Restore The Environment.
Grow the Economy.
What if people got paid to help turn around the climate crisis?
What if we got paid to decarbonize and refurbish the natural world; if preventing our own extinction produced a thriving economy and flourishing ecosystem?
How would that work?
Before we get into a possible solution, let’s take a brief look at the problem.
The Problem
Globally, the biggest issues of the day are how to quickly help turn around the climate crisis, fix the economy, correct income inequality, put food on the table, achieve natural zero population growth, alleviate suffering, provide a platform for social justice and feel good all at the same time. Big issues.
Domestically, many worry about how to maintain their economic security without contributing to these problems. Luckily the world is becoming unified by the need to find solutions to these difficult issues. This is an innovative proposal, but it’s not a modest one.
Above all, the deepest day to day fears for most people is not war or crime – it’s losing our jobs to the efficiency of the internet, computer algorithms and automation. The fear is our households have no healthcare or we spend so much time battling the healthcare system we can’t take care of our people, or someone get sick and faces financial ruin. The fear is we can’t get our kids an education without someone becoming a lifelong debt slave.
The fear is we live in a country that doesn’t care about us – and certainly won’t when we are old, sick and in need of assistance. The fear is that our leadership doesn’t actively maintain a healthy biodiverse environment – the one our lives depend upon.
And the biggest fear, THE CLIMATE CRISIS, a rapidly degrading habitat and a mass die off that no-one seems to have the political capital to address honestly.
It’s time to turn this situation around
But how?
Commercial media has fostered a culture of fear and distraction – we’re told we’re not enough – we are offered purchasable remedies for the anxieties they cultivate–it’s exhausting and disheartening– we’d all much rather feel hopeful about our shared future and excited about waking up each day.
Our present monetary system doesn’t make improving things a part of its equation – part of its base mechanics. It’s a miserable and unstable system prone to crashes and it rewards destructive behavior. But we can quickly turn around these issues while optimizing our economy and realizing our potential as individuals while engendering a sense of cohesion for us as a group.
Right now, we have confluence of two major destructive trends: A trend of ECOLOGICAL INSTABILITY due to C02 driven climate change, habitat destruction, water cycle disruption and pollution. AND a trend of SOCIAL INSTABILITY with increasing anxiety because of declining labor force participation and stagnant real wages in an inflation-based system with growing income inequality, underfunded public education, insufficient public healthcare and an aging population with retirement benefits under threat.
An Oxford study states 47% of all jobs are at high risk of vanishing over the next 20 years.
And that’s not just truck drivers - that includes Doctors and Lawyers. This raises fundamental concerns for massive numbers of people who predictably will live isolated lives as irrelevant people.
It’s important to keep in mind; the sky above our heads is only 6 miles thick – if you get in your car or ride your bike six miles down the road, you don’t get very far – that’s all the atmosphere we’ve got to protect us – it’s not much.
Plus, overpopulation is pushing a mass species die-off worldwide at an alarming rate.
We must transition from a toxic environment with disconnected people to a healthy environment and connected local social communities.
Here’s a possible solution…
This common sense natural approach can help turn around the climate crisis quickly while putting food on the table - stabilize the economy - and population all at the same time.
But, it’s taboo and common sense all wrapped into one…
I call this new parallel money EcoDemurrage Currency
Here’s why, and these few details are important.
First of all, it is a Demurrage Currency, which have a patterned historical record of correcting economic and social ills quickly while creating vibrant societies – I will cover their history later in this paper. Importantly and by-design, Demurrage currency decays in time by approximately .5% a month as a negative compounding curve – it slowly dissolves and eventually disappears - which means no one, rich or poor can hang onto it – because of this factor it discourages hoarding while encouraging people to spend it or invest it in things that continue to hold value in the long term.
A demurrage currency by nature is non-inflationary with only as much currency in circulation as people working to produce it. This factor makes 300 year plus projects possible. Plus, it creates a vibrant economy wherein money changes hands quickly. A 20th century economist, businessman and farmer named Silvio Gessel saw that a grower who brings fresh vegetables to the market must move them along before they rot, but a person who brings non-rotting money to the market has no need to move it along there by restricting the flow of commerce in favor of money hoarding. This new environmental money carries an urgency to avoid rot, causing it to change hands quickly while creating a vibrant economy for all. You see, if $100 dollars sits unused – it’s hoarded – it creates zero activity in the community, but EcoDemurrage, because it’s slowly dissolving like fresh produce, circulates quickly among everyone. One hundred EcoDemurrage units that move ten times becomes 1000 units of transactional wealth in the community – each transaction is a person or business with increased economic activity. And because EcoDemurrage currency dissolves slowly and eventually disappears, there is no inflation. There is only as much currency in circulation as people working to create it, so consequently it encourages high quality environmental work and repair in the long-term. Traditional money has short term goals and creates activity that pushes the environment aside – while EcoDemurrage currency creates activity that refurbishes the environment in an ongoing long-term quality basis.
Plus, EcoDemurrage can be used to repair our communities by providing a currency mechanism for free full education, free healthcare and full retirement that, rather than put a drag on society in turn, create jobs, provide cash flows and promote wellbeing overall in an ongoing long-term basis. Free education gives people the freedom to redefine themselves at any point in their lives and makes our country more resilient as technological disruption and other disruptions eliminate jobs while calling for new skills in emerging areas. Free healthcare gives all people the freedom to stay healthy and would give families on average $1200 per month to use in the greater economy. And free retirement gives people the freedom to face aging without financial fear or burdening their families after a long life of working hard to support family and community.
Here’s the beautiful thing - there is work to be done refurbishing the environment in every corner of America and the world regardless of financial hot spots. Every small town from Bangor to Biloxi, New Hampshire to Arizona would have an abundance of excellent, full time, high quality work with paid job training for people with diverse skills to bring health to the environment and their local economies. This EcoDemurrage work puts money into every household - where it’s needed – so that people can be secure and have time to enjoy life and make a real global impact with the work they do.
I call this money EcoDemurrage currency because it unifies the two biggest concerns of our time – The Economy and The Ecosystem. A big innovation of this currency is it utilizes a similar block chain crypto currency technology and transparent public ledger as Bitcoin for authentication, full transparency and trust, but EcoDemurrage would use the Proof-of-Authority blockchain system that uses tremendously less energy to support. It’s a Digital cryptocurrency – which means everyone using it would have an EcoDemurrage eWallet accessible on their phone that they could use for transaction. Attached to each unit of EcoDemurrage currency is documentation of the completed work that generated the money including photos, schematics, reports and video. The ledger is fully public, transparent and auditable, you or anyone could see the place where the work was done that created the money while maintaining the privacy of the people who did the work. This public accountability of completed and in-process work discourages fraud by creating a trail of documented activity for all to see. This public documentation provides a “proof of work” basis to the currency. The approximately .5% compounding negative monthly Demurrage decay happens automatically as a programmed function of the algorithm. Plus, no bank account is needed for transaction or savings and your account belongs to you and could never be frozen. And importantly this cryptocurrency would not be hoarded like Bitcoin for speculation, but rather compliment it as a flow based currency - bringing health to the world and our households.
The value is tremendous
A stable economy, a stable ecosystem, a society of people with good lives, a healthy beautiful living standard, full education available to everyone, full employment with regular paid vacations, holiday pay and sick pay. And here’s the HUGE BONUS – studies show that when people have good lives with fundamental support, those societies NATURALLY experience zero population growth – look at countries like Italy, Spain and Japan who now experience this effect.
EcoDemurrage runs parallel to the dollar and is pegged to dollar value. It would be used the same way money is used – you can buy goods and services with it, buy a home with it, pay people with it, pay your property taxes and debts with it, have a great night out on the town with it and so on. But there would be no income tax on EcoDemurrage wages because this money is generated through the act of creating wealth and environmental health for the common good – and by nature it’s a non-hording currency – it’s absolutely key that nobody can hang onto it rich or otherwise – it flows – it brings health.
And as an interesting byproduct, it would even help the banks by paying down dangerous debt overhang (in the existing inflation-based system) that threatens their very existence and correct the banks’ inability to raise interest rates without crashing the world economy.
