February 16, 2009 at 7:21 pm (Money, Uncategorized)
In 1933 George Orwell stated in a short essay, “In all the modern talk about energy, efficiency, social service and the rest of of it, what meaning is there except “Get money, get it legally, and get a lot of it”?
Well it seems to me that we have not moved to far from there in the last 75 years. The question foremost in my mind now is if an economic downturn helps us focus differently, towards other things then money. Or on the other hand does it instead focus us even more intently on money as the root of all. From what I am seeing all around me people are focusing more then ever on how to “get there”.
I personally am going to take this oppurtunity to align what I really believe in with my feelings about money. It will be a challenge, but I will get there.
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January 26, 2009 at 11:07 pm (Uncategorized)
I think people assume that banks have to charge interest or pay interest in order to operate. That really does not make sense. Banks do operate without interest and the more I think about it the more it makes sense for them to.
The Kiva loan site previously mentioned got me to thinking about interest free micro loans. This bank in Michigan added fuel to the mental fire. The Michigan bank bases a lot of it’s practices on the goal to conform to Islamic laws around money. I think a new look at money and lending from the many lenses of the major religions could be valuable. Christianity has a bit to say about interest and money as well. The religions of the world offer up a great long-term moral compass and we should use the lessons taught to make our way forward. This seems especially important in the current financial environment where morals seemed to be loose at best.
In order for people to be able to have a new system they must be able to operate financially. The best way to transition to the new is working within the current system. I hope to continue exploring the practicalities of operating in a world with no interest. Once you move beyond the idea that your money should grow just for being money you can start to get creative in regards to what it should grow for.
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January 19, 2009 at 8:56 pm (Uncategorized)
I am going to really try and do this blog thing. I have so much going on that it seems like the last thing I should do. On the other hand, the more I think about it, this is the first thing I should be doing. So let the blogging and maybe someday participation of readers begin!
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