Some of my friends have heard me talk briefly about building social capital, working on sustainable development, connecting the climate catastrophes we are living into their root cause, so that we may properly address it at the scale needed to avoid climate catastrophe... In this essay I’ll attempt to guide you through my learning path into discovering monetary systems design and how they further shape everything we live in.
How did I land in this field? Beginnings in environmentalism:
I started, of course, with curiosities in social justice and great passion for environmental justice, recognizing the killing of the buffalo in our nation’s history as one unforgivable act against nature, of the same scale of ecocide as nuclear war. I studied biology because of my passion for human health, and I tried to plug the two together in my studies, but more so in my extracurricular activities. Environmentalism first came to my consciousness in the waste I would see around me, in plastic, in food, in pollution and byproducts dumped into the “away” that trash bins promise. I started the students’ green team at U.T.E.P. one year into my bachelors’ studies, where we focused on reducing waste. This led me to implement Eco-Takeouts , a program to eliminate Styrofoam and food related waste streams. I thought the challenges of the environmental world were behavioral-if people could just be as conscious as I was about the natural world, and how it serves us, surely, they won’t theow away an apple after only one bite. I was also aware that it was HARD to be ultra conscious every minute of every day- I pledged that our Green Team would aim to make sustainability accessible. How can the built environment be improved to foster these values, of sustainability, community engagement, ecological consciousness? The answer is of course, policy, the rules that set the game pieces on the board. Without a policy to establish there to be recycle bins, how can we expect behavioral change?
I began to unravel the treads and find my political empowerment through the Bernie campaign, and further with Citizens Climate Lobby. It was also clear that the rhetoric used in politics made a big difference to people’s attitudes, as the Trump presidency trudged on. I was happy to connect with other empowered ordinary citizens (like CCL) that use their political voices to build political will in our representatives and community leaders so that they will support the carbon fee and dividend . The EICDA bill was my first exposure to how economics could be used as a tool to make things we want less off, more expensive after all, it had worked with cigarettes and tobacco right? If we could put a price on pollution and internalize the externalities surely this whole mess could be solved. If we could dis-incentivize meat eating by placing a consumer borne tax on animal products, we could also build a healthier population and planet, I reasoned, as my partner and I launched our campaign of Planting Solutions -a spinoff off Citizens Climate Lobby aimed at fixing the agricultural side of the problem and emissions and land abuse in animal farming. Our campaign didn’t quite take off- although we did spread the word to reducetarians about the problem of meat subsidies as an obstacle to the plant-based movement to gain traction. We worked on that campaign until I had to pause it for my graduate studies.
Graduate school, SES in human health, health disparities and Disability and work
Throughout my graduate studies in biobehavioral health, one of the factors we analyzed was family’s socioeconomic status. It was insightful work, finding patterns in long term health for cardiovascular health markers, based on whether the children had gone through the co-parenting program which facilitated, and based on socioeconomic status up to their parents’ history. I loved that researchers were analyzing relationships of health with economics. But I grew frustrated when studies would significantly show socioeconomic status relating to health, and then concluded with a side note of “we hope this will guide policy decisions”. Little change was visible in policy even though articles from the early 2000s and prior were showing the need for financial support and stability for families. I was swept away with different branches of the biopsychosocial analysis of health, health disparities, and also explored disability, as a lived experience of my own. As I struggled with my own health, I questioned scholarly definitions of work, productivity, what the fruits of labor are and how costs and benefits are structured.
I’ve experienced better "economies"—better household and community management if you will— in the enclosed system of immersive summer camps, where work of camping and the minimalist, naturalist lifestyles of the Voyageurs showed me the simple life’s wonders, where community can be generous, hardworking and motivated without a visible money system. It’s a matter of perspective and honestly humanity, especially the US has been in a fishbowl, with regards to our economic system quite a while.
But we have all seen a glimpse of different perspective, where things can be slowed. We’ve all lived through a slowing- when COVID was first around and global pollution decreased significantly… What did we want out of life in that time when it all slowed down? I want us all to have a 4-day work week at most-- more time for leisure healing, social gathering- a social determinant of healthy living I studied professionally in BBH, and I see the most viable way to achieve these large scale systemic changes to be the implementation of debt free- national asset money, that rotates around for projects that serve public good.
It has been tried and tested with great success in Worgl, Germany, where a local currency with demurrage was established to boost the economy, during a time of great unrest. Human health flourishes when we have to worry less about our human needs, which are ever challenged under a system of debt and intentional scarcity. We cannot afford to overlook the fact that we are in a time of greater inequality than during the French revolution. We cannot afford to keep this system unsustainable and unjust.
So let me introduce you to monetary reform…
Monetary reform as defined by the American Monetary Institute is a reform addressing the main flaw in our money supply – that it is created by banks when they issue loans as debt. One flaw this system causes is that money tends to accumulate at the top, and in projects that are exploitative and profitable, hence fossil fuels and high housing costs. As banks seek to enlarge their profits, they set high interest rates and create loans on the principle that is lent out to the profit building corporations (big flaw in our democracy- see article on move to amend). Another flaw in this scheme is that the interest that the companies are supposed to pay back, never actually gets created into the system _ think of it as the entire tub of money that is in the circulating economy. The money supply goes down the drain as debt is paid and is filled as the loan tap is open- however because of the math- there is never enough money in the whole tub! That is why money created as debt is always going to lead to some people being in debt. Debt is a trap for poverty- which will therefore not be able to be eliminated while we continue with this money design system.
This isn’t the only way to ‘do’ money, or exchange systems. Even Harvard law professor, Christine Desan argues that money can be designed for the wellbeing of humanity, and our planet’s sustainability and balance. Other scholars, Kate Raworth have reworked the goal of economics from growth in all directions towards a controlled development to fulfil humans base needs, while staying within the limits of what our planet can withhold as far as resource balance and cycling ( see Doughnut economics ). These models that consider what works best for our collective home management inspire me. I see within them implementable systems that can help our health and sustainability at a policy and community level. I work mobilizing a multifaceted solution to climate change, and one of those facets is monetary reform.
Though this topic is hard, and can be quite monotonous/boring at times, learning about it, and its deep connections affecting everything I love and care, is how I show the world that I care. I love our world, and humanity and I am willing to do my part to fix it. I encourage you to join the mix of non- economists and miscellaneous activists who have landed in the deep-rooted trowel to uproot a toxic money system, and implement a solidarity economy of generosity, mutual trust without systemic discrimination, and Just Money for the Just Transition.
If we fix this, our corrupt exchange system where the playing field is anything but even, all our other problems get smaller! We won’t need to fight misinformation from fossil fuels we’ll be able to not only divest, but also turn off the floodgates of money going to all extractive and exploitative industries, we’ll be able to invest in sustainable solutions like a Green New Deal, and a just transition. Just money is how we can pay for it so learn more and get involved! Please join me and learn more about these issues!
Enjoy my cartoon story of activism which I've published on AFJM social media some times.
Part 2 exploring why Just Money is the perfect way to transition our economy off of debt and into sustainability and justice! After all... our constitution says money shall be controlled by congress, and congress shall be under democratic control! so we need to Democratize Money!
Once again, you're invited to join the artistic representation of a Just and Democratic Economy with the Singing tree Project--> register at monetaryalliance.org/events!
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