Maintaining zero carbon
One big concern is that the broad-based prosperity EcoDemurrage would create could lead to increased consumption of carbon-creating goods and increased fresh water use in their production. Therefore, conscious attention is needed to create powerful incentives to purchase goods and services that are solely created by zero carbon (CO2) means and produce zero carbon (CO2) in their use, plus products that use very little or no water in their creation. This could be done by creating a registered “Zero Carbon Designation” consumer standard for products that when purchased recapture a percentage of the demurrage decay to greatly incentivize their purchase, while helping industry shift quickly to sustainable practices. Examples of purchases that make your money go further would be a electric bike or electric heat pump system for your home that produces no carbon emissions or local organic vegetables grown using regenerative agriculture or permaculture that uses significantly less water to grow and builds topsoil in the process. An additional powerful incentive is to have zero sales tax on items with the “Zero Carbon Designation” stamp of approval. The purpose of this is to ensure the broad-based prosperity, brought on though full employment, would not lead to increased carbon and water use, but truly ensured activities on mass toward widespread decarbonization, natural carbon sequestration and eco-restoration.
EcoDemurrage eWallet
Check the currency in your eWallet to see if it was created refurbishing the New Jersey Coastline, cleaning up coal tailing ponds in West Virginia, re-planting native forests from coast to coast or engineers developing methane sequestering techniques nationwide.
Adaptation by design
As a species we are beginning to understand that we are DEFINED by the planetary and social relationships that sustain us. This EcoDemurrage currency supports those relationships by giving life and wellbeing to the planet and each other.
The design of this system operates from a first-principles standpoint by looking at money systems as behavior systems. First by asking what behaviors do we want to see in our world. And second by truthfully recognizing all aspects of human behavior in complexity to design systems that evoke the best aspects of humanity while diminishing the destructive qualities.
This system could be organized publicly through government systems or done as an NGO with participating businesses and individuals. The best situation for a quick turnaround of global carbon emissions is worldwide adoption, but starting with local trials could provide a proof of concept and a lab for observation and principled refinement.
The Structure
Any large-scale human effort can only be done through effective organization.
Here is an example of organizing EcoDemurrage in America: We pass a constitutional amendment to establish an EcoDemurrage Agency. The work done by this agency has three main goals – to quickly capture airborne carbon and quickly stop emitting airborne carbon while providing for healthy communities. This is the ONLY government agency that can issue EcoDemurrage currency for exclusively environmental restoration work, to facilitate the fast transition to ZERO CARBON energy production, ZERO CARBON Industrial Practices and Technology, free EDUCATION, free HEALTHCARE and full RETIREMENT. EcoDemurrage could never be used for war. To be clear – this currency, EcoDemurrage, is not created by bank debt. It is rather created by people’s active work and its documentation. EcoDemurrage is ONLY issued by the EcoDemurrage Agency. This work will be done as publicly owned infrastructure work such as utilities, water, sewage, public transportation and massive public EcoRestoration projects, plus public/private partnerships that aid industry with zero carbon research labs. All this is to move us quickly toward efficient healthy interconnected decentralized systems with effective zero-carbon clean technologies within a healthy vibrant resilient ecosystem.
The EcoDemurrage Agency has many wings.
#1. The Environmental Restoration Agency
Refurbishes land, water, air and soil with native habitats, plus the large-scale rewilding of core wilderness areas providing connectivity between such areas and protecting or reintroducing apex predators and keystone species. This work is done everywhere including rural, wilderness, coastal and cites. Planting trees alone soaks up tons and tons of airborne carbon. This agency creates and maintains healthy urban forests that are fire safe. This agency cleans up lakes, rivers, streams and aquifers safeguarding and promoting the heath of natural vibrant water systems. This agency is also in charge of an immediate nationwide push to repair damaged soil and grow healthy top soil to combat desertification while naturally sequestering gigatons of airborne carbon. The rebuilding of previously destroyed complex forests is done with extreme detail and care for these complex interrelated systems of fungi, plant and animal life. Care is taken to provide people access to enjoy these beautiful refurbished environments responsibly. This Environmental Restoration agencies’ work will quickly soak up gigatons of global airborne carbon. Integral to its mission this agency will be enabling and supporting the beauty of nature.
#2. The Insulation Army
Insulates existing homes, buildings and retail free of charge - while installing healthy systems to make these structures passively heated, cooled and zero carbon producing. This agency would also research and develop zero-carbon and non-toxic heating and cooling systems for preexisting structures of all kinds in coordination. Plus, develop passive heating and cooling standards for homes and buildings.
#3. The Zero Carbon Transportation and Infrastructure Agency
Establishes and supports labs, researchers and engineers in new and existing transportation companies to develop and manufacture zero carbon personal and public transportation. This agency supports the transition to walkable cities with safe bicycle infrastructure and free public transportation to incentivize its use - creating livable healthy cities, plus the creation of electric zero-carbon rail to link cities for both people and commerce. This agency also rebuilds needed infrastructure using and developing carbon sequestering concrete technology that pull carbon from the air with the goal of a carbon negative product and process if renewable energy is used in its creation.
#4. The Zero Carbon Labs for Industry
Provides labs for creative new companies and existing companies that have important institutional knowledge to transition, research and develop zero carbon technologies, methods of production and ways of doing business. Engineers and scientists will develop and refine zero carbon processes to make them economically and environmentally superior.
#5. The Zero Carbon Energy Agency
Works within existing companies, new companies and public utilities to quickly develop and switch to zero carbon methods of non-toxic zero-carbon energy production and energy storage systems. This agency also creates a new public nationwide smart energy infrastructure for distribution, storage, safety and continually adjust usage efficiently across state lines. EcoDemurrage also supports the transition of existing dirty energy producers to non-carbon practices, such as oil companies, by developing and maintaining geothermal power sources using oil drilling technology and experience to quickly supplant carbon energy. An additional goal is to develop energy storage techniques that use recycled materials to minimize habitat destruction like gravity storage techniques utilizing recycled building materials and long abandoned vertical mine shafts.
# 6 THE ZERO CARBON FARMING ANGENCY
Provides for labs and farm labor to practice methods that grow carbon sequestering top soil, eliminate toxins, develop perennial forms of deep rooted grain and cereal crops, develop electric farm machinery and utilize agroforestry, regenerative agriculture, permaculture and nature’s integrated systems to their fullest for the health of the soil, air, water and oceans while sequestering airborne carbon and creating gastronomic diversity and beauty in the process.
# 7 THE HEALTHCARE and RETIREMENT AGENCY
Provides EcoDemurrage for healthcare workers, healthcare facilities and retirement pay for all people (separating retirement pay from the stock market’s perpetual growth model is a foundationally important). This agency provides free healthcare for all people, pets and animals. This agency creates and maintains a completely integrated public health system that also effectively monitors and respond to outbreaks of novel pathogens rapidly to contain their spread. EcoDemurrage allows for rapid growth of healthcare and monitoring systems during pandemics, plus research, treatment and prevention and then for the subsequent rapid redistribution of human efforts after pandemics have past. The goal of a stable society with natural zero population growth requires providing for people’s basic needs of healthcare and security in retirement.
# 8 THE EDUCATION AGENCY – Another element for a stable society and natural zero population growth requires EcoDemurrage pay for teachers and professors at all levels making full free education and vocational training available to all people who have the desire regardless of race and gender - so that all future Einsteins, Beethovens, Oprah Winfreys and Grace Hoppers will have a chance to express their genius and contribute to the world in a positive way – and no longer squander our human potential. The foundation of this education is to foster curiosity, self-direction, critical thinking, awareness, ability to exercise personal discipline of mind toward self-improvement, conflict negotiation and building meaningful social communities based in a mutual network of respect. This education is to enable a nimble creative responsive caring society with both individual and mutual respect that moves dynamically in the face of change. Also, the increased frequency of technological disruption and accompanying job losses means people will need to re-invent themselves throughout their lives – therefore full free education is needed for people to re-enter the educational system at any age, plus EcoDemurrage will provide full household support for adults while pursuing a new field of study at any point in their lives. The “work-done” in this case will be to re-educate one’s self. This will enable adults in disrupted industries to safely shift quickly to emerging needed job fields as change occurs in the world. This will be vital to maintaining a vibrant society while evoking a non-linear approach to education allowing greater flexibility to the needs of the society and environment.
