Showing posts with label positive money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label positive money. Show all posts

Learn about the Money System & Economics - Street School Economics

At our last meeting with Positive Money Leicester, it was asked what we could do to create change.

Whilst ideas bounced back and forth between the attendees, a flashback - Dr Gail Bradbrook, who was present at our 'People and Money' event and share with us her vision to get people economically literate with Street School Economics.
I invite you to visit her website to learn more about Money, Corruption, Tax Justice etc.
I copied below some of the actions Street School Economics suggest to start initiating change in our current economic system. I hope it will inspire you!


Actions you can take as an individual/family

  • Build you resilience by reducing your dependence on a failing system
  • Reduce your need for energy for heating and transport
  • Reduce your debts and resist the pull to shop for things you don't need
  • Grow food at home and on allotments
  • Be an active part of your community join local initiatives
  • Join a campaign or union fight back (e.g. Positive Money Tax Justice Uk
  • Move your money from corrupt banks to ethical providers
  • Shop local ethical and fairtrade, join coops who supplies your energy?
  • Stay healthy, fasting and seasonal local food helps
  • Get informed outside the mainstream fore warned is forearmed and have fun
  • Spread economic literacy - share street school economics


Actions that can be taken at a community level

  • Develop a local currency like the Stroud pound
  • Develop a local community supported agriculture
  • Promote boycotts of tax dodging companies
  • Develop a local farmers market and online local shop
  • Increase community owned renewable energy
  • Become a transition town and look for ways to localise the economy
If you want to be involved with Positive Money in Leicester - do not hesitate to contact me moneyleicester@gmail.com

Positive Money Leicester- January 28th - 1st Meeting

After the success of our first event, it was now time to convene together with a group of like-minded people to get the ball rolling.

I launched my call for people to join me at De Montfort University - Room 0.07 at 7pm.

I advertised the event online, shared the words in various groups, Transition Leicester, Permaculturists, Twitter and Facebook Communities. I sent the info to my mailing list but who knows what is going to happen.

Among the Yeses & Apologies, some questions:

One of the questions asked was whether the difficulty to spread the word via social media was due to general apathy or fear of the supposed complexity of the issue.

With no judgement and bias, I do not know. But I am sure that the message is acknowledged by some.

One of the second question was to know how many people would be present.

Ultimately, I do not know. But as long as the people who are coming want to contribute and do something, it will be good enough.

What I know is that by sharing information , I am fulfilling my social responsibility as a citizen and by being present at meeting for social change, I am participating in democracy. About others, knowing what they do or not, I remain optimistic that they are walking in the same direction as mine.

The horizon towards a better future is big, let's just keep walking towards it.

Next Meeting for Positive Money Leicester - 18th January 2014 - 7-8.45 - De Montfort University - 0.07
Drop me an email for more info - moneyleicester@gmail.com

People & Money – The real problem is to not act

A quick extract of an article I wrote after an event I've organised in Leicester with the support of Positive Money and Transition Leicester. You can access the full article on Positive Money Blog.

''In the last few months, I contemplated the idea of organising an event in Leicester about Money and the financial system. I first started by looking for a supportive group of individuals to do it with but after few unsuccessful  attempts in recruiting people and ensuring continuous involvement, it became clear that speaking was not enough but that I had to take action. I was letting go of my passive consumer shield to be more of an active citizen.
With the full support of Transition Leicester and Positive Money, 5 knowledgeable key speakers were invited. 40 people managed to attend the event. Food, hot and cold drinks were available for everyone to share. The evening turned out not only to be fun and interesting but also educating. This was a moment we travelled in a land of wonders and opportunities.
Anthony, Ph.D student in the Finance of Mortgages was the first one to invite us in. What is the meaning of money [...]''


People and Money Discussion Time In Leicester - Event

In line with my commitment of being FREE, I strive to be more economically literate. An event that I am trying to promote at the moment is the one below. Please share the word and be sure to be numerous.



