No one can earn a million dollars honestly.
William Jennings Bryan, 1860 – 1925,
an American lawyer, statesman, and politician, three times the Democratic Party nominee for President of the United States.

The decadent international but individualistic capitalism in the hands of which we found ourselves after the war is not a success. It is not intelligent. It is not beautiful. It is not just. It is not virtuous. And it doesn't deliver the goods.
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Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest [sic] of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone.
John Maynard Keynes, 1883 – 1946,
a British economist whose ideas, called Keynesian economics, had a major impact on modern economic and political theory, as well as on many governments’ fiscal policies.  

We have noted many deficiencies in the capitalism which we practice.  The purpose behind such a look has been to encourage thought and action about how to make capitalism work better.  We are now looking at possible solutions.  

In the previous essay part, we talked about a local currency, that is, about a community printing its own money.  We looked at the role which the local currency could play in overcoming deficiencies of modern-day American capitalism.  Could a local currency work for Montebello ?  

Yes, if the merchants of Montebello agreed to participate.  

Could a local currency have a large salutary impact on Montebello ?  Possibly.  There is a special local currency, existing to the best of my knowledge only as a concept, waiting to be tested.  This special currency would be put into a community chest managed by youth and adults.  Other youth and adults, with ideas to improve the quality of life in Montebello , could ask for budgets to carry out activities.  Citizenship status would not be at issue for the management of or grant requests put to the community chest, as long as everyone involved labored, lived or learned in Montebello and wanted to contribute to a better quality of life.

As people earned the special currency for socially-useful activities, they could spend with merchants who had chosen to accept the currency toward partial payment on purchases.  The merchants then would put the currency back into to the chest, as if making a donation.  The cycle would repeat indefinitely.  A bonus would be a significant increase in community involvement by youth, much needed these days, but, also, much neglected.  

Which socially-useful ideas could the special currency catalyze?  Examples:  

* tutoring * planting and harvesting * safety monitoring * assisting the elderly * visiting and reading to people who are convalescing * heightening environmental awareness * facilitating recycling * installing and testing smoke detectors * organizing and managing mini-town halls * nonpartisan election-campaign education * nonpartisan voter assistance and empowerment * operating a community chest * publishing an online community newsletter * keeping youth busy after school * extracurricular sports and exercises * researching socially-responsible micro-franchise opportunities * taking lessons in first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, family disaster preparedness * neighborhood disaster drills * giving talks about ESOPs and cooperatives.  

Creativity and innovation for the public good would be given priority.

April 24, 2008