# 9 THE BIODIVERSITY AGENCY - Supports, refurbishes and creates complex habitats to stop species extinction of all kinds and Rewild much of the land and water. This agency employing biologists, engineers, plant scientists, hunters, fishermen and veterinarians to create a rich biodiverse world.
#10 THE MARINE RESTORATION AGENCY – Restores the health of our oceans and fisheries while employing off season fishing boats and divers to remove plastic pollution, recue wildlife affected by plastics pollution, refurbish oceanic diversity, protect no fish zones, monitor oceanic health and foster healthy vibrant fisheries and marine biodiversity.
#11 THE PLASTICS POLLUTION AGENCY – This agency’s mission is to quickly eliminate the copious use of plastic, eliminate single-use plastics and eliminate the use of microbeads while developing biodegradable compostable plastic alternatives that do not do not threaten, injure and kill wildlife and toxify our bodies. Also, to clean existing plastic pollution on land and sea and use natural organisms to compost this waste material.
#12 THE ART and CULTURE AGENCY – supports the creation of cultural expression and beauty as an antidote to fear. Importantly, art creates consciousness as a necessary requirement for a stable society. This is publicly accessible art, music, theatre and events available to all peoples.
#13 THE HOME OWNERSHIP AGENCY provides home loans to people to purchase owner-occupied single-family homes with zero interest if paid solely with EcoDemurrage currency.
#14 THE TECHNOLOGICAL DISRUPTION AGENCY – This agency studies emergent technologies, their benefits and dangers. This agency produces public reports and form public policy for the safety and health of both the biosphere and people including economic, social and emotional wellbeing. The main goal is to protect the atmospheric commons, the biological commons, the water system commons, social commons and the genetic commons based in the wisdom of deep time. This agency’s purpose to help avoid the worst possible outcomes. To avoid corruption, bias and encroachment of this agency, individuals previously working in the industries they are seeking to oversee are excluded by law to work for this particular agency. Plus, individuals who work for this agency are forbidden by law once leaving to assume a job in an industry they previously oversaw. This law is of the highest importance to maintain unbiased research and reporting for a healthy future.
#15 THE ENTREPRENEURIAL AGENCY for the creation and support of new zero carbon businesses. This includes food service, transportation and industrial production.
#16 THE ADAPTAION AND DISASTER RESPONSE AGENCY rebuilds communities devastated by climate change in a healthy zero carbon fashion. Contained within this agency is the Disaster Relief Squad that consists of a highly trained teams with expert technical, social, environmental and medical ability to respond at a moment’s notice to environmental disaster. Then, refurbish and care for the community and Ecosystem in the aftermath.
#17 The COMMUNITY HEALTH AGENCY creates beautiful community centers nationwide as a common place for people to gather in community to have meaningful activities with friends, take classes, workout, place of contemplation, dance together, sing together, care for those in need, have weekly community meals together, celebrate our differences and celebrate the work we are all doing together to solve serious issues. Community is a fundamental aspect of a healthy society and healthy individuals.
#18 HOMELESS CAMPUSES – This agency deals head on with the increasing problem of homeless in America. This agency creates homeless campuses across the country to help people get back on their feet. It provides shelter, job and education resource counseling, health care services, health therapies, psychiatric emotional care, transportation, appropriate onsite responsibilities to help foster a community of meaningful support and activities that foster a vibrant community. The aim of these homeless campuses is to truly care for people in need and provided them with the information, care and bridges they need to re-integrate with dignity into a healthy community life.
#19 THE SOCIAL CRISIS RESPONDERS – These crisis responders travel quickly to places where crisis and crimes are taking place to deescalate, understand and document the situation in total while taking into account the histories and conflicts of the people that lead to the crisis at hand. They are essentially social workers specialized in Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome and caring for people in moments of crisis including people engaged in criminal activities. These Social Crisis Responders might appear at the same situations as police, but with the aim to understand rather than control with authority. They do not carry guns or have the authority to arrest people. Their main task is to help the people in crisis, deescalate and document the complexity of the crisis and what lead up to the crisis and make full reports and recommendations for forms of treatment. For example, the Social Crisis Response Group would be dispatched to a protest or riot to talk with the protesters to understand the complexity of their crisis in order to make appropriate changes based a in well documented understanding of the situation. This agency also provides important ongoing PTSD counseling and treatment for police suffering traumatic events on duty. Plus, every police report is filled out by a PTSD counselor to provide an assessment of an officer’s emotional well-being and possible need to forgo active duty for trauma treatment. This agency’s efforts are to understand individual and social complexity and provide ongoing help.
