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

we seek, reside within the architecture of our current monetary
system and in our understanding of, and our agreements around,
money.
Fish to do not comprehend the nature of the water in which they
live. Similarly, people have trouble understanding the nature of
money. We allocate a great portion of our physical, emotional, and
mental energy to getting, keeping, and spending money - but how
many of us really know what money is or where it comes from?
In pre-Victorian England the world was oblivious of pollution,
greenhouse effects and overpopulation. Nationalism, competition,
endless growth and colonisation were encouraged. These values are
what shaped the monetary and banking systems we inherited.
However, is this what best serves our world today? I submit that
those aspects of our monetary system that met the objectives of
another time and age are now inadequate for the challenges facing us
during an Information Age. This is particularly true in light of the
fact that working solutions are already underway, with thousands of
communities around the world taking their own money initiatives.
They are creating new wealth, while solving social problems
without taxation or regulation. They are empowering self-organising
communities, while increasing overall economic and social stability.
Finally, they enable the creation of very necessary social capital
without attaching the established capital formation process.
Many attempts at money reform have failed in the past, because
they were trying to attach or radically change the official money
system itself. There are three reasons why I believe the current, ongoing
monetary initiatives have a better chance of success than ever
before: