Peer2Politics

Alternative currency evangelists have long had a tough, uphill battle to fight. Despite some notable current examples, including Berkshares, Chiemgauer, and Brixton Pound, many community currencies have a hard time getting started, and gradually fizzle out after time due to lack of enthusiasm. Bitcoin, on the other hand, hasn’t stopped growing. Why is this? What can we learn?

Bitcoin is based on the “proof of work” principle, which means the more computer power you apply to the problem, the more likely you are to get rewarded. This leads to a computer power arms race, as Bitcoin “miners” need to heavily invest in both hardware and electricity to constantly run it, where “… as of April 2013 the generation of Bitcoins was using approximately $150,000 USD per day in power consumption costs.”

"Peercoin (code: PPC), also known as PPCoin and Peer-to-Peer Coin is the first cryptocurrency based on an implementation of a combined proof-of-stake (PoS)/proof-of-work system (PoW).

The question of how we deal with and act within the given monetary environment is crucial for the commons movement, since the monetary logic and the commons logic are opposites. Contrary to the claims of mainstream economics, money is not neutral or simply an informational means for mediating transactions. Thus, replacing currencies with alternative currencies of different designs basically does not change the underlying monetary logic. It amounts to changing the tools while keeping the workshop.

An international group of monetary experts met at The Hague in June and engaged a process to define a common Intertrading protocol. By using this protocol, complementary currency systems become interoperable and able to exchange in a global marketplace. Culminating substantial discussions in the group, some experts met in Berlin this September and defined an API for complementary currency projects.

An update on discussions and controversies, by Ruby Van der Wekken, who attended the Economics and the Commons Conference in Berlin, in May 2013, and the complementary currency conference in Hague, in June 2013 (see alsowww.commons.fi/timebanking-20).

Timebeats alternate currency - presentation and synopsis

we build innovative financial systems

All of the ‘alternative solutions’ to the problems we have in the world today deal with solutions within the monetary system. We have ‘recycling’, ‘carbon shares’, ‘cradle to cradle’, ‘environmental protection’, and so forth. All of these deals with the industry and the monetary system staying as it is. ‘Recycling’ means that we have to recycle the minerals and raw materials used in many of our products. ‘Carbon shares’ is a ‘monetary way’ for the society to be able to continue to pollute the environment, but it will cost a bit more for the polluter. ‘Cradle to cradle’ means that industries produce everything with the termination and recycling of the product in mind, not using any harmful agents in the product. ‘Environmental protection’ is the total of all measures taken in regards to protect the environment, but still within the monetary system.

During the last years, people all over the world have witnessed the destruction of their livelihoods while at the same time a few people became richer and richer.

“The ideas we have about our government systems have been dramatically shaped by the energy sources that power them. If the physical characteristics of coal and oil have developed the expectations of our 20th century politics, how they also invent ‘the economy’? Will it be possible to sabotage a system that has an entirely different energy profile than the one that gave birth to organized labor?

“The question of how we deal with and act within the given monetary environment is crucial for the commons movement, since the monetary logic and the commons logic are opposites. Contrary to the claims of mainstream economics, money is not neutral or simply an informational means for mediating transactions. Thus, replacing currencies with alternative currencies of different designs basically does not change the underlying monetary logic. It amounts to changing the tools while keeping the workshop.

“Peer-to-Peer Finance and Crowdfunding are reaching momentum. Beyond Kickstarter, almost 3 billion dollars were raised in 2012 across 700+ platforms, double compared to the previous year. As the crowdfunding market matures, with clear verticals and burgeoning niche platforms adressing specific needs, this new way of raising money for creative, social and entrepreneurial projects is becoming more and more appealing, as an alternative to traditional financing.

“”I am working to compile this as a report on an integrated Fair Trade Money and Banking system. This BALTA report for the Canadians should be published early next year. I gave a public lecture on the elements of this at Schumacher College in Devon last March. This was an Earth Talk and co-sponsored by Transition Towns UK.

“In this chapter I will refer to “government” in the context of currency issue, but keep in mind that like all of our institutions, government is going to change dramatically in coming years. Ultimately, I envision decentralized, self-organizing, emergent, peer-to-peer, ecologically integrated expressions of political will. Parallel to this, I envision an ecology of money as well, an economic system with many complementary modes of circulation and exchange. Among them will be new extensions of the gift, freeing work from compulsion and guaranteeing the necessities of life to all.

Envisioning the History and Future of Money

“Hollis Doherty is a writer, actress, and currency activist. A lifelong passion for protecting the Earth’s natural resources led her to a Biology degree at the University of Colorado. When she recently discovered the true story of the currency experiment during the Great Depression in Woergl, Austria, she flew there to research and ultimately write a screenplay, “The Miracle in Woergl”. The script has been optioned and has a world class Director attached. Hollis believes that to get to the root of our sustainability problems we’ve got to transform our monetary mechanisms.”

Christian Siefkes denies that money and markets are “more or less neutral tools which can be used for non-capitalist purposes,” arguing that since money and markets were never the primary means of organizing production in a non-capitalist society, money “cannot become the dominant social form outside of capitalism.”

Ripple is a trust-based system of money transfer (a payment protocol) that supports different currencies. It was developed up to a certain point by Ryan Fugger, but more recently a group of programmers connected with Bitcoin called Opencoin.Inc took over the further development and deployment of the Ripple payment protocol.