#20 THE PRISON REFORMATION AGENCY – This agency provides ongoing trauma concealing and full education for any and all incarcerated people providing a platform for the healthy transformation of one’s life. Inmates can receive any variety of college degrees according to one’s interests.
#21 THE OFFICE OF RECONCILIATION - This agency is responsible for reparations to historically abused peoples including and an accounting process that recognizes cultural reality with complexity (warts and all) a continuing effort to bring all people to a place of peace, mutual respect and the restoration of friendly relations. This agency importantly helps us celebrate difference and the power in our diversity, while providing focused opportunity to those with generational trauma and damages done.
#22 THE ECORESTORATION STREAMING SERVICE – Provides the public with award winning Documentaries, Movies, TV shows and News Programming, Educational Programming that feature the completed good work and ongoing positive efforts to heal the world that EcoDemurrage currency provides. This streaming service will be provided on billions of internet-connected devices. This agency employs a broad spectrum of image making professionals. The EcoRestoration Streaming Service also provides local Civic News, Local Arts and Local Emergency Response Information. This agency also provides social network connection without any commercial influence, data mining or surveillance which would all be illegal. The news gathering is based on the reports of experts in their field and data rather than political spin based in provocation, opinion and the dictates of commercial funding. The EcoRestoration Streaming Service basis is to connect, educate and inspire without commercial or political intervention.
The numerous projects undertaken by these various agencies are both voter and agency proposed, yet implemented with local voter approval – plus, they require a detailed and timely review by the public.
The great thing is – there is so much meaningful EcoRestoration work to be done that extends far into the future and EcoDemurrage is a currency that makes 500 yearlong projects (and longer) possible.
It’s fundamentally important that a Declaration of Responsibility is drafted to outline our care for the Biosphere, foster healthy human societies, care for biodiversity, care for the land and water and our commitment to a healthy alignment with these interrelated systems. This would outline the fundamental principles of a caring society.
Work has been defined through the ages as contribution to society and family – EcoDemurrage makes the basis of work a collective undertaking to heal the economy and heal the environment while delivering opportunity and health to every household.
Existing corporations with a legacy of experience and institutional knowledge like Caterpillar Tractor will also befit from developing zero carbon heavy machinery to do this cleanup work and Boeing will benefit as their EcoDemurrage research lab develops new zero carbon transportation and other technologies for the world.
Racial & Social Justice
It is absolutely central that EVERYONE is INCLUDED in turning around the climate crisis and critical that suffering is alleviated.
Eco demurrage provides a platform for RACIAL and SOCIAL JUSTICE on multiple forefronts. It provides full education to be accessed throughout the life of every person, especially those generationally excluded from the educational system. It provides meaningful local work everywhere to continually improve and maintain the places and neighborhoods where people live. It honors and calls upon the generational knowledge of indigenous and local people who understand how to refurbish and maintain their complex ecosystems. It gives all people healthcare and the security and peace of mind that comes with retirement.
Just imagine the people of the Amazon being paid to refurbish the rainforest rather than being paid to destroy it. The Amazon could be transformed into one of the most incredible public parks on earth. Image the people of Mexico being paid to refurbish their land and water. The people of the African continent being paid to refurbish their ecosystems and biodiversity while receiving education, healthcare and retirement in a land they love as they grow pride and attachment by improving it.
There has been increasing talk about the problems of immigration and climate refugees. Generally, people don’t want to immigrate from the places and cultures they love. EcoDemurrage would provide a system for people to make money by improving the land and communities they live while honoring their traditions and exercise their generational intelligence to care for the place they love. Immigration due to economic hardship could be significantly reduced because people could live good lives working to improve the home they have loved for generations – with the dignity, education, healthcare and retirement.
