Today I found a photo from the launch of my book Healthy Money Healthy Planet –Developing Sustainability through New Money Systems and I post it here. It was a good book, took a long time to write and Helen has sold a great many through Living Economies shop.
Yesterday I had an email from a city councillor in a small city which started off by saying, “I read your book, Healthy Money, Healthy Planet, September 2006. I think it is one of the best books I have ever read on the money system.”
This newest book is smaller but just as important. It recognises that money isn’t the only issue in the commons. Land is critical and so we have to look at the tax system which at the moment gives rewards to those who speculate on land. And who owns the earth? Is it individuals? The Donald Trumps of the world? Na. What about the minerals of the earth? Who owns the gold in the ground? Who owns the water, the forests, the fish?
So what is the commons? It is not common land. Wikipedia says, “The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable earth. These resources are held in common, not owned privately.”
But it also includes money. As David Bollier said: “We need to democratize money. Commoners must re-capture the money-creation system for public purposes and replace debt–based money.” I think he should have said “bank-created money” For if you allow private banks to create and control the public money, you lose democratic control. In his excellent article he expands on this here.
My essay, based on this latest book, was entered into the Next System project’s essay competition. It didn’t win. So I skimmed through the six that got first or second place in their section, as did a colleague who understands both money and land issues. It seemed the essays didn’t address the money system or the tax system. I may have skimmed too fast. He quoted me a saying,
“There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.”
–Henry David Thoreau, Concord, MA (1817 – 1862)
