we call it a redefining of a religious (or spiritual.. personally I hate the word "spiritual") connection or a ecologically minded or ecocentric or whatever connection with the wolrd around us (Nature, Gaia, the Divine or all in the same) we I think are all seeking a new or different connection with biotic communities and dynamic systems around us. In many ways its a solitary path and yet on a global level we, the species, MUST have a paradigm shift if we, as a species, is to survive.

So some might say a deeper relationship with the Divine other might say a greater and more meaningful interconnectedness with the environments around us and some may say learning to be respectful and conscious of others beings and systems within our daily existence... and others might say a combination or all the above, but we all know something must change and that change is in our thinking and manifested in our actions.

All this is about phase 3 of being an eco-pioneer so I submit an ancient quote that fits for phase 3:

"... to be both a speaker of words and a doer of deeds."
- Homer, The Iliad BOOK IX

I know India has been working with Jatropha curcas to use as biodiesel. Why did it fail in Costa Rica? I am right now literally trying to write a proposal for a vehicle that would use biodiesel.. hence procrastination.. and have an associate back at home who converts engines (actually teaches workshops) who is hoping I can pull of this project and I have another Cascadian comrad (who is a botanist) who was interested in Jatropha curcas (grown in greenhouses in the post petroleum age). Though my proposal is not at all dependant on Jatropha curcas .. because I believe we have all the potential biofuel we could want here (if we rethink our relationship with space and use of land ... victory gardens not lawns and permacultured roof tops.. and second deal with population settlement patterns and numbers) ... I am curious to the failure in Costa Rica with Jatropha curcas. Was it that the population was not ready for biodiesel due to cheap light sweet crude from Venezuela? Or was the Costa Rica infrastructure and communities not ready for a shift? Was there enough diesel engines to convert or the knowlegde to convert? Or was Brazil's ethanol shift pushing out biodiesel as a choice in some central and south American countries because of cheap suger cane production and yield?

sorry I just read the rest of that... I was doing too many things to pay full attention.. and shot off a quick response instead of sitting at first a reading where I left off.

mmm...
I don't mean we should try to do without...
unless that is what we value.

I simply put in the part about a world without a currency because... in my dream of the future... it's not that we well have to do without currency, nor is it that we will do away with currency... just merely that currency will be less significant in so much as we may not ~need~ it in the same ways we do today.

perhaps what B is working on will be a way of transcending what we know today as currency... and therefore... currency, although not altogether abandon, will have to take a back seat.

there are many way's of looking at it all...
I'm just trying to spur some out of box type thought!

you just drove the ball right down center field Lorenzo - cleared the wall and into the bleachers!

despite our best intentions upon the inception of a medium of exchange, money is a tool. and, like any other tool - it's all in how we use it.

but true wisdom lay in the knowledge that this tool is not altogether necessary for the fundamentals of our survival. now the problem with all these bi-peddle monkeys is that they want more then survival... we want comfort!

but comfort often comes at a cost... one that is, as of yet, not covered under any monetary system. it's not so much that people don't want to pay their dues but that they fail to associate their comfort with the real costs associated. we are, for the most part, very myopic and shortsighted creatures.

but now today we are beginning to see our survival threatened by this shortsightedness. and so it is that we find ourselves here discussing what can be done.

from my vantage point I see a myriad of solutions... but invariably they all seem to depend upon each individuals level of resourcefulness.

money does not matter to a fruit tree - and yet it gifts us more fruit than we could at once eat! in addition, the tree asks nothing in return, but if listened to... will tell you everything you need to know about how to increase it's yield year after year.

this is true with all life.
currencies are simply ways for us to represent the things we value... the side effect is that this leads to the over appropriation of "wealth". a new monetary system would have to, in order for it to be and remain sustainable, be a true and clear representation of the value of all available resource within the area of exchange. that is to say, although I like Roy's idea of the 'carbon' as a medium of exchange, I don't feel it goes quite far enough.

how many 'carbons' to pollute the water?

there would have to be a continual measurement of resource quantity and quality in order for any representation of these things to be truly representative. and that brings into question not only our capacity to develop such indicators but how we might go about measuring the subjective nature of ideas (which is really all value is in the first place).

in my opinion (and this is merely an opinion) I feel that it would be more advantageous of us to pursue a limitation of the use of currency as much as possible (not only on a local but also a global scale). if currency is to be exchanged it is ~our~ responsibility to make every attempt to use a currency that is in line with our personal set of values.
- I don't know about the rest of you... but I would love to live without currency altogether! that is... so long as I could still provide for my needs and live a comfortable life - and I truly believe this to be possible without the implicit ~need~ for a medium of exchange.

if I disagree with the values supporting the USD then I'm going to do everything in my power to remove it as an intermediary between myself and my means of survival!
for me, that is what it all boils down to!

it's like the the old Cree Indian Proverb says...
"Only when the last tree is cut; only when the last river is polluted; only when the last fish is caught; only then will they realize that you cannot eat money."

now...
some will object in saying that we cannot run a global society in this way, to which I would have to agree! on a small scale a cashless society is fairly easy to envision. so long as we value the ties of family over currency, for example, internal family affairs can be settled without the need for a such a medium. but on a larger scale - lets say - between nations, the complexities are far to great to handle without a such a medium.

the solution than (again only my opinion here) is to break down the size of these larger entities - at the very least in an economic sense - so that the use of intermediaries are limited to use only upon absolute necessity thereby making barter the mainstay of the economic model and having some otherwise valueless medium of exchange only for supplemental purposes. (this could perhaps be accomplished with something as simple as a promisary note.)

the reason I say the medium would be otherwise valueless is because, in trying to encourage barter, you are trying to discourage the use of such mediums. to go further, such exchanges should impose penalties for their use.

this is all very theoretical I understand... but it's fun to imagine...

Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

-John Lennon