POVERTY, DEBT, INEQUALITY
It is all about Money
IMAGINATION, CHANGE, SOLUTIONS
It is all about People
PEOPLE and  MONEY
DISCUSSION TIME IN LEICESTER

TUESDAY 3RDDECEMBER - FROM 6.30 TO 9PM
At the Friends Meeting House, 16 Queens Road Leicester

A gathering of people to discuss questions and issues about ‘Money as a currency and main driver of the economy’ as well as to share with imagination and inspiration, solutions and ideas for change.

4 inspiring and knowledgeable guests
·         Damon Gibbons – Director, Centre of Responsible Credit
·         Marco Sachy – Activist in the complementary currency movement Dyndy and the Bitcoin Community
·         Anthony O'Tierney – Ph.D Student University of Leicester
·         Gail Bradbrook – Activist Tax Justice Network and Founder of Street School Economics
With Food available to share – You are welcome to bring some. Vegan & Vegetarian only.

Send us questions that concern you about Money before the 30th of November. Few will be selected to direct the conversation.
For more information about the event > contact Marie Lefebvre on MoneyLeicester@gmail.com
Remember Money Never Talks, It is People that Talk the Walk!
A special thanks to Transition Leicester and Positive Money for their support in the organisation of this event.


https://www.facebook.com/events/538569256217677/?notif_t=plan_user_joined

An Evening with Leicester Positive Money

Once in while Positive Money Leicester meet up. It was long time. It finally happened.

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A year ago, we had our first Positive Money Leicester event - People & Money -with a panel of individuals sharing with us the impact of money creation on society, the impact of policy making on the livelihood of individuals, the impact of corruption and tax havens , the law and meaning of money.

Six month ago, we had a workshop on the Ethics of Money exploring the relationship with money and a lot of tips on how to live with less of it and enjoying life more.

A month earlier, Money Creation and its impact on society was debated in the House of Commons. Conservative, Labour, Greens, UKIP etc. question the impact of money creation by private entities on society. It was like Christmas in the middle of November for me. all at the results of the immense efforts of social activators throughout the UK interested in Money issues.

Two weeks ago, I have sent an email with excitement to all Leicester Members to have a coffee in Green Oasis to cheer for the debate and discuss what next

Thursday, Yesterday, was the day of our meeting

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Discussion topic of the evening

Art, Advertising, Politics and Activism
To which extent the political role of art has been diluted was one the question we asked ourselves?

Various perspectives were given to the subject without any academics references but who said that citizens could not be philosopher without a Ph.D. One argued that the attractiveness to art degree produced a tremendous amount of artists who were looking a lot like one another. At the end of their studies, many ended up in advertising and marketing agencies using their talents and ideas at the profit of others. Whilst art lost its credentials as a powerful force to contradict status quo, advertising became almost better than art supporting the vested interests of large corporations. It could be a possibility. I do not know. Others suggested that whilst art disappeared, activists and campaigning groups were not using effectively and efficiently advertising tools. They even say that the impact of communication campaign is not effective. Face-to-Face interaction to build community has more impact. It could be true. Further was added, the saddest things is that large corporations to find their gap on the market do large semiotic analysis to understand how they can compete against their competitors but also understand the deep-seated value important for their consumers. How could they have the full picture when all community groups and other social activist do not communicate through images? It is a question. To which extent community groups are dismissed by large corporations in the marketing analysis? To which extent corporations are blindfolded by what is happen in the other  reality?

For those living in the midlands, there will be interesting series on art and politics at Loughborough University. Check it out

Role of Comedians and Poet and Politics

In France, Moliere used to write satire to mock the ruling power, king queen churches doctors etc.
Coluche, founder of the Resto du Coeur and great comedian also challenged status quo. He even run for presidency.
In England, there is Russell Brand with his Trews and probably many others who use humour to take us beyond the boundaries we have ourselves created.

Semantics, Money Creation, Banks and Society

The question is:

What is the difference between lending a customer money and a customer depositing money to the bank?

Answer:

None

Why
When the bank lend money to a customer, the bank deposity money into the customer account.
When the customer deposit money into the bank account, the customer lend money to the bank.

'The 'Account' is only an interface helping the circulation of money in a system. creating both asset and liabilities equal to each other on the balance sheet. 
By creating liability on one side, asset are created on the other side >> Money is created
By reimbursing liability on one side, asset are destroyed on the other side>> Money is destroyed

Simple accounting.

