How many of you can grow your own food, purify water, create your own job to earn a living?  How many understand economics, or keeping your savings secure?  How many understand why life is so tough  today?  After generations of capable Americans built a prosperous economy, why did people become helpless and unable to manage?  How can we regain the knowledge and skills for independence and prosperity once common in America?

silver peace dollar

Most people don’t know  that in 1933, FDR made it illegal for citizens to use gold money instead of paper; and in 1971 Nixon ended the gold-backed dollar, leaving us only faith-based currency.  Every president since then betrayed us, devaluing the dollar through inflation .  With dollars buying less, families needed more than one wage earner and still couldn’t keep up.  Most went into debt.

To see how much our government has robbed us, today you’d have to pay over $18 to buy ONE silver dollar that once exchanged evenly with a paper dollar. A 1 0z. gold coin once exchanged evenly with a » Read more: #1 lesson in US Schools: Dependency

Bernard Lietaer studied world-wide complimentary currencies and found they strengthen communities and provide a buffer to the vacillations of official currencies.

People naturally develop barter and trade when times are tough, and alternate currencies often make the difference between ruin and success.  In this article, he tells of the fureai kippu system in Japan which provides elder care to cover gaps in the national care system.  A survey of elders showed near-universal preference for the time-based fureai kippu care to the yen-based national care. In the time based care, relationships of provider-elder is more positive, and the provider can use the time credits to insure his/her own care in elder years — or even transfer the credits to an older family member or friend.

Another system mentioned is in Bali, where an age-old time currency has built a society of strong » Read more: Lietaer shows local currencies improve community spirit