EcoDemurrage would provide communities hit by environmental disaster a currency system for everyone to quickly rebuild and maintain the place they live and love.
Plus, EcoDemurrage would clean up long standing industrial toxic sites that traditionally impact the health of racial minorities in America and other places. Improvements in carbon sequestering agricultural practices would contribute to healthy local food availability. And the general availability of money, work and education would provide a platform for a rich human experience with dignity and beauty. The resulting diversity of thought, creativity and vision could help improve the world overall and make for a planetary social network that celebrates diversity as strength.
Case Studies
(i.e. history)
Demurrage currency systems have been used successfully throughout history, turning around dire economic situations quickly, evoking long term stability and providing for long term projects.
Dynastic Egypt used a demurrage system known as the Corn Standard for two thousand years and their public works, irrigation systems and temples were the wonder of the world and built to last forever.
During the first urbanization of Europe from 1040 to 1280 when 90% of the grand cathedrals were built a form of Demurrage called Renovatio Monetae was in place – and historical record documents a prosperity that allowed for a 6-hour work day and a 4-day work week during this prosperous period.
In July 1932, during the great depression in Europe, the town of Worgl, Austria in the face of 30% unemployment and growing poverty, used Demurrage currency running in parallel with the national currency to turn into a prosperous economy within one year while building numerous large-scale public works that still exist today. Six other towns in Austria copied them with similar results and two hundred other towns started to adopt demurrage currency, but soon the central bank saw its monopoly on money creation endangered and shut down the use of the demurrage currency within a year. Consequently, Worgl went right back to 30% unemployment and the depression continued and by 1938 Austrians looked to Hitler as their political and economic savior.
Another fast turnaround happened during the German depression. In 1923 when one dollar bought 4.2 trillion marks - a German coal mine owner told his employees either the coal mine close or his workers accept a demurrage currency called the Wara, which in turn circulated quickly raising overall employment in the region and within a year’s time once again spread prosperity. Over 2,000 companies throughout Germany adopted use of the Wara, but the central bank of Germany saw it as a threat and made it illegal in 1931. Consequently, the mine went out of business leaving the workers unemployed leading to Hitler’s rise in power.
During the Great Depression in America two highly respected economists, Irving Fisher of Yale and Russel Sprague of Harvard, concluded that a nationwide adoption of Demurrage currency could bring a quick end to the depression. But unfortunately, they were stopped.
Only one county in the world is currently employing a parallel currency system – Switzerland – they have the WIR which means “we economic circle” – it started during the depression as a trading currency for business and industry at zero interest to get things done, but now all Swiss people can use the WIR.
The Swiss central bank in their wisdom saw it best to allow this parallel currency system to continue for economic health, social health and longevity. Keep in mind Switzerland has the highest standard of living in the world for its people. 62,000 Swiss businesses currently participate in the WIR system. And the Swiss National Bank has not suffered at all from the WIR’s decades long parallel use.
Yes, in the past central banks have viewed Demurrage Currency as a threat, but now The Climate Crisis and dangerous debit overhand threaten not only the finical economy, but the whole living world that sustains us.
Interestingly, EcoDemurrage running in parallel to our traditional bank money would create a stabilizing counter cyclical effect to traditional bank currency by providing jobs and money during periods when the traditional bank credit cycle turned recessionary allowing debt to be cleared and businesses more stable with predictable income flows from the resilient parallel demurrage system. This effect would break the “perpetual growth” paradigm that is presently destroying the natural world by moving the economy from a scarcity/fear based economic model to a long-term focused caring and restoration model.
It’s important EcoDemurrage runs parallel and compliments National currencies, so central bankers embrace the economic and global advantage of its use – it gets them out of this serious Climate Crisis jam .... plus, fixes the debt overhang problem and the imminent “no jobs” problem that threatens social stability .... but, most importantly EcoDemurrage cleans up our world, soaks up airborne carbon, quickly steers industry toward zero carbon and makes for a happy healthy people with dignity and collective purpose.
The Long View
As I see it, we are collectively moving toward a new age of Biosphere Consciousness; one of understanding that we are defined by the relationships that sustain us.
