THE FUTURE OF MONEY Bernard A. Lietaer - library.uniteddiversity ...

· 'Faced with widespread destruction of the environment people
everywhere am coming to understand that we cannot continue to use the
goods of the earth as we have in the past. A new ecological awareness is
beginning to emerge, which rather than being down played, ought to be
encouraged and developed into concrete programmes and initiatives.'
- Pope John Paul, II
· 'It's good business to anticipate the inevitable, and it seems to me
inevitable, whether we like it or not, that we are moving toward an economy
which must be limited and selective in its growth pattern. The earth has
finite limits - a difficult idea for Americans to adjust to.'
- John Rockfeller III
· 'On the bleached bones of dead civilisations are written the words: too
late:’” - Martin Luther King Jr.
One last time, we will play our game of 'tell me what your
objectives are, and we can design a currency that supports it'. This
chapter deals with the money question': 'how can financial interests
become compatible with long-term sustainability?' Another way to
ask the same question: is a win-win approach possible for finance,
business and society?
This issue may be the most important because even the survival of
our own and many other species is at stake. As the prominent French
monetary theorist Jacques Rueff claimed, 'Money will decide the fate
of mankind.' Will we have to see the last fish die, or the last rainforest
cut down, before we realise that we will not be able to eat money?
It is presented in this late chapter because - in contrast with the new
currency designs presented in the previous chapters - this proposal
breaks new ground and has therefore no contemporary case to
demonstrate it.