Which Politicians Effect You?

Do politicians effect your life?  Yes, but not the one's who are on TV all the time.  Says Doug Stanhope...

What is the Role of The CIty?

Do wealthy residents of a city receive the same services as it's poor residents?

Perhaps, in order to maintain their position of power, "city fathers" have to discriminate in the delivery of city services.  In this video Walter Williams explains further...


Find out more about Walter Williams here.

A Peaceful Solution for the People of Ferguson

Ithaca Hours: Local Currency 

A major issue ignored during the coverage of chaos and violence in Ferguson, Missouri is that of the local power structure.  Cities and counties become power centers because they claim a monopoly on “protection services” in a given geographic region.  It’s fair to be outraged at violent actions of individual people and the groups that sanction them but the root cause lies in the power structure. 

Police chiefs, mayors and city council people are only power centers if the community provides them with material means of support.  The primary means is, of course, money. 

     

Fortunately individual people can be power centers as well.  A substantial method of supporting yourself is to issue your own money.  Decentralized money puts the power in the hands of the people of Ferguson as opposed to politicians and government employees.

This is not a new concept.  Community currencies have provided solutions to social and economic challenges in cities around the globe including San Francisco, Ithaca, New York and western Massachusetts.  

As community currency becomes the dominate medium of exchange it's value to the region exceeds that of the "U.S. Dollar".  Anyone offering "protection" (i.e. police) to the people of Ferguson will compete to provide the safest and most cost-effective services in exchange for community currency (i.e. "Ferguson Hours").  

Each household, street or neighborhood will decide for themselves which agency they would like to support.  Of course families have the option of providing for their own self-defense if they choose.    

Democracy means people can easily withdraw consent  

If you no longer desire the defense services from your agency you can simply stop doing business with them.  This option brings the competitive environment that already exists between McDonalds and Burger King or between Wal-Mart and Target to the businesses in the defense industry.  A non-monopolized market for defense services will make for much safer streets of Ferguson. 

To begin exploring decentralized money listen to this two minute clip where Thomas Greco explains the basics.  His writings on community currency are a great source of inspiration for societal change.  

People can peacefully outgrow the centrally controlled dollar.  One available path is an increased reliance on localized money & credit.         

*Great detail about the recent events in Ferguson can be found at Vox.

Property Rights On The Rocks

Criminal syndicate boss Anne Hidalgo

Would you like to rent out a room in your Paris apartment?

Good luck!

The enforcement class in France has taken to invading the homes of people suspected of renting space in their private residences.  Twenty police officers and a handful of politicians are conspiring to shake down local property owners.  At least 15 landlords have already been victimized to the tune of 25,000 euros each ($33,000 US).

Merriam-Webster defines property ownership as:

the exclusive right to possess, enjoy, and dispose of a thing 

Any infringement upon the above property rights without the consent of the owner is simply theft.

These few dozen police and politicians in Paris should properly be referred to as a criminal syndicate.    

Bloomberg reports.

The Underground Commons

Community Garden in Detroit
(Photo: David Guralnick, The Detroit News)

David Bollier has written a piece for the Huffington Post titled "The Commons as a Rising Alternative to State and Market".  Bollier highlights new alternative commons like:

• open-access science journals, Directory of Open Access Journals
• community gardens
• digital hackerspaces
• alternative payment systems, like community currencies or Bitcoin
• seed-sharing collectives, Seed Savers Exchange
• crowdfunding, i.e. Kickstarter & Indiegogo

Since many of these examples of wealth are decentralized it's not likely you will hear about them on the centrally controlled outcast media.  But understand that for those in need of resources there are many options available.  It just takes a little sifting and digging to connect with people in the new underground commons.