In a word, I call it EcoRelationisum. Basically, relationships support us as humans, these relationships tie us together, but also to wolves and whales, plants, fungus and bacteria on down to the natural global INTERRELATIONSHIPS of chemical systems such as the carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle, oxygen cycle and water cycle. As a species we look for authority – it’s pretty clear that nature’s operating system is the central authority and we either come into RELATIONSHIP with it or we continue to suffer the consequences. Globally EcoRelationisum has been taking hold for decades, but with the accelerating Climate Crisis its principles are more important than ever.
We are in relation – we are not separate.
We are moving away from a culture of Romantic Consumerism with its promise of fulfillment trough more consumer goods to EcoRelationisum as the source of our economic health that puts food on the table and connected well-being in our communities and businesses.
We need to change our economic system so it doesn’t depend on producing countless products to create jobs.
EcoDemurrage gives our youth a meaningful path to build a powerful optimistic collective future. Working with others toward a meaningful common cause has a common byproduct – happiness – I think we are ready.
Continued ecological collapse is now the assured outcome of our present singular debt-based monetary system – we must add EcoDemurrage as parallel system to compliment it for stability. Let’s face it, people like to be with the big battalions – nature’s interrelatedness is the biggest battalion of them all.
A Powerful Unified Vision of the Future
Throughout history people have done the right thing to protect their community and place they live from harm. These important transformations of culture define us, unites us, excite us and make living vibrant and new.
Making this important addition to the monetary system is the most powerful instrument of action we can use to turn around climate change and repair our communities. This is a vision for clean enjoyable cities, vibrant rural areas and spectacular wilderness full of diversity. We can build a world were biosphere consciousness and technology are beneficially integrated.
Literally - Nature is the next big growth sector. To thrive we need to embrace a parallel Refurbishment and Decarbonization Economy. And Caring Economy.
EcoDemurrage marries ecological needs to ethical needs to economic needs. EcoDemurrage work is imbued with profound meaning – it makes sense in its actions in a broader social context creating powerful social bonds - this is the kind of work that changes lives and gives people meaning.
Right now, a forest that soaks up tons of carbon is not considered a part of our GDP - unless you cut it down – EcoDemurrage makes building a forest a vibrant generator of our GDP.
Every small town to large city, rural to wilderness area has so many great full-time high quality EcoDemurrage jobs to fill with people who have diverse skills and creative vision. It activates people who love and care about where they live. We all need to come together to do this and care for each other and the biosphere, our home. EcoDemurrage makes every person an important contributor to making an awesome world and ultimately better human experience. EcoDemurrage activates the caring economy on a massive scale.
This system is not Socialism, it’s not Communism and it’s not pure-Capitalism – It simply allows people to work with dignity, be healthy, educated, and realize their full potential. And it allows people to get paid to refurbish and maintain a clean prosperous world. A world of sustainable abundance.
EcoDemurrage is a system that allows for affluence and successes while being a driver for all boats to rise so all of us have great lives with free education, healthcare, retirement and vacations – AND - put food on the table doing the profoundly meaningful collective work to Decarbonize and Refurbish this magnificent place. Everyone benefits.
Three takeaways
1. EcoDemurrage is currency created by acts of LABOR and issued by the EcoDemurrage Agency that DISSOLVES slowly so NO ONE can HOARD IT.
2. EcoDemurrage money creates full employment jobs that REFERBISH the ENVIRONMENT and ELIMINATE HUMAN CARBON OUTPUT.
3. EcoDemurrage provides the factors for NATURAL ZERO POPULATION GROWTH though a happier, healthier, well educated people in a clean beautiful world with purpose.
Now…
Imagine what it would look like if people got PAID TO HELP TURN AROUND the CLIMATE CRISIS.
Thank You – Consider sharing the concept of EcoDemurrage Currency for a better life overall.
Written by Mark Kohr
“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Only money that goes out of date like a newspaper, rots like potatoes, rusts like iron would be willingly handed over for objects that similarly decay. We must make money worse as a commodity if we wish to make it better as a medium of exchange.”
Silvio Gesell, The Natural Economic Order
“If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right.”
Henry Ford
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