Adventures in mutual credit

Huge gratitude to the timebanking movement in New Zealand which invited me and shunted me around the country introducing me to most of the active people in monetary reform and complementary currencies, and following in the footsteps of such legends as Tom Greco, Nicole Foss, and Margrit Kennedy. Highlights were as follows:

First they came for the terrorists but I did not speak out because I wasn't a Muslim
Then they came for the paedophiles but I did not speak out because I have children
Then they came for the hacktivists but I did not speak out because I don't understand computers
Then they came for the protesters but I did not speak out because activists know what they are risking
Then they came for the hoodies and dopeheads but I did not speak out because what would the neighbours think?
Then they came for the debtors but I did not speak out because after all debts must be paid.

Intent/Audience

This document is for technicians aspiring to build their own mutual credit accounting ecosystem in Drupal, and for project managers who want to know what this package can do both out of the box, and when extended. It shows how multiple currencies, exchanges, transactions and wallets combined with workflows fit together into highly flexible, extensible structure which should be a pleasure to work with!

After some excellent discussions at Den Hague in June, and lots of talk on a mailing list, 6 of us met in Berlin to hammer out this intertrading protocol [below].

This is based on what I published eighteen months ago, but with a few tweaks and a whole social side as well.

This protocol includes a sort of template for intertrading communities to decide how they work, and the API to implement.

Not often am I the richest person in the party, but in Berlin's bitcoin district last month, Meals at Room 77 were on me.

This photographic memento shows me logging in to blockchain.info where my wallet is hosted.

I was struck by a sentence in a paper by Warren Coats,

Natural market behavior in the face of an excess supply of money held by the public is to spend more...

It asserts that there is a 'natural' behaviour and that economists can understand it. I think a very careful examination of nature is required especially in the light of the profession's poor track record on predictions.

Have you realised that the world, if not the universe, is a single organism and all the people, all the organisms are inter-connected and depend on each other for their welbeing? Do you feel a greater responsibility to the universe than just to replicate the molecular patterns and social memes which make you you? Have you perhaps devoted large chunks of your life to some Work? This mystical experience is sometimes called a 'dissolution of ego' but unfortunately most egos don't stay dissolved for long!

Politics have no relation to morals. - Niccolo Machiavelli

There is a lot happening right now, and I sense that for coordination purposes it needs presenting more widely. It is always tempting to plough our own solitary and often unyielding furrows, but I believe we should be looking around more and appreciating supporting and connecting to what works.

A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn recounts an almost constant stream of dissent, protest, uprisings, revolts, strikes, walkouts since Europeans discovered the New World. For every action the wealthy elite reacted with greater violence, legislation, propaganda and war-mongering.
This concluding chapter, written in 1980, reflects on this pattern of dissent and asks what has been learned and what would a successful revolution in the United States look like.

Thanks to Stephanie for the 'loan'.