The way we use words and the meaning we attribute to them has to be closely scrutinise. Our compliance was suggested to be at a result of the social conventions associated with those words that we have learnt. The collective knowledge of those conventions is so ingrained that we cannot even recognise when two things are the same thing.

House of Commons, Positive Money, Debate Money Creation and Impact on Society

This year is a special year. Between The Bank of England confirming that Money is being created through loans made by private banks and the debate brought in the house of commons after more than an 100 years on the impact of money creation on society (Watch the video). It is incredibly exciting. It will get the ball rolling for academics, researchers, policy makers, financial analysts, businesses, homeowners who have big mortgages to question the situation we are in.

Since money is not backed up by gold standard (Collapse of Bretton Woods). Money is a currency which loses value every instant. Watch the video Rich Dad Poor Dad, he will tell you all about it if you do not want to get in too much economic jargon with the positive money book. Nevertheless, whilst money lost its credentials, promises to pay (back loan) did not change in nature at all as much as deeds from the bank. Ultimately considering the large inflation in prices for houses, anyone can wonder where the money is coming from and secondly the validity of a promise to pay back a loan. Why would you pay a loan back if the money is created out thin air?

And More...
Law, Health and Safety, Poverty, Science, Religion, Terrorism, Spirituality were covered over the evening.

Shake yourself out from the poor collective knowledge we have of economics and learn some more!
For more information about the money system please visit Positive Money website, read the book, set up a reading group, read some more, share it with your friends and if you are in Leicester, drop me an email. 
We have informal discussion with members of Positive Money Leicester time to time. 
We meet at the Green Oasis on London Road, a little philosophical paradise in the midst of the city.

Drop your comments!










Enlightened Thursday at The Green Oasis

Every last Thursday of the month at the Green Oasis in Leicester, we will have an 'Enlightened Thursday'. All are welcome to join in to have discussion emphasizing on reason, analysis, line of authority and our own place in the world

Where does the name come from?

The name is inspired of the 'Age of enlightment' (or simply the Enlightenment or Age of Reason). It is the era from the 1650s or earlier to 1776 in which cultural and intellectual forces in Western Europe emphasized reason, analysis and individualism rather than traditional lines of authority. It was promoted by "philosophes" and local thinkers in urban coffeehouses, salons and masonic lodges. It challenged the authority of institutions that were deeply rooted in society, such as the Catholic Church; there was much talk of ways to reform society with toleration, science and skepticism.

How this came about?

In December 2013, I run the first Positive Money event - People & Money - inviting four individuals to share with others their take on Money. It was an inspiring evening allowing us to question the foundations of our society. Since then, we had a workshop inviting participants to explore their relationship with money - Ethics of Money. Some of us changed their bank account at the result of it, other felt that more knowledge was needed for further actions. We set up a reading group, meeting up once a month at Green Oasis. The book we read was 'Modernising Money' by Ben Dyson and Andrew Jackson. Although, we were not financially and economically literate, the discussion sparked up other concern about citizenship, health, poverty and inequality. The group fizzled but the interest remained. As money creation and its impacts on society were discussed in the House of Commons, we felt that it was important to meet again. The enthusiasm was high. We were looking for a platform to share our feelings once more (see related post)

What about the others?

Feelings of discontentment and scepticism are in all of us and it was not fair to keep our encounters to ourselves. So after some inspiration and discussion, we decided to advertise 'Enlightened Thursday' to be run every last Thursday of the month from 5.30pm til 8pm at the Green Oasis. We have three simple rules. First to respect each and anyone feelings and opinions. Two, if the discussion group becomes too large, split it. Three, if the Green Oasis become too crowded, open another Thursday evening during the month for further discussion. We question how we could keep it inclusive for those who cannot afford to have a drink in a coffeehouse but also support local businesses. We have not yet answer to this question. We hope to be able to answer to this question soon.

Where and When are you meeting next?

Enlightened Thursday
Last Thursday of the Month
First gathering on the 29th January 2015
from 5.30pm to 8pm
at the Green Oasis on London Road, Leicester

Hope you